Xbox have revealed their first haul of games headed to PC Game Pass in 2024, and there are some corkers. Among the selection is one of - if not the - best horror games ever made, a whopping Assassin’s Creed that ranks as one of the better entries in the series and some other interesting picks, too. Let’s get stuck in.
]]>Cor, has it really been almost half a year since we've done one of these? Apologies, readers. I honestly don't know where the time goes. It's probably because we're spending too much time with our favourite guilty pleasure games, which is the subject of this latest Ask RPS column.
The question comes courtesy of ronzilla, who asked: What were your favourite guilty pleasure games of 2022? As in, I play this all the time and I'm semi-embarrassed to admit it?
A good question! In canvassing the wider RPS Treehouse for their responses, it quickly became clear that most of our guilty pleasure games extend way beyond the bounds of just the year 2022, so we've answered a bit more broadly than the original question perhaps intended. Still, hopefully there are still some entertaining answers in here nonetheless.
]]>I expect the life of the average person in ninth-century England was a lot tougher than the fantastical future full of video games we inhabit more than a millennium later. Well, Ubisoft and Capcom have teamed up to make the lives of digital peasants even harder, by shoving some Monster Hunter World themed gubbins into Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Have a watch of the trailer below to see just how bizarre this crossover is.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla snuck onto Steam last week, but Ubisoft say they won't be adding Steam Achievements. You can still unlock 70 of the things via Ubisoft Connect, which launches automatically when you boot the game up on Steam anyway - so the only functional difference is that your achievements won't all be in the same place. People don't love that, which is fair, but let's keep our heads now.
]]>It's time to say your goodbyes to Eivor - and your surprise, early hellos to a new character from Mirage, the next game in Ubisoft's eternal series of stab 'em ups. Asassin's Creed Valhalla's free, final content update has arrived a week early, sending Eivor off to North America for one last hurrah.
There are actually two links to Mirage, because this final chapter features *more* of its protagonist, Basim, who Valhalla persevere-ers will have already met. I bailed after 15 hours and so have very little idea what's going on, which is a shame because I'd love a chinwag with Shohreh Aghdashloo.
]]>Several Ubisoft games are heading to Steam, signalling a return to Valve’s storefront for the publisher. In a statement to Eurogamer, Ubisoft confirmed that their open-world history ‘em up Assassin’s Creed Valhalla would be arriving on Steam on December 6th. It’ll be followed by other games from the publisher, although only RTS Anno 1800 and free to play skater Roller Champions have been touted so far.
]]>It’s been two years this month since Viking parkour pioneer Eivor sailed their longship into the convoluted waters of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series. Assassin's Creed Valhalla's journey comes to an end on December 6th with the arrival of title update 1.6.2 for the historical action RPG, along with the free The Last Chapter DLC. That concludes Eivor’s story, but unfortunately you won’t be able to continue your medieval adventures in New Game Plus. Ubisoft have confirmed that there won’t be any such mode coming to the game.
]]>Assassin’s Creed Valhalla might be winding down before the series heads to Baghdad with Mirage next year, but today’s free 1.6.1 update lets your friendly neighbourhood viking tackle one last set of puzzle tombs. There’s also a new building that lets you craft runes, along with the usual bug fixes and performance tweaks. The village of Ravensthorpe’s Oskoreia festival returns for one last bash next month too.
]]>What sounds like the entire Assassin’s Creed line-up for Saturday’s Ubisoft Forward presentation may have been leaked online. Unnamed sources have supposedly told TryHardGuides that three new AC games will be announced during the event, with an instalment set in feudal Japan being among them. Bloomberg backs up the report, stating that the other games purported to be in development include one set in the 16th century that could be dealing with witches, and a mobile game set in China.
]]>Leaked Assassin’s Creed game Mirage is real, Ubisoft have confirmed, and they’re planning to show more of it at next week’s Ubisoft Forward event. All we know for sure so far is that the game exists, it’s definitely called Mirage, and returns to the Middle Eastern setting of the original Assassin’s Creed. I rather like the blue highlights to the assassin’s robes in this one.
]]>What looks like promotional material for an unreleased Assassin’s Creed game is being shared online today, starring someone in assassin garb for the first time in seven years. The images show what’s purported to be artwork of something called The Forty Thieves Quest for the rumoured Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, also known by the development name of Rift.
]]>Back in February, Alice O. highlighted an expansion planned for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla that’s reportedly being spun-off into a standalone stealth game. At the time the project was being referred to as Rift, but multiple sources are now saying the game will be called Assassin’s Creed: Mirage. Both Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier and Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb say they’ve been told by people familiar with the game that Mirage is accurate.
