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Shedding The Stereotype<\/b><\/h2>\n
Players control Eivor, a Viking hero who can be either male or female. After a prologue set in Norway, Eivor\u2019s clan leaves their homeland to settle in England. Though Vikings are often remembered for raiding and looting, Valhalla aims to go beyond the mainstream stereotype and examine the more human stories behind the Vikings\u2019 expansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cVikings were generally known as antagonists to everyone else, but there\u2019s a romance to them too, with the hindsight of history \u2013 just like pirates,\u201d McDevitt says. \u201cThe story we wanted to tell is: Why did a huge group of Norse people leave Norway and go settle all over the world? They found Iceland, Greenland, they settled the Faroe Islands, Ireland, England, Normandy \u2013 all these places. It wasn\u2019t just to rob from them. It was to settle and stay there, because they were running out of space and resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn popular culture, you think about this bearded guy with horns on a drakar, just raiding and putting fire to everything he can see,\u201d Laferri\u00e8re says. \u201cThis is really a clich\u00e9 that we wanted to steer away from \u2026 Vikings were raiders, yes. Very famous warriors as well. But they were also settlers and explorers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2020\/10\/08\/be169896\/acv_screen_fwd_settlement_life_200712_945pm_cest.jpg\")
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Ravensthorpe<\/b><\/h2>\n
The Assassin\u2019s Creed series has given players a place to call home in the past, like Monteriggioni in ACII and the homestead in ACIII. Valhalla goes above and beyond those efforts with Ravensthorpe, the settlement that acts as Eivor\u2019s base of operations. This is where you initiate quests, talk to your fellow Vikings, and build new structures (like a blacksmith) to enhance your capabilities. Ravensthorpe begins as a small village, but as Eivor gains resources and friends, you expand your settlement and your influence.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe settlement growth is tied to the pacification of England,\u201d McDevitt says. \u201cAs you go out and come back and get alliances \u2013 and as the settlement grows\u00a0\u2013 your reputation grows and people want to meet you. It\u2019s funny, because the front half of the game, you\u2019re going out and seeking alliances yourself. In the back half, because you have a reputation, more people are coming to you, saying \u2018Hey, I heard you\u2019re great. I\u2019ll give you an alliance if you help me with this massive problem.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2020\/10\/08\/ede6580f\/acv_screen_fwd_world_vista_male_200712_945pm_cest.jpg\")
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The Viking Flower<\/b><\/h2>\n
If you were to draw your path through the story in previous Assassin\u2019s Creed installments, it would probably be a wavy line; you gradually move toward your goal, but you stray off-course for sidequests and other detours. The team thinks of Valhalla\u2019s story structure as a flower; every quest starts and ends at the settlement, but loops out like a petal as Eivor explores new lands and seeks alliances.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cEverything starts at the heart of the game, which is the settlement,\u201d Laferri\u00e8re says. \u201cYou pledge to a given quest arc, you do that quest arc. Through that series of stories you venture into a territory of the game, meet some interesting characters, and then you come back to your settlement.\u201d This unique approach gives the narrative an episodic feeling, since it is more about conveying the Viking fantasy than killing an archrival or chasing an Isu artifact.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThere\u2019s not a hard plot driving you through,\u201d McDevitt says. \u201cThere\u2019s this series of episodes that all touch on the themes of leadership, honor, reputation, shame, betrayal. And then tucked into that is this more personal story of Eivor and prophecy. That story of prophecy is going to be more familiar as a Western story with a three-act structure, but it\u2019s going to be threaded into this much bigger episodic story that feels more like a Norse saga.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThat isn\u2019t to say that the narrative is unfocused. Like Odyssey, Valhalla essentially gives players three arcs to pursue. One is focused on Eivor personally, one is about the clan\u2019s expansion, and the third involves the conflict between the Assassins and Templars \u2013 or the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients, as they are known during Valhalla\u2019s time period.\u00a0 Unlike Odyssey, these three plots converge eventually, rather than end independently. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain point \u2013 a big point in the middle \u2013 where you can follow each story individually,\u201d McDevitt says. \u201cBut they also will close in a specific order to give a different sense of conclusion.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2020\/10\/08\/6d4a8491\/acv_screen_fwd_personal_life_200712_945pm_cest.jpg\")
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The Hit List<\/b><\/h2>\n
Eivor isn\u2019t the only Viking hero. Sigurd is Eivor\u2019s brother, the son of King Styrbjorn by blood (Eivor is adopted, but no less part of the family) and the clan\u2019s official leader in England. When Sigurd returns home after a few years away, he is accompanied by some Hidden Ones, and this is how Eivor gets wrapped up in a conflict against the Order of the Ancients. You have a full menu (inspired by the one in Odyssey) that lists your targets from the order; taking them out helps you secure alliances in new areas, but Eivor can reap those benefits without being ideologically committed to the cause. \u201cIt\u2019s not as black and white as, \u2018I\u2019m 100-percent enemies with the Order of the Ancients, and 100-percent friends with the Hidden Ones,\u2019\u201d McDevitt says. \u201cIt\u2019s a little more juicy than that.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2020\/10\/08\/00cf3a6a\/acv_ubifwd_0720_enemy_variety.jpg\")
