Assassin’s Creed Valhalla alluded to: raid with angry Vikings

We are sorry! We were just lying peacefully in front of the harbor in the small English village of Beodericsworth with our land ship. Then in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, as the leader of a group of Vikings, we pressed a button on the gamepad to issue the order to attack – and let hell break loose!

With a loud shout, a dozen of our computer-controlled subordinates run into the settlement and dismantle the enemy soldiers. Honestly, we didn’t expect such a storm. That is why we are still holding onto the railing of our sailing ship and are amazed at what we have done.

Then, however, we follow the other Vikings and plunge ourselves into the battle for Beodericsworth. In this attack, we control the main character Eivor. The goal is clear: Defeat all enemy soldiers including two or three elite warriors in close combat, loot all treasure chests and then leave.

Valhalla sent us from Denmark as a female or male Viking (the name Eivor remains the same) from 873 to the east coast of England. We are looking for a new home there and are building a settlement.

Job market

1. August Storck KG, Halle (Westphalia)
2. CipSoft GmbH, Regensburg

Not all indigenous people are against us, but we are also not very welcome. We fight against enemy Englishmen and bandits, partly against other Vikings.

As part of the raid, we learn about the new combat system like in a crash course. This is visibly and noticeably different from all of its predecessors: Eivor is so uninhibited by the enemy soldiers that no previous part of the series can keep up.

We are certain: Even predecessors like Connor from Assassin’s Creed 3, who is also not very squeamish, would have no chance against us as Vikings in anger mode.

The basic control is similar to the previous series parts, so that we can get started without a learning curve. But the feeling of the game works differently: With Eivor we strike unusually violently and jump with huge sentences from opponent to opponent, to whom we can even blow out the very last virtual spirits with one kick in the face.

But even a super-strong Viking chief has no unlimited powers: from time to time our alter ego has to gasp and pause for a few moments – stupid when an enemy hits us in the back.

That certainly happens, because the opponents are also much more aggressive than in the predecessors. It even happens that an annoyed opponent throws his sword away and blindly hits us with his shield. We fight back with an ax or with two axes in one hand. Ideally, however, the opponents will never come close to us.

Namely, when we kill them with a bow and arrow at a medium distance, which worked well when we played them. It seems strangely brutal and macabre to stop an onslaught with arrows and watch it fall. Too bad that this only works for a limited number of opponents.

Similar to the last one in Odyssey, we can unlock extra weapons and attacks. At Valhalla, that’s about one to three small throwing axes, which we simply fling blindly into the enemy crowd after the cooldown and make our lives noticeably easier.