Assassin's Creed: Valhalla: PS4 Review

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal
Published by Ubisoft
Platform: PS4

The twenty second Assassin's Creed release sends everyone back to the past again.

This time though, it's to Viking times we head with the tale of Eivor, a Viking (male or female, it's your choice) who's caught in the middle of the conflict between the Vikings and the marauding Anglo-Saxon hordes.

Caught in the invasion, Eivor's world is further complicated when he/she meets the Hidden Ones and joins the fight against the Order of the Ancients....

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla starts with brutality as Eivor's family is slaughtered in front of them, and the brutality continues through, from the kind of attacks Eivor can launch to the stealth attacks. It's a gory game, but its bloody atmospherics work well.

There are a few bugs here and there, with Eivor occasionally crashing into mountainsides, and buildings, at the most unexpected and inopportune moments. It's a shame that Ubisoft didn't sort these before launch.

But much like Assassin's Creed: Odyssey did, the game delights in its open world - and occasional side quests. From events like having to outdrink a co-villager (an intriguing use of quick time) to more chunkier missions, the game's open world comes to life and breathes on its own terms. Being guided from mission to mission feels a little less like a grind this time around, and while there are hundreds of hours to kill within, the choice is there to dawdle or to follow the game.

And in parts, it looks beautiful too. From blood-soaked encounters to gorgeous sunsets and rises along coastal areas, this is a game that clearly prides itself on its visuals - they'll look even more spectacular on the next gen engines.

At the end of the day, it's an Assassin's Creed game, and it really doesn't flout what you've come to expect of the series - it's playable enough, despite glitches, but its timesuck is only worth it thanks to the story and the visuals.