After a couple of days of anticipation and rumours, Ubisoft has finally revealed the setting and the name of the next game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Called Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the newest entry in the Action-RPG series will take players on a Viking adventure. However, from the initial reveal, it seems that there is a lot more going on with Valhalla than what meets the eye.
The art that was revealed by Ubisoft shows a couple of very interesting locations that the game could take place in. The first one includes what looks like a Norwegian fjord with Viking longboats sailing through. This makes sense as the game is indeed about the Vikings. However, the second revealed location is what makes things much more fascinating.
On the official Assassin’s Creed Valhalla artwork released by Ubisoft, the second location looks like a British medieval castle. Not only that, the image also includes some Viking raiders going head to head against British soldiers, right in the foreground of the castle. This means that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla could actually end up being absolutely massive in scale since it covers regions outside of the Scandinavia as well.
Furthermore, after Odyssey and its heavy focus on naval battles in the vast open seas between different parts of ancient Greece, it looks like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is going to double down on the concept and we’re going to have a lot more naval combat. However, whether it is as deep and meaningful as the fan-favourite Assassin’s Creed Black Flag or is just there for you to gather resources like Odyssey remains to be seen.
Over the past couple of entries, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has been trying to delve more and more into the mythological realm. From the ancient gods of Egypt to the mythical creatures of ancient Greece, we’ve already seen our fair share of fantasy within Assassin’s Creed.
And, although some people dislike the idea of the franchise turning into a fantasy game rather than a straight up story of the Assassins, it does provide some very compelling depth to the origin of the Assassin order and the Isu, which had already blurred the line between fantasy and reality anyway.
So, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will also double down on the fantasy aspect of the franchise and what better setting for it than the Vikings themselves. In the revealed image, we can see the main character wearing a fur-lined armour while wielding an axe with the Assassins emblem on it.
However, a more interesting detail is the fact that the character has a very Thor-like beard. What seals the deal though for all of this being a mythological adventure though is the presence of a black raven in the background, which is the bird commonly associated with the Viking god Odin.
So, it could either end up being a more expansive God of War game set within the Assassin’s Creed universe or these could just be subtle hints to Norse gods much like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Origins.
Watch the World Premiere of Assassin's Creed Valhalla April 30th at 8am PDT / 5pm CEST. #AssassinsCreed
— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) April 29, 2020
Thankfully, we won’t have to wait very long to find out as Ubisoft has already announced a full world premiere for the game tomorrow, Thursday 30th April, at 8 am PDT/ 5pm CEST.
What are your predictions for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla? Let us know down in the comments below!