]]>Assassin’s Creed Valhalla may have seen the last of its paid DLC with Dawn Of Ragnarök in March, but today’s free Forgotten Saga update is hoping to draw you back into the game again and again. That's because it's inspired by roguelites, see. Refresh your memory about Valhalla by watching the trailer below.
]]>Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is getting a second year of post-release support. Included on the roadmap is a new free game mode inspired by roguelites. Called The Forgotten Saga, it has Eivor battling against waves of enemies in Niflheim, and try-die-repeating in order to attain unlocks which persist between runs. You'll find a trailer for it below.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla enters its endgame phase with its final DLC Dawn Of Ragnarök, the very concept for which is kind of a big honking spoiler, so consider yourself forewarned.
The series as a whole is still electing to carry on with that subplot about super-advanced precursor god-people, like a chill friend who you ask to party knowing that they will, univited, bring along their mate who is really into a specific genre of sci-fi and will not stop derailing conversations to talk about it. In Valhalla this manifests as protagonist Eivor, Viking raider and big blonde buff meat sculpture, being the reincarnation of Odin, one of the aforementioned god-people. Dawn Of Ragnarök is Eivor dreaming that they are Odin for about 35 hours of adventuring and son-saving in the magical realm of Svartalfheim. That's a pretty intense nap.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla is reaching its end-game, by which I mean the upcoming DLC Dawn Of Ragnarök is positioned as an end-game DLC, after last year's Wrath Of The Druids and The Siege Of Paris expansions. As such, this article is going to contain big honking spoilers for some of the more unbelievable bits of the AC: Valhalla story (which is most of it, tbh), because I really won't be able to set up talking about the Dawn Of Ragnarok preview presentation I attended the other week without mentioning those spoilers. All right? All right.
]]>A planned expansion for Assassin's Creed Valhalla is instead being spun off into its own separate standalone game, a new report claims. The unnamed and unannounced game supposedly stars chaotic frenemy Basim, and will be more a smaller stealth-focused game rather than another rambling open-world murder-o-rama. But are we talking stealth-stealth, or Assassin's Creed stealth, or modern Ubisoft stealth?
]]>Ubisoft is a leaky boat, so we already knew most of the details about Dawn Of Ragnarok thanks to weekend Reddit posts. Now it's official: Valhalla is getting a new 35-hour DLC in which Eivor gets new magic powers and goes to biff up some ice and lava monsters.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla is getting a second year of updates, and alongside a major new expansion comes two crossover missions in which Valhalla's Eivor will meet Assassin's Creed Odyssey protagonist Kassandra. The missions will be available for free tomorrow, with one available in each game.
]]>Update: Yup, it's official.
Original story:Later today, Ubisoft will announce something new for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. They're not yet saying what it is but because Ubisoft either can't or won't keep a secret, leaks have sprung up. According to supposed screenshots and store info, it's an expansion named Dawn Of Ragnarok with a lot of fantasy fanciness, journeying into Norse legend with Odin and dwarves and giants and that.
]]>The next patch for Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a big one: 78GB big. Ubisoft today announced that next week's patch "will "will require players to re-download the entire game as part of a data restructuring." The whole base game, downloaded all over again. It's for a good cause, at least. This should make the game load faster and generally run better, which is a nice change for a game to still have the motivation to deliver a year after launch, but maybe not such welcome news if you're on a slow, throttled, or metered connection.
]]>The best part of primary school in the UK is learning about Vikings: getting to make and decorate cardboard swords and jewellery, write stories about legends, and maybe even escape school with a visit to a historical site. Well, Assassin's Creed Valhalla might not offer the same crafting opportunities, but you can learn a lot about the game's history with the new Discovery Tour mode. It hits Valhalla today in a free update, and will also be sold separately for folks who don't want Valhalla.
]]>If raiding and pillaging your way through England was just a little too breezy for you in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, here's a new challenge for your Eivor. Valhalla's next title update is inbound tomorrow, bringing a new "Aesir" (nightmare) difficulty level. The update is also adding new river raid missions and extra tattoo options. That's all coming in update 1.3.1 tomorrow, September 7th.
]]>Yes, another Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla DLC has been released. And, again, it’s a tad like the base game. But, not totally, because Ubisoft have remembered to put some sneaking in this one. It still has a pebble-stacking minigame, though. You can’t have it all, I guess.
]]>The last time I was in Paris I saw a game developer climb into a giant, plastic skull and bathe in red wine. Which is to say, the bar for exciting Paris happenings has been set pretty high. Did I expect Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Parisian adventure to meet it? I did not. The previous DLC, Wrath Of The Druids, was an underwhelming trip to Ireland that recycled the main game’s settlement development and conspirator assassinations. These ideas were frayed by the end of the campaign, let alone after enduring the rough baggage handling at Irish border control. Chances of surviving yet another long haul journey? Not good.