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Accommodating Combat<\/b><\/h2>\n
Versatility is a driving force behind Valhalla\u2019s brutal combat. With dual-wielding and a variety of weapons like axes, bows, and the iconic hidden blade, you can pursue a fighting style that feels right for you. Plus, different abilities attached to specific pieces of gear give you even more options. For example, you might have an armor set that increases your damage output if you\u2019re low on health, which is a high-risk approach that can result in spectacular triumph or terrible defeat. Or maybe you\u2019d rather play it safe and strike from the shadows. \u201cIf you want to play a badass Viking who likes to fight with a two-handed axe, the game will support that,\u201d Laferri\u00e8re<\/span> says. \u201cIf you want to play an assassin oriented around stealth, the game will allow you to do that \u2026 it\u2019s a game that caters to a lot of different playstyles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2020\/10\/08\/b971709a\/acv_ubifwd_0720_openworld_two_female.jpg\")
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Terror On The Water<\/b><\/h2>\n
You can\u2019t be a Viking raider without raiding, and you can\u2019t raid without a ship. Valhalla puts Eivor in command of a ship and crew, allowing you to attack English settlements and gain resources. But formal raids aren\u2019t the only time you can get some help from your Viking companions. \u201cWe came up with \u2018raid anywhere,\u2019 which is basically any sort of military location along the shores,\u201d Laferri\u00e8re says. \u201cNot necessarily a \u2018raid,\u2019 per se, but you\u2019re able to use your crew to help you out in this context.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/prod-media.gameinformer.com\/styles\/body_default\/s3\/2018\/09\/30\/ceee8e82\/d.jpg\")
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Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (2018)<\/p>\n<\/article>\n
Lessons From Odyssey<\/b><\/h2>\n
Before Valhalla, Ubisoft Montreal\u2019s last Assassin\u2019s Creed game was Origins. However, with Odyssey releasing in 2018, the team was also able to learn from that installment during Valhalla\u2019s development. This includes integrating some of Odyssey\u2019s successful innovations, like how players use skills in combat. \u201cA good example of something Odyssey brought is all the abilities you can equip,\u201d Laferri\u00e8re says. \u201cThat\u2019s a super-cool thing we wanted to bring back with our own flavor and our own twist in Valhalla.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nValhalla is also able to improve on areas where Odyssey faced some criticism. For example, Odyssey had a lot of cool legendary weapons and armor, but they could get buried amid an abundance of not-so-cool loot. \u201cWe wanted to transition from an economy that is loot-based to something more collection-based,\u201d Laferri\u00e8re says. \u201cVikings were taking good care of their weapons and gear, sometimes passing them down generations, so that\u2019s something that is historically accurate. But the reason we did it isn\u2019t only because of history. It\u2019s mostly because of player behavior. We know that when players find a good piece of loot, they like to stick with it and upgrade it.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/prod-media.gameinformer.com\/styles\/body_default\/s3\/2019\/07\/24\/9d577174\/top.jpg\")
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Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: The Fate of Atlantis DLC (2019)<\/p>\n<\/article>\n
The Modern-Day Story <\/b><\/h2>\n
Assassin\u2019s Creed Origins introduced a new modern-day story arc starring Layla Hassan, and Odyssey continued Layla\u2019s quest. Valhalla is the concluding chapter of that tale. Like previous entries, some sequences have players controlling Layla outside of the Animus \u2013 but your interactions with the modern-day arc now go beyond those interludes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe amount of time you spend in the present day would be equivalent to [Origins and Odyssey], but with the added provision that there are these Animus anomalies in the simulation layer,\u201d McDevitt says. \u201cYou\u2019ll find quite a lot of them; when you find them as Eivor and touch them, the whole simulation freezes and then Layla drops the disguise. She becomes Layla in the simulation, and then you have dialogue with your present-day characters there, and you have to solve puzzles, and things like that. And they are very cool, and the rewards for them are mind-blowing. So, we found a way so you don\u2019t have to get out of the Animus at all times to do the present-day; sometimes the present day happens in the Animus.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2020\/10\/08\/554fc911\/acv_ubifwd_0720_gameplay_assault.jpg\")
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Next-Gen Advantages<\/b><\/h2>\n
Even though Valhalla is releasing on current- and next-gen consoles, the content of the game remains the same no matter what system you play on. The big difference between the versions is technical, with the new generation offering improved visuals and performance. \u201cI\u2019m playing the game on the test kits that we have, and it\u2019s definitely a cool and smooth experience,\u201d Laferri\u00e8re says. \u201cI\u2019m amazed by what we can get. Just think about your go-to AC game and think about the amount of loading that we have, and how much improving that can help. For example, when you use the raven in [Valhalla]. Traditionally, if the raven or eagle would go too far, you would have this loading. Now, in a normal use of your raven, you immediately go back to your character \u2026 Because next-gen has better loading capacities and so on, I feel that the immersion of the game will just be better.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
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