I've played with Assassin's Creed Valhalla before, these are my impressions

The new Assassin's Creed game is already in solid form. I have played with Eivor in AC Valhalla and we will tell you what it is like to play with the Vikings of Ubisoft.
The Assassin's franchise was resurrected with the arrival of the excellent Assassin's Creed Origins, followed by a huge and very worthy Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Now, as the second anniversary of the launch of the latter approaches, we are about to witness the arrival of the next installment, which promises to maintain the fundamental pillars of this new phase but adapted to the Nordic setting. Keep your eyes open, because I've already played Assassin's Creed Valhalla and we're going to give you some first impressions after a couple of hours of play.

As you know, AC Valhalla is set in the 9th century, during what was known as the Viking Age. The Vikings travel far beyond Norway and invade the territories in their path. Much of the burden of history is on England, which is totally fragmented by internal wars.

Our protagonist is Eivor, the best warrior of a Norwegian clan that seeks to establish itself in England and create a new course for its people. But of course, to do so he will have to face other rival clans and decide which factions of the Anglo-Saxons he decides to ally with in pursuit of a common future?

A week ago, we were able to try out a two-hour game in a somewhat advanced portion of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Specifically, we are in a large area of East Anglia, where we are helping to strengthen the position of King Oswald, as he prepares to marry Valdis, a Viking warrior, which will lead to an alliance of both sides. But of course, it's all full of Nordic mercenaries with their own plans and local clans that don't accept this situation...

When it's our turn to jump into action, we can choose between a male or a female version of Eivor. This doesn't affect the gameplay or events at all, so it all depends on your tastes.

They haven't gone "loki" with the controls

If you've tried one of the last two games in the franchise, you won't find many surprises at the checkpoint. Eivor walks and runs as usual and the front buttons on the controller are used for interaction, feinting, jumping, and ducking.

The use of the trigger and the right shoulder button is also maintained, which are intended for light and heavy attacks. This time, however, the emphasis is on using both hands independently, so we can use the left shoulder button (L1 on PS4, LB on Xbox One) to use whatever is in that hand - a shield to hit with, an axe...

Of course, there will also be two-handed weapons in AC Valhalla, from giant Danish axes to spears and flails. We can also execute special attacks, although their mapping on the controller has changed: by leaving the left trigger pressed we can see those related to the bow, while with the left trigger we see those at short and medium range.

There will be everything: multiple or poisoned shots for the bow, lunges, kicks or axe rounds for the short distance... I haven't seen anything particularly new in this area, but it will certainly be very rough and sharp movements.

An important change is that the enemies no longer have levels, so one of the most tedious aspects of the last installments disappears (thanks to Odin!): we can continue to level up to acquire new skills, but we no longer need to "get by" by going through the open-world to go up 5 levels and be able to face that bad guy who was far above us.

These skills that we can keep gaining are distributed in a new tree of improvement, which is somewhat more classified so that we can improve the facets that really interest us the most: more resistance, better attack, etc. But we can also choose to improve the effectiveness of the three types of weapons and equipment: bear, raven or wolf. If we greatly improve one of these "styles", the weapons in that category will become much more effective.

One facet that remains in the new Assassin's Creed is the special attack meter, which is based on the ability to hit enemies. Each portion of the meter will allow a special attack to be executed, but we must now also keep an eye on the resistance meter. To prevent us from feinting like crazy, each time we attack or dodge the meter will be consumed a little, so we have to be more precise when planning the attacks. If the meter runs out, Eivor will pant and attack much more slowly, which will leave it exposed.

Luckily, it only takes a few seconds to recover the breath. Apart, of course, there will be the health meter, which if exhausted will lead us to death and the last checkpoint. To recover life, you have to press right on the crosshead, which serves to consume some of the berries that we have collected. Yes, in this Ubisoft game we recover health with berries, while mushrooms serve to gain adrenaline. Homeopathic stuff, we guess.

The rest of the directions on the crosshead also have their use in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Again, by pressing up we deploy our bird to fly and show us the nearby targets (although in this case, it's a crow, as it is de rigueur); by pressing left, we can whistle to nearby enemies or call to our mount; and, if we press down, we access a quick menu of tools, from the torch to a hood that increases our degree of stealth.

And speaking of the latter, how important is stealth, one of the pillars of Assassin's Creed, in this installment? After all, the Vikings weren't famous for being silent and subtle, were they? Well, friends, it doesn't matter: here, stealth is as important as direct action, and again, it's possible to attack from behind to kill enemies at a stroke and infiltrate enemy installations like a ninja.

However, when Eivor goes "bare-chested", she does so with all its consequences: direct attacks are bloody and brutal, to the point that we have two ways of finishing off dying enemies: with the hidden blade, as always? Or directly by trampling them, without half measures!

In other words: for playable purposes, we use the stealth-attack ratio as in the last deliveries. But, visually, it's a little cruder, to reflect that savagery for which the Nordics were famous. As expected, we can also go on horseback and attack from the saddle or pick up objects.

Take your battering ram and a-lap at the world

In fact, the mapping promises to be huge once again, so it will be important both to take advantage of our horse (which, let's remember, we can call at any time) and to make good use of the boats we find on the riverbanks. And of course, an Assassin's Creed wouldn't be the same without the corresponding watchtowers, which we can climb to synchronize and unlock the quick trip.