You certainly fear the worst at The Siege Of Paris’s outset: it’s another of Eivor’s viking pals asking you to visit another farflung region where another local despot is bumping heads with the invaders. That the main story consists of similar regional yarns means any DLC excursions slot neatly into the whole, but it also results in repetition. Go to a place, learn the stakes, make a decision, go home. In this case it’s Charles the Fat causing grief, with his habit of decorating the French countryside with headless settlers. He isn’t subtle, but I do welcome this ogre of a baddie, given the villain-shaped hole in Valhalla proper.
]]>Eric Baptizat, the former game director on Assassin's Creed Valhalla, will be directing the shiny new Dead Space remake at Electronic Arts' Motive Studios. He was previously at Ubisoft for almost 16 years working on a number of Assassin's Creed games, before joining Motive back in April.
From Vikings and stabby men, to aliens and fear - quite the genre leap, but Valhalla was pretty darn good, so that at least bodes well.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla's next major expansion is setting out next month. The Siege Of Paris expansion will send players off to yet another new explorable area in the Frankish countryside. Even if you don't decide to tackle that battle, the next free game update is inbound this week too. Sigrblot Festival kicks off this week with new activities while the raid on Paris will be making landfall on August 12.
]]>The next Assassin’s Creed game might be more like Fortnite and GTA Online than a traditional release. Currently codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity, this is a project within Ubisoft to turn their stabby franchise into a live service game, somehow crafting a connected game service from their time period and region specific game series.
]]>The slow, stealthy progress of the PC absorbing PlayStation has taken another step this week with the latest Assassin’s Creed Valhalla patch. Players using PlayStation 5 controllers with Ubi’s Viking romp will now feel an extra step when pulling the adaptive triggers while aiming, just before letting an arrow loose. This was a PlayStation 5 feature, but now we have it too. Just like we’ll soon have Uncharted 4.
]]>Hot off the heels of Eivor's Irish tour, Assassin's Creed Valhalla will be shuffling us off to Paris this summer. We got a new look at the upcoming DLC The Siege Of Paris at tonight's Ubisoft Forward event, and it seems Ubi have even more viking adventures planned for us over the next year too. From a Discovery Tour that'll let you see how the regular folks in viking times lived, to more DLCs next year (that might be taking us to Muspelheim).
]]>Do you like Mass Effect?... If you answered, “I, SPACEMAN,” then you probably already own the Legendary Edition and may find the conversation that happens in this week's Weekspot redundant. If you checked the box that said, “the only renegade I know of is one-time WCW Television Champion, The Renegade, but I'd love to hear some chat on a remaster of a celebrated RPG trilogy," then I've got just the podcast for you.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla's first major piece of DLC has been released, the Ireland-themed Wrath of the Druids, and now Ubisoft are discounting a whole bunch of Assassin's Creed content to celebrate over at the Ubisoft Store. As well as offering the AC Valhalla DLC Season Pass at 25% off - the first time it's been discounted - you can find significant savings on almost every entry in the long-running sneaky-stabbing franchise.
]]>The first major Assassin’s Creed Valhalla expansion, Wrath of the Druids, is finally out. It’ll let you roam from the England to Ireland, where your long lost cousin Barid is now King of Dublin. He needs your help to unite four regions under his banner. The expansion adds a lusher, hillier land for you to explore, with a new trade system to exploit and a bunch of new villains to battle.
]]>Norse mythology is great. Really, what's not to like about nine magical realms all connected by a giant space tree? The open-world Viking stabbing sim Assassin's Creed Valhalla might be exploring these mythological Norse roots a bit more in the future, as a dataminer has discovered files in the game that reference the toasty realm of Muspelheim - that's the one with fire giants and lava rivers.
]]>It's a little-known fact that Ubisoft generate product ideas by writing game names, mediums, target audiences, and such on scraps of paper, popping them into a big hat, then drawing a handful to discover their next big hit. This foolproof system recently produced the combination of [Assassin's Creed] [Book] [For Children, But Really For Parents] [Mister Men crossover], leading Ubisoft yesterday to announce a series of Mister Men and Little Miss books starring the murderers of Assassin's Creed.
]]>If you've been keen to hop over to Ireland in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, bad news: Ubisoft have announced a two-week delay for its first expansion, Wrath Of The Druids. Previously expected on the 29th of April, it's now due on the 13th of May.
]]>Ubisoft have kicked off their Spring sale today, with discounts of up to 80% up for grabs across a huge range of titles. Running until April 9th, there are some rather tasty discounts to be had on some of Ubisoft's newest games this time round as well, including 50% off Watch Dogs Legion and Immortals Fenyx Rising, and a decent 25% off various editions of Assassin's Creed Valhalla (just in time for the launch of its Ostara Easter festival and upcoming first expansion).
]]>Hope you're ready for spring, Valhalla vikings, because another seasonal festival is about to kick off in the settlement. Ubisoft's next title update for Assassin's Creed Valhalla tomorrow will add gear transmogrification so Eivor always looks their best. Later this week, the new spring festival will bring some new challenges and rewards for you.
]]>Valheim, which is Old Norse for "Valerie is home", came out in early access last month to the roars of Viking-likers everywhere. It is a survival game about building a hut in the woods and then protecting that hut from friends who want to erect a gaudy temple next door, totally ruining the rustic ambience of the whole glade. I guess there's some monsters to fight too. But will any of this matter if you do not make it through cold nights full of dangers, and lean days without food? Just where does your Valheim viking fall on the bar chart of survivability? Here are the 8 toughest Vikings in PC games, a healthy exercise in comparison and shame.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla, that famously content-light videogame, has received a major free update today. The Yule Season update adds a new game mode called River Raids, which adds higher stakes raids, a new and customisable longship, and a
There's a trailer explaining the new features below.
]]>The yule festival may be over but the season has some new work for Eivor yet. Assassin's Creed Valhalla's new river raid game mode launches tomorrow in the next title update, which is meant to add some replayable raiding missions to keep you and your Jomsvikings occupied this winter.
]]>Ubisoft are throwing a big Lunar Sale to celebrate Chinese New Year this week, offering up to 80% off their biggest and best games, plus an extra 15% off selected titles until February 12th. Happily, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is one such game that can benefit from the extra 15% off deal, which means you can now pick up Eivor's excellent Viking adventure for just £35 / $42 instead of the usual £50 / $60. There are loads more games on sale, too, so read on for our selected highlights.
]]>Fictional languages are fascinating. Unlike real languages that have developed for centuries and are still constantly adapting, fictional ones are meticulously crafted over relatively short spans of time, and are often made by small groups of people to add an extra bit of life into a fictional world. You've likely come across one if you're into your fantasy - Dothraki from Game Of Thrones, Elvish in The Lord Of The Rings or Dragon Age, and Skyrim even has its own dragon language, Dovahzul. It's a part of world building that often goes overlooked too, because these languages are often already translated, so you don't really have to think about them. But for some linguists who choose to leave their creations a mystery, they can be an absolute delight to decipher.
This was exactly the case with the folks who recently figured out Isu, a fictional language in Assassin's Creed Valhalla used by an ancient race of human-like beings. Watching their video on exactly how they managed to translate some Isu texts was incredibly impressive, but it got me wondering, who went to all that effort to make it in the first place? The answer is Antoine Henry, associate director at Ubisoft Singapore.
]]>Every game and their dog seems to be getting a TV show these days. Just this week Crystal Dynamics announced a new Tomb Raider anime that will continue the reboot trilogy, but last year brought us news that Fallout's getting one too, as is Disco Elysium - and The Witcher, of course, already has one (which we've dissected in great detail). Assassin's Creed is in Netflix's sights as well, but having spent a good 100-odd hours in Assassin's Creed Valhalla recently, there is only one possible form an Assassin's Creed TV show should take: a time-travelling adventure show that stars Eivor, Kassandra and Evie Frye, because let's face it, they're the best protagonists the series has and together I know they'd sort the Templars right out. Let me explain.
]]>Here I thought the Borderlands games were the only ones that would chuck cool loot at you when you hit clumps of dirt and rock, but it turns out Assassin's Creed Valhalla has something to hide in its rock piles too. Over the weekend, Valhalla players managed to find a secret Isu bow by repeatedly whacking a rather unassuming pile of rocks - however, this definitely isn't the way you're supposed to find it.
]]>What's up gamers? It's 2021 and that means it's time to round up the team's favourite games of 2020. You'll already know our selections if you read our annual Advent Calendar, but this post gathers all those words and games together in one convenient package.
]]>Recently I have been spending a lot of time in Assassin's Creed Valhalla galloping around the east and south east. There are some lovely views around Kent and Dover, and it's nice to go to the beach sometimes instead of traipsing through the moist fecundity of the more forested areas in Mercia.
This means I have been hoovering up some of the side quests (or local mysteries) in the area that I missed earlier, and one of them, although it took all of three minutes to complete, really made me laugh. It's about a sea beast called Aflanc The Terrible, only it's actually the most theatrical attempt at filicide ever, and the NPC involved has my enduring respect.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla contains within it a fictional language, one used by the Isu, the ancient and highly advanced civilization that predates humanity within the series' lore. Now some dedicated players have worked out how to translate some of that language into English.
]]>December's well on its way, which means that games all across the land are releasing a dusting of snow and limited-time holiday-themed events. That includes Ubisoft's viking 'em up Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which is kicking off a Yule Festival with an expanded settlement, some new armor to don, and a couple new holiday missions.
]]>Here I thought Assassin's Creed Valhalla might get away from those icky experience point boosters Ubisoft so like to put in their games, alas it was not to be. In Valhalla's in-game store you can now buy XP boosts for real-life cash, which effectively double your XP gain. They're designed to save you time, so you don't need to do tons of side quests to level up. But they caused a fair bit of backlash in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and I can't say I'm particularly happy to see them return.
]]>Ubisoft's Viking adventure, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, adds some limited-time winter festivities today. Preparations for the Yule Festival have dropped alongside the game's 1.1.0 title update, which also lays the groundwork for the upcoming Settlement expansion. It all comes with a bundle of merry bug fixes and game improvements too - addressing the serious stuff like freezes and balancing, and the fun stuff such as floating Eivors and clingy NPCs.
]]>You'll have to make many difficult choices in Assassin's Creed Valhalla as you work to conquer England's Saxon forces. Appointing the new Jarl of Snotinghamscire is one such choice, and your old friend Vili is one of the candidates. Problem is, he isn't really up for all the new responsibility, so you'll need to weigh up whether he's the man for the job. Here's whether you should choose Vili or Trygve as the new Jarl of Snotinghamscire.
]]>Towards the end of Assassin's Creed Valhalla you'll get to speak to Alfred one final time. He'll even tell you about his super secret study, which you can unlock with Alfred's key. To help you find Alfred's study we've detailed the location below. We'll go into some detail on where to get the key, and what's inside the study once you open it.
]]>During the Jorvik arc in Assassin's Creed Valhalla you will need to reveal the identity of The Vault, a member of the Order of the Ancients. Doing so can be pretty tricky, as you don't have much to go on. During the feast you will get a chance to speak to a number of people, and then must accuse either Audun, Hjorr, Faravid, or Ricsige. Here's who you should choose as The Vault.
]]>As Ubisoft had planned, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is getting another update this month with more bug fixes and adjustments that they've now announced is dropping tomorrow. There are of course some serious technical fixes being made but there are some goofs too. Everyone loves a good patch notes goof. Title update 1.0.4 is planned for tomorrow, Thursday November 26th.
]]>Orlog! Orlog! Orlog! I have played a grand total of four hours of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and at least two of them have been playing this daft dice game. Much like The Witcher 3's Gwent, players can stumble upon Orlog challengers throughout Valhalla, and partake in a weirdly engrossing minigame. I have good news for those of us who've got hooked on it - Ubisoft are making an actual physical version that's set to arrive next year.
]]>During the Lincolnscire arc in Assassin's Creed Valhalla you will need to cast your vote as to who should take over as Ealdorman. It's all part of the Where the Stone Falls quest, and you'll have three options. Should you choose Hunwald, Aelfgar or Herefrith as Lincolnscire's new Ealdorman?
]]>Dag has been pretty anti-everything you've done so far in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, so it's unsurprising that you end up fighting him. There's an important choice to be made at the end of the fight: give Dag his axe or just let him die? This decision does actually affect the ending of the game, so we've detailed what happens below.
]]>Right now, as I'm sure you're aware, none of us are allowed to touch anything with our hands, in case we spread viral loads from yesterday's grubby front door to today's gaping mouth hole. Many of us are adapting to this by instead using our feet to take on many everyday hand tasks; I am typing this with my long and dextrous toes. Feet: they're the new hands!
I assume this is the reason that publishers, scenting feet on the air, are increasingly partnering with shoe companies to make trainer tie-ins for their games. Either that or there has been some sort of consumer survey indicating that we all really want to showcase our favourite games with shoes, the one item of clothing that The Shawshank Redemption has taught me people do not look at. I do not understand this new merch trend, is what I'm saying. But the thing is, I would totally buy video game shoes if they weren't all embarrassing to wear.
]]>There's a traitor afoot in the Essexe arc of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and it's up to you to work out who it is. Rollo will take you to his camp where two suspects are waiting. The traitor is either Gerhild or Lork, and there's very little evidence to go on. To make sure you pick the right person we've named the traitor below. We'll explain how we worked it out, and what happens if you pick the wrong traitor as part of the Old Wounds quest.
]]>During the Asgard arc of Assassin's Creed Valhalla you'll make your way to Jotunheim. It's a small open world area with its own side quests, and collectibles called Ymir's Blood Stones. There are 33 to collect, and once you have them all you can trade them in for a reward. This will take a while, so to help you weigh up whether it's all worth it we've detailed what you'll get in this guide. We'll also take a look at solving illusions, and highlight the Ymir's Blood Stones locations that may take you a little while to reach.
]]>Ravens are pretty cool, I reckon. Lovely, massive, terrifying crows. But how often do you even see 'em while traipsing out in the English countryside? No, it's flockin' pigeons all over the place. Thanks to an Amazon Prime reward, Assassin's Creed Valhalla will let you represent Britain's unofficial national bird, transforming Eivor's graceful fluttering pal into a blank-eyed flying rat.
]]>How Big Is The Map is my new favourite website and YouTube channel. The answers to the question the site poses are given in the time it takes to cross a game's map, not the physical size of the world. That’s an important distinction because each game has different methods of traversal. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, for instance, not only lets you parkour, run, and walk, but you can adjust the character’s walking speed as well. I didn’t know that.
The site's journey across Valhalla's England is a three-hour stroll across the green and pleasant land, starting in the south east and ending in the north west. Come watch.
]]>Players running around in Assassin's Creed Valhalla over the last week or so have already uncovered a few Easter eggs here and there: nods to other games like Dark Souls, for example, and even a quest rife with Tolkien references. But our very own guides editor Jake has found one that's much more heartwarming - a tribute to The Prodigy frontman, Keith Flint, who sadly passed away last year.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla has slashed through its release date, but some of you may have had trouble off the bat with progression through an early quest blocked by a bug. A Seer's Solace has been fixed, Ubisoft say, with fixes for other quest bugs and known issues coming later this month. So find some solace in that then, eh Eivor?
]]>This will likely come as a surprise to no one, but Ubisoft's latest sneaky murder adventure, Asassin's Creed Valhalla, doesn't seem to be very historically accurate. It's nothing huge or revelatory - I'm sure we all know Vikings didn't truly have magical ravens they could see through the eyes of, after all. But if you're interested in the history of England and Norway, I'd go careful taking too many lessons from Valhalla.
For a much better lesson, we should probably listen to the AskHistorians subreddit, who hosted a cool Q&A to offer their Viking knowledge to anyone with questions about the historical setting of Valhalla.
]]>You'll travel to Asgard part way through Assassin's Creed Valhalla, where you'll meet Loki, Thor, Freja and more. Eventually, a giant wolf will come into play, and you'll need to craft an enchanted chain to keep it under control. Problem is, this chain is made up of some pretty weird components, including Cat's Footsteps and Mountain Root. You're given some riddles to help you find them, which we've solved below.
]]>The Double Assassination has featured in many Assassin's Creed games, allowing players to kill two enemies at once. Assassin's Creed Valhalla shares a lot of its DNA with older AC games, even equipping Eivor with a hidden blade at the start of the game. Let's take a look at whether or not you can unlock Double Assassination.
]]>While on your quest to take control of England in Assassin's Creed Valhalla you'll meet a warrior named Soma in Grantebridge, starting the Stench of Treachery mission. Helping her win back the town is the main goal here, but there's also the matter of a traitor to be dealt with. The traitor is known to be either Birna, Lif or Galinn, and it's up to you to single out the right one. This is actually pretty difficult, and relies on you finding all of the available evidence. But let's cut to the chase, it's Galinn.
]]>Update: After all that, it appears Ubisoft will be adding achievements to Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Another Ubi employee jumped into the thread to apologise for "the confusion and miscommunication", and confirm that achievements are actually on the way.
"We are aware that achievements are not available for Assassin's Creed Valhalla players on PC - this was unintended," they say. "We are actively working to enable achievements and will keep you updated when more information is available."
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla has a lot of options allowing you to customise your experience. You can toggle blood, opt for dismemberments and gore, and even switch nudity on and off. Whether you want to have nudity on or not (that's your business), we figured we'd show you how to find it in the options menus. Let's take a look.
]]>There's a side quest in Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Lunden area that tasks you with reuniting a band of three musicians. They've had somewhat of a falling out and have parted ways to try their hand at being solo acts. Kitt, Ysane and Cynewulf are pretty tricky to find, but a nearby letter will hint at their locations. To help you get the band back together we've detailed the musician locations in this guide.
]]>Every year, as we approach Christmas, I have to hand in my liking indie games badge and gun because I get excited about big releases. But you and I have known each other for a while, reader, and the fact is that I genuinely like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and I am well up for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Before it came out, I was mostly stoked to play as a big shieldmaiden with smoky eyeshadow who can crush man, woman and spectral ghost dog 'neath her mighty boot.
