Assassin's Creed Valhalla trades stealth for all-out war in PS5 and Xbox Series X reveal

[Karlston]

Assassin's Creed Valhalla trades stealth for all-out war in PS5 and Xbox Series X reveal

Releasing 'Holiday 2020'

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

 

Ubisoft has debuted the world premiere trailer for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, giving us our first look at the new Viking-inspired Assassin's Creed game, and confirming the game will be a cross-generation title due for release later this year. 

 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla sees players taking on the role of Eivor, a fierce Viking raider, and is set against the backdrop of England's Dark ages. According to Ubisoft, Valhalla introduces new features such as raids, the ability to grow your settlement and build power, and the ability to increase your influence in this new brutal, dark world.

 

According to Ubisoft, players will have the option to play as either a male or female Eivor, with new customization options being introduced that allow you to customize your Eivor's hair, tattoos, war paint and gear.

 

Check out the trailer below:

 

 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is due to release "Holiday 2020" (so sometime between October and December this year) to coincide with the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. 

 

Ubisoft has confirmed Valhalla will release for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PS4, Stadia, and for PC - it will also be available on Ubisoft's subscription service: UPLAY+. On PC, it'll be released on the Epic Games Store as well as uPlay. 

 

"We can't wait for players to experience the incredible Viking journey ahead of them," Ashraf Ismail, creative director of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, said in a press release. 

 

 

"Being in Eivor's boots as both a Viking raider and a clan leader, players will face the conflicts of establishing a new home while in the midst of a power struggle for control of England."

 

 

 

Here's Ubisoft's description of the story:

 

 

"Driven from Norway by endless wars and dwindling resources in the ninth century AD, players will lead Eivor's clan of Norsemen across the icy North Sea to the rich lands of England's broken kingdoms. 

 

 

"Players must carve out a new future for their clan, reliving the ruthless fighting style of Viking warriors with a revamped combat system that includes the ability to dual-wield weapons against a greater variety of enemies than ever before. 

 

 

"To secure resources players can lead raids to select locations using their longship to earn much-needed riches and resources. As the Vikings begin to settle in their new home, they encounter resistance from the Saxons including King Aelfred of Wessex, who denounces them as heathens and looks to be the sole ruler of a civilized England. Against all odds, Eivor must do what is necessary to keep Valhalla within reach."

No more stealth

 

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed Valhalla looks considerably more brutal than previous entries in the series, with the trailer depicting bloody massacres on English soil. It seems like stealth is no longer the priority in this game and instead we'll see more in the way of violent raids and destruction.

 

But it's not all blood and guts, Ubisoft has also revealed that elements such as political alliances, combat decisions, and dialogue choices will influence the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla - so choose carefully.

 

Pre-orders are available for PS4, PC and Xbox One now, with special editions available. 

 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla will release "Holiday 2020" , however Ubisoft has specified that "some features may not be available at launch" and "final content and release dates are subject to change".

 

 

Source: Assassin's Creed Valhalla trades stealth for all-out war in PS5 and Xbox Series X reveal (TechRadar)

[pintas]

Damn! That looks good! Couldn't stop comparing it to Viking TV series, though.

[Karlston]

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla looks epic, but the series needs to ditch unnecessary lore

Opinion: It's time to set Assassin's Creed free

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

 

The trailer for the next Assassin’s Creed game – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – has landed. Full of Vikings, medieval knights, soaring ravens, and a possible glimpse of the Norse god Odin, the short teaser offers an enticing glimpse of a new time and place for the long-running series – but the oddest thing about the trailer is how unlike the early Assassin’s Creed games it looks.

 

The stealth mechanics that the Assassin’s Creed franchise is built on are hard to imagine in the world painted by this trailer, being far more concerned with large-scale battles between the soldiers of Medieval Britain and Viking invaders, in largely open, rural environments rather than the dense cities that allows your sneaking assassin avatar to do their best work.

 

While we only got to see so much of the game’s world in its first trailer, it’s apparent that this is one AC game that isn’t overly interested in looking like an AC game.

 

 

There’s been a growing trend towards more RPG and action mechanics in the famously stealth-heavy series, and the overall impression is of a series desperate to break free of the template laid in the early games. The last 2 AC games, Origins and Odyssey, were far more focused on direct combat – parrying and dodging – rather than the sneaking and silent kill mechanics of earlier entries.

 

Seeing a surprise assassin’s blade jut from a Viking’s wrist is certainly exciting – but it also feels like a nod, or tribute, rather than the central mechanic being put forward in this game.

 

Some sense of dissonance is inevitable in a series so keen to jump between time periods and nations, and some settings simply won’t be as naturally suited to the guide of a silent, slink-in-the-shadows assassin. That’s not a bad thing, but it does raise the question over whether Valhalla needs to be forced into an AC template at all.

 

The biggest put-off, though, may be the continued inclusion of the lore that started it all.

History repeats itself

 

 

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

The initial framing device for the AC games – inhabiting the avatar of your ancestors, by hacking the memory held in your DNA (it’s sci-fi, deal with it) may have been exciting at first, but we’re at a point where these story trappings feel like unnecessary baggage. 

 

That’s especially the case when Valhalla’s new direction for the series (Vikings!) feels so fresh. Getting immersed in Ubisoft's historical epic is only going to be harder when you're being yanked out of the time period every few hours for the sake of the larger story arc, too.

 

The sheer number of entries in the AC series makes the drip-feed of cross-generation lore incredibly hard to follow, and how many of us are that fussed about it? The interest surrounding each AC entry is increasingly about the setting itself, and the stories within it – the thrills of piracy in Black Flag, or the romances in Odyssey – rather than the continuation of an overarching narrative set up in the first AC game.

 

 

Hearing new protagonist Eivor (ay-vor) roar a battle cry to Odin, and seeing Viking warriors wage war against medieval knights, is what’s going to draw people to this game. (I'm personally psyched to see the Assassin's Creed series visit my humble home city of Winchester, too.)

 

 

It’s telling that there wasn’t a single glimpse of the series’ sanitized sci-fi environments in the trailer. Who, after all, is going to be enticed in buying Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for more lab coats and talk of DNA? And if it isn't going to draw players in, why include it at all anymore?

Towards new shores

 

 

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

We’ve come a long way from the original Assassin’s Creed on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, with action sequences you could ‘hack’ by running in a circle to regenerate health (enemies would simply stop attacking in order to chase you, without gaining ground). 

 

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, especially, broke new ground with a massive open world RPG that’s plenty of fun just to explore, and we’re at a point where the studio is clearly able to create vivid worlds that don’t require a DNA simulation gimmick to get players interested.

 

While it’s obviously too late to change anything in Valhalla’s story, we hope it doesn’t distract with what’s happening in modern day – when the most interesting stories are going to be those sailing in Viking ships towards Britain’s shores. When will Ubisoft let its games roam free, like the Nordic explorers we so desperately want to inhabit?

 

 

Source: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla looks epic, but the series needs to ditch unnecessary lore (TechRadar)