This brings us to the tasks and objectives. In the two hours of play I've enjoyed, I've seen all kinds of tasks and mini-games. The main missions I saw were focused on bringing the wedding of Oswaldo and Valdis to a successful conclusion, but in order to do that, we had to free the first one in Burgh Castle, which leads to a siege, one of the new game dynamics.

This consists of conquering some fortified surroundings, but with all its details: first we arrive by boat while dodging and covering ourselves with the enemy's arrows, then we arrive on land and face the first rival soldiers and, finally, we have to enter the heart of the fortification.

To do this, we advance with our army while some of our soldiers carry a battering ram, with which they break down the gates. The aim is to clear the way of enemy soldiers so that the battering ram can do its job: to knock down the gates. When there are only a few enemy soldiers left, we can help use the battering ram ourselves: we have to retreat far enough away so that the ram icon flashes. When that happens, we pull a trigger and move forward with everything to reduce the gate to splinters.

At the end of the way, the inevitable final boss will be waiting for us. In this case, it was Rued, the leader of another Viking clan, who attacked under the escort of a wolf. Upon victory, that fortification is conquered and we enhance our presence and influence in the area.

If you drink, don't ride.

The siege is not the only new dynamic at Assassin's Creed Valhalla. We also have a lot of new mini-games, most of them very fun. Our favorite, for now, is the Insult Duel, which is hopelessly reminiscent of the golden years of Monkey Island: an opponent launches a "verbal attack" on us and we have a few seconds to choose between three possible responses. To win, we have to choose the one that is the most ingenious, and that, moreover, rhymes with what he has said. After a few successful replies, we will win the money we would have a bet.

It is known that the Vikings also had a reputation for, ahem, partying like no one else, so we can get into a mini drinking game. In it, we have to press a button as quickly as possible and with the rhythm set by the audience that encourages us, to empty our drinking horn before the rival. As we drink more, our vision will become blurred and the sound of the audience will be distorted, so it will be more difficult to get it right - we will even have to press a direction from time to time, to regain our balance! A very funny dynamic.

I've had time to watch a lot of other side games: finding valuables in abandoned Roman temples, finding and destroying cursed objects in caves, collecting key papers before they are blown away (Assassin's Creed III style), hunting and collecting ingredients to improve our weapons and equipment...

The more fantastic side will not be missing either. The developers have already assured that Viking mythology will carry some weight in the story. I, for example, have been able to confront Cordelia, one of the Daughters of Lerion, a demon goddess who throws all kinds of magical attacks at us and dodges most of our special attacks. It's not easy to win, but in exchange for defeating her, we get a special dagger and skill points.

Aside from more skill-based challenges, I have witnessed many moments in the game where I have to make decisions that affect development. This was also the case in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, but it seems to imply that here everything will branch out more: we can choose to support or not which characters or even decide whether to accept a fight to the death or to have someone else do it in our place, with the future connotations that this may have, both in terms of changing the story and in terms of moral support that we win. We will have to wait for the final game to really know the weight of our decisions.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, you rascals: yes, it is possible to have intimate relationships with several characters in the game, whatever their sex is and whatever our Eivor of sex is. So, it is possible for a man to have sex with another man, for example. It doesn't seem to have much significance at the playable level, although again, we will have to wait for the final version to see if this influences the game's supports.

I'm looking forward to seeing the segments of the present, although it's known that they will return in this installment and that, once again, they will be starring Layla Hassan. They promise that there will be surprises in this area, but we still don't know where the shots will go...

In any case, as we can see, the development is evolving just enough to "justify" this new delivery. What about the technical section? Well, I've played for now on PC with a version that is still quite "work in progress", so it probably doesn't represent the final result, but, based on the reference we have right now, an "initial verdict" would be that here too it has evolved just enough to justify it...

Which, bearing in mind that AC Odyssey was at a great level, means that the visual section is at a good level. The surroundings and the lighting are particularly outstanding, with shadows cast or light sifted through the trees. It's true that I haven't seen the majesty of the Roman or Egyptian temples of foreplay, but this one presents us with a more decadent and somber context. In any case, that facet is well served.

The character models are more irregular. Eivor, both in female and male versions, has a very strong presence and other secondary characters such as King Oswaldo or Finnr, the main friend of the protagonist, are also very detailed. But the rest of the characters would appreciate a top layer of detail and expressiveness. Especially since this game is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X as well, and you'd have to "show them off" a little...

What I really liked was the soundtrack, full of moments with Viking choruses and warlike melodies that put the action in the body. You can see the return to the franchise of that great composer Jesper Kyd. We missed him!

Overall, this first look at Assassin's Creed Valhalla has left us satisfied, but not surprised. Both technically and playable, it brings the purely essential changes from a proven success formula, which will serve to make veterans feel at home, but maybe a stumbling block for the more agnostic franchisees to give it a try. There is still time to polish up the adventure for its launch at the end of the year. Until then, only Odin knows what fate awaits Eivor. I'm still interested in being his comrades-in-arms. Skol!