I'd obviously considered any potential "which Eivor is best?" to be pre-settled. It is basically a rhetorical question, I thought, in need of no further discussion. But things have changed since then. For example, it turns out that that eyeshadow is actually a tattoo. Ouch-o-rama! And, lately, I find myself inexplicably drawn to. I dunno, Boyvor? Is that what we'd call him?
]]>While taking over Sciropscire in Assassin's Creed Valhalla you'll need to pay someone off to encourage peace. There are five options to choose from, each with slightly different results. To make sure you make the right call we've detailed the five possible outcomes in this guide. We'll explain what will happen, and who you should give the silver to in Sciropscire.
]]>Raiding can be tiresome work, so it's good to know that Assassin's Creed Valhalla has plenty of romance options that help you blow off steam between battles. These romance options are unlocked in a number of ways, some through settlement upgrades, some via story progression. So that you're not missing out of any potential love connections we'll be listing every romance we find during our time with Assassin's Creed Valhalla. We'll detail how to start off each romance quest, and which characters are available to romance.
]]>For Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Eivor, there's no foe that can't be bested with a good axe. Unfortunately, you're not Eivor. You're sitting at a PC, controlling them through a piece of software that has some troublesome villains of its own - from irritating freezes to the game stubbornly refusing to show up in your collection. Yes, it might be cold up in Norway, but these freeze-ups aren't the kind of immersion you're looking for, are they?
]]>A few of us are having a grand old time in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which I am now informed is the 22nd entry in Ubisoft's flagship series about exploring different historical settings, meeting interesting people, and brutally murdering them for your own gain.
Valhalla is Viking flavoured, set during the invasion of England known as The Great Heathen Army (great band name). Though you spend a lot of time pillaging and raiding, you also do a lot of open exploration, discovering strange standing stones, hallucinogenic mushrooms and odd quests involving nudists and betrayal mysteries. That, in fact, is my favourite thing about Valhalla: the freedom and trust that it gives you.
]]>While playing through the Asgard section of Assassin's Creed Valhalla you'll have the opportunity to collect 30 Ymir's Tear Stones. These can then be exchanged at the altar in the centre of the city, but is it worth your time to do so? In this guide we'll explain how to find all of the stones, and what you'll get for trading them in.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla isn't just confined to England and Norway, nor this realm technically. You get to visit Asgard after you've built the Seer's Hut at your settlement. It's a pretty hefty section, where you'll need to retrieve water from the Well of Urd, which is locked behind a light beam puzzle. To make sure you make it to the waters intact, we've detailed the Well of Urd puzzle solution in this guide. We'll show you exactly how to solve it, and what you get for doing so.
]]>There are three main resources in Assassin's Creed Valhalla when it comes to upgrading gear. The rarest of them all are Tungsten Ingots, which can only be found in the higher level areas around England. You'll need Tungsten to upgrade your weapons and armour from flawless to mythical level. Finding them can be pretty tricky, given that they're locked away in chests in some pretty tough areas. Here's where to find Tungsten Ingots.
]]>Whether you like wizards, sword-and-board warriors, the irradiated wasteland, vampires, or isometric text-heavy stories, the RPG is the genre that will never let you down. Accross the dizzing number of games available where you can play a role, there's something for everyone - and we've tried to reflect that in our list of the best RPGs on PC. The past couple of years have been great for RPGs, so there are some absolute classics as well as brand spanking new games on this list. And there's more to look forwards to, with rumblings of Dragon Age: Dread Wolf finally on the horizon, and space epic Starfield in our rear view mirror. Whatever else may happen, though, this list will provide you with the 50 best RPGs that you can download and play on PC right now.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a gigantic open-world RPG spanning parts of Norway and England. There's a lot to see and do as you stake your claim to the four kingdoms, so much so that you're likely to get a little lost along the way. To help keep you on track we've created this Assassin's Creed Valhalla walkthrough, where you'll be able to find all of our guides on the game, all in one place. Skal!
]]>The Assassin's Creed series has an on and off again relationship with multiplayer. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a strange case in which there is actually some online functionality, with one aspect definitely leaning into the realm of multiplayer. To set the record straight we've put together this guide on the online functionality in the game. Let's take a look at whether there is multiplayer.
]]>What is a home? My yardstick is that home is anywhere I don't feel weird opening the fridge and making myself a sandwich from its contents. If you are left alone somewhere and you find yourself thinking, "But what if I make a sarnie with that ham and it turns out it it was special ham being saved for a special occasion??" then you are not anywhere that is home for you. Likewise, if anyone tells me to make myself at home, I immediately go and get the cheese out of their fridge and take a bite out of it, while maintaining eye contact, to establish dominance.
