Another Assassin’s Creed game, another time period, and another huge world to explore. But is this Assassin’s Creed game worth playing? I’m talking about the game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, another huge open-world game, but this time set in the Middle Ages with the rise of Vikings invading Europe. Assassin’s Creed is finally going back to Europe, but picking an older time period than the original games which was set during the Renaissance in Italy. I admit that I do like the time period and I think that there’s a lot that you can do with it in history, especially in a video game, but my first impression is, did Assassin’s Creed combine the games of God of war 4 and Elder Scrolls Skyrim and maybe mix it up a little bit with For Honor because I feel like we’ve seen this game before. It’s not like other games haven’t been set during a similar time. So why does this particular time period feel so special and why should an Assassin’s Creed game be made during the time? That’s what I keep asking myself as I’ve been playing this game. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a bad game. It is good, but nothing original in the storyline. I feel like I’ve played this game before. Unfortunately, not every Assassin’s Creed game is great. This will make the 12th major Assassin’s Creed title and that’s not even counting all the expansion or mobile games and mini campaigns. It’s safe to say that we’ve had a great fill of Assassin’s Creed games, not all of them are good, but every once in a while we get a groundbreaking game. I would say that the last two have been groundbreaking in their own way and the games are probably the biggest games in the franchise. I’m referring to Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. I love them both. However, maybe we’ve hit another snag in the franchise where we get a subpar game because I can honestly say that Valhalla is not as good as Origins or Odyssey.

Let me tell you what I do like about the game.  It’s the same kind of Assassin’s Creed game that we’ve been playing since the beginning, so the controls are very familiar and after a great first act that you have to complete before you get to the larger map, you definitely feel like this has the makings of a good game. That feeling quickly fades away when you realize that you’re playing more of a hack and slash game than in Assassin’s Creed game. It felt so familiar to me that I felt like I was playing the Viking campaign from For Honor again or starting over in God of War 4. I love Assassin’s Creed games, but I want something new, not something that I feel like I’ve played before.  So immediately we jump into a time period that any gamer who loves RPG games has already explored before in some other game like The Elder Scrolls. I’m not saying that the time period is bad for video games, there’s a lot of enjoyment, especially when you’re getting to play with a Viking battle axe and crack skulls. There’s a lot of historical places that you will visit in this map. However, if all you’re going to do is make a video game about Viking raids and how they shaped the history of Europe, does it need to be an Assassin’s Creed game. I am playing this game on the new Xbox Series X so the graphics are amazing, It really feels like I’m playing a movie. but to make any game great, it always comes down to the gameplay and it just feels way too familiar.  And that’s always bad for a video Game.  I recently started playing Assassin’s Creed Origins again Anne got reminded about how much I love this game from when I reviewed it in 2017. It was a world that I had never played a video game man and a huge map that just seemed endless. I didn’t think Assassin’s Creed could top that game and then they came out with the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which was a great companion to Origins and with the maps being so huge you could easily put 150 to 200 hours into the game making it worth the money. I’m sure you can put the same amount of time in Valhalla, but would you really want to if you’ve played this time period before in other video games. Great graphics alone can’t save a game and even if the gameplay is good, especially with a good old-fashioned hack and slash game, if the time period is boring and doesn’t seem original then how can it hold your interest long enough to put in 150 to 200 hours. I find myself wanting to go back again and again to Assassin’s Creed Origins or Assassin’s Creed Odyssey so that doesn’t bode well for the new Assassin’s Creed game.  Then again I find myself wanting to play an Elder Scrolls game again because of the time period  Everything that we love about Assassin’s Creed games is there, If you like exploring and you like being able to do stealth attacks and assassinations on top of heavy fighting, you’ll get all that along with a huge world to explore, but are Vikings really that interesting.

Besides the fact that the game feels too familiar and I do think this is the wrong time period for an Assassin’s Creed game there are some other things that it doesn’t have going for it. While it is a fun weapon, the Viking battle-ax, especially for hack and slash type games, the controls can be a little wonky from light to heavy attacks. If you don’t time it perfectly with an enemy who has a long spear or a huge shield, then you’re going to find yourself getting killed pretty easily. I’m not saying that there isn’t a bit of a learning curve in any Assassin’s Creed game when it comes to timing, but I’ve also never played an Assassin’s Creed game that felt this buggy. And to take another page from an Elder Scrolls game, there seems to be a lot of building settlements, which I feel like her tedious and boring. Going on missions is always the best part of Assassin’s Creed, especially if you have to take down enemies who stole something. Again, I get back to how fun Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was because you had those various side missions.  I just don’t feel like you get the same thing in Valhalla. Now, while Viking and Celtic lore always great for storytelling.  The Elder Scrolls have definitely had those same elements, so is it necessary for an Assassin’s Creed game? For me, it doesn’t make you want to play the game.  I find myself skipping the scenes and trying to get to the action. Assassin’s Creed games have always had a good story, explaining the overall theme of that particular game, but it hasn’t been so drawn out, especially with not being able to get through cutscenes and giving this lagging feel to the game and doesn’t have enough action. I don’t know about you, but I don’t play video games to watch a movie, especially one that I feel like I’ve seen before. So why this particular time period.  Out of all the time periods in history that you can design an Assassin’s Creed game, why the Middle Ages and the rise of Vikings. I wonder if the gaming developers felt that with the Vikings TV series ending, we needed a video game to keep up that storyline.   It’s almost like the writers are huge Vikings fans and just want to continue The TV storyline.  I’m sorry, but that is just a lack of originality and great video games have unique and original storylines. It doesn’t make me want to play the game and pay full price for the game on it’s release date.  At this point, I feel like I can ignore this game and come back to it in a year or two and probably still wouldn’t have the same excitement as I have had for past Assassin’s Creed games.

The biggest issue with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is it feels too familiar, so why would you spend $60 to $70 for a game that you feel like you’ve already played. There are so many interesting time periods in regions of the world that have not been explored like in the Far East. You think an Assassin’s Creed game in ancient China couldn’t be fantastic. It’s as if the writers think only certain time periods are interesting or certain parts of the world. we have thousands of years of history and many parts of the world beyond just Western Europe or the ancient Holy Land. For anybody who likes Assassin’s Creed, this game is familiar enough that you will enjoy it if you like that particular gameplay, but this game is not interesting enough to run out and buy it unless it’s on sale.  This time period has been done to death in RPG’s but I guess it was only a matter of time before Assassin’s Creed put their own stamp on this time. Now this is a gorgeous game and plays fantastic on the new Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 so it’s definitely a game that should be bought for the new consoles, but just because a game looks good isn’t a good enough reason to play it. I will continue to play this game, but it will never be my go-to Assassin’s Creed game to revisit and I doubt it will be for anyone else. For people who think this is the greatest Assassin’s Creed game ever made, clearly, you’ve never played the older ones. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla suffers from being too familiar, That’s its biggest weakness and why gamers shouldn’t pay full price.  Like I’ve said, wait till it’s on sale. But when you do, at least you know that the controls will be familiar and nothing has really changed within an Assassin’s Creed game. So I guess it has that going for it.  I can’t say that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is great. It’s not even one of the better Assassin’s Creed games, but it is fun and it will give you a whole new huge open world to explore and give you endless hours of game playing.  That’s the one thing you can count on. But the game is not great, it’s simply OK and it’s a good game destined for the bargain bin as you wait for the new Elder Scrolls game.