It's hard to believe, but the Xbox Series X releases tomorrow, officially ushering in the next generation of gaming. The PS5 won't be far behind at that point, releasing on November 12th, at which point all fans will have had a chance to experience this new frontier. Among the many titles releasing on these consoles at launch, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is one of the more high profile ones that fans are excited about.
As with any Assassin's Creed game, there are high expectations for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Fans expect that if anyone could push the next generation hardware to its limits, it would be Ubisoft, and a Viking themed Assassin's Creed game could be just the thing to do that. Even so, the last two games in the series, Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Origins, have been somewhat divisive given their tendency towards RPG mechanics and away from the series' roots, so there's a level of angst amongst the community about this release.
With that in mind, fans may want to know just how much Assassin's Creed Valhalla leans into the RPG aspects of its predecessors, and how well it handles those mechanics when compared to previous entries. Below are some reviews that give insight to what the game does well and where it could do better, and should answer those questions and any others prospective buyers may have about the game.
GameZXC (Joshua Duckworth)
Where AC Origins introduced RPG mechanics and AC Odyssey took a leap of faith in pushing forward, Assassin's Creed Valhalla brings back the general feeling of being an Assassin from the core action-adventure titles. Indeed, by emphasizing the adventure and exploration components of the franchise, Assassin's Creed Valhalla may just be the most true-to-form release in many years.
Score: 4.5/5
IGN (Brandin Tyrrel)
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a big, bold, and ridiculously beautiful entry to the series that finally delivers on the much-requested era of the Viking and the messy, political melting pot of England’s Dark Ages. It walks a fine line between historical tourism, top-shelf conspiracy theory, and veiled mysticism against the backdrop of a grounded and focused story. Fresh takes on several of the series’ established loot and quest systems help to keep the things fluid and nuanced, though progression could use refinement. There’s also a bigger than usual horde of bugs and blemishes to contend with from start to finish. But while it may not be the most stylish or polished, its rugged and brutal look at the muddy business of Scandanavian expansion is as memorable and dense as an Assassin’s Creed has ever been, and it makes great use of the new consoles.
Score: 8/10
Game Informer (Joe Juba)
I loved 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (especially after its post-release support), but that love was always tempered by a desire for improvements. I wished the content felt more carefully curated. I hated grinding to progress the story. I got sick of managing an inventory bloated with loot. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla addresses all of those issues and more, creating a rewarding experience at every turn, whether you’re pursuing the main narrative or hunting down treasure. I'm sure Valhalla is not the perfect Assassin’s Creed game for all players, but it is certainly my new favorite entry.
Score: 9.25/10
GamesRadar+ (Louise Blaine)
An intimidatingly huge, atmospheric world of mysteries to solve but now with even more opportunities. There’s also an intriguing central mystery with a frankly catnip lore ending for longtime AC fans and some WTF moments for everyone else. Stronger, bolder, and with a welcome reintroduction of the best bits of the older games, Valhalla is a roaring bloodied success with a true heart.
Score: 4.5/5
TheGamer (Cian Maher)
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was a risk. Not really because it took Vikings as its subject matter — people love Vikings, to the extent that loads of folks are a bit sick of Norse stuff at this point. It was a risk because it compounded the ideals of Assassin’s Creed’s origins and Assassin’s Creed Origins. Fortunately, it turns out that the best game in this series is the one that’s drawn from pretty much everything that came before it, in order to carve out its own unique identity based on the absolute best bits of its many, many predecessors.
Score: 4.5/5
ScreenRant (Rob Gordon)
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a game of binaries and an ambitious, striking effort, even if it doesn't always have the steadiest of feet. It's a good game, and even great at times, but it never quite manages to work out how to settle its past with its future.
Score: 3.5/5
PCGamer (Steven Messner)
These little improvements go a long way in making Valhalla more inviting and fun than Odyssey. Assassin's Creed's transformation into a full-blown RPG hasn't been the cleanest one, especially as features like stealth feel left to stagnate while other aspects get so much better. But Valhalla succeeds on so many levels that it's easy to forgive the times when it doesn't. It's an enormous game, and it'll probably take me another 20 hours to finish everything I still haven't completed. I honestly can't wait.
Score: 92/100
It doesn't take long reading through these to discover that reviewers are generally excited about Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with positive scores across the board. Many seem to cite the same issues, graphical bugs or performance hiccups, while also praising the same things that make it great. AC Valhalla's open world design, ability to blend the old and the new together, and focus on exploration are all cause for celebration amongst these reviews.
It's worth noting that there are no perfect review scores for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and that's for good reason. Unfortunately, this isn't a flawless and perfect Assassin's Creed game, and it does seem to have its fair share of issues. Many of these will be familiar to players that enjoyed the previous two entries, but for the most part they are written off as not being game breaking. Players have gotten used to these types of minor bugs from Ubisoft games, though it is still a shame that they couldn't be ironed out. All in all, most reviews seem to agree that this is the best Assassin's Creed game Ubisoft has made to date, and for a franchise this popular, that really is saying something.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla releases on November 10th for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, and November 12th for PS5.