Your home in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla does not have a fridge, because Viking raiders setting up a new camp in the Midlands do not have fridges. But you do get a big communal pot of stew, and in the end isn't that just as good? Answer: yes it is. I love my settlement. Let me take you on a small tour.
]]>There are a handful of Treasure Hoards to track down in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Some give you a visual clue as to the location of the treasure while others describe it in verse. There's one located in the southern part of Oxenefordscire, near a strange-looking tree. To help you track down the Oxenefordscire Treasure Hoard we've marked its location in this guide. We'll explain how we found it, so that you can get your hands on the rewards.
]]>Your longship is an integral part of your arsenal in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It's primarily for travel, and is a great way to get your army to the shores of any raiding sites. You can customise the longship with new designs you find while playing, though you'll need to unlock a few things first. To help you unlock the option to change your longship we've put together this guide. We'll explain how to get new longship designs, and how to change its appearance.
]]>Ubisoft have apologised for using ableist language in Assassin's Creed Valhalla to describe a burn victim. They've promised to remove this language in an upcoming update.
]]>When Ubisoft released their Assassin's Creed Valhalla PC requirements last month, I was worried its high system specs would be a real brute to run on lower-end PCs. After all, when Assassin's Creed Odyssey's 4K spec has been more or less downgraded to what you need to get the game running at 60fps on High at 1080p this time round, Valhalla looked like it was going to send hundreds of ageing PCs to an early afterlife.
Happily, I can report that Ubisoft's official PC requirements for Assassin's Creed Valhalla are very much on the conservative side. I've been testing the game with one of their recommended 6GB GTX 1060 cards for the past couple of days, and it's capable of doing a lot more than their estimate of 30fps on High at 1080p. It can't quite get to a steady 60fps, all told, but it can with a few tweaks in its extensive graphics menu. Here's how to get the best performance in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and how to get Ubisoft's new Viking adventure looking the best it can be on PC.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla features a wide range of mounts that you can ride. Most of them are horses, one of them is a big wolf called Hati. Getting the Hati mount requires very little effort, but unfortunately seems to be locked behind a paywall. In this guide we'll explain how to get the wolf mount in AC: Valhalla, and how to ride it.
]]>Silver is the main currency in the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. You'll use it to make bets, buy resources and gear, and occasionally solve disputes. Given how important it is, you'll need to know the best ways to make silver in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. You'll find info on how to do just that in this guide.
]]>You can upgrade most of the gear you find while playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Your trusty blacksmith will use certain resources to unlock higher-level upgrades, one of them being Nickel Ingots. These are used to upgrade superior gear to flawless gear, and are pretty hard to find at the start of the game. To help you track down your first Nickel Ingot we've listed some locations where you can find them below. We'll also be detailing the fastest way to get Nickel, so that you can upgrade your weapons and armour.
]]>The big one is here, folks: Ubisoft released Assassin's Creed Valhalla today. Raiding! Pillaging! Stealing from the English! What a way to start your Tuesday morning. Valhalla straps you into the Viking boots of Eivor, the latest assassin to join the sandbox murder simulator series. It takes place in 9th century Britain, with frequent trips back home to Norway to drop off all your blood-soaked hard-earned loot. Like its predecessor, AC Odyssey, this one has a little mythology thrown in as well.
When starting Assassin's Creed Valhalla you are given three options with regards to your character's gender. As in previous games, you can choose to play as either a male or female version of the protagonist. There's also a third option, which gives control over to the Animus. The exact effects of each of these choices are unclear at first, which is why we've revealed all in this guide. We'll explain whether you should pick the male, female or Animus version of Eivor.
]]>Fish can be found all over the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. You can trade them in for some pretty great rewards, including powerful runes for your weapons and armour. Problem is, finding fish in Valhalla is pretty tricky, so you'll need to know exactly where to look. Luckily we've put together this guide on every fish location in AC: Valhalla. We'll detail where to find each one, and the best ways to catch fish in general.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Ledecestrescire arc culminates in an intense battle against an ailing king. Once the dust has settled, the king's main ally will challenge you to a fight, determined to stay loyal until the end. Leofrith will back down once you've bested him, and you'll be given a choice: kill or spare Leofrith? Let's take a look at what you should do.
]]>Assassin's Creed Valhalla starts in Norway, spends most of its time in 9th century England, and even has some optional detours to the present day or mythical Asgard if you fancy it. But the latest entry in Ubisoft's used-to-be-annual franchise about stabbing your way through history just kept making me think of Texas, for two reasons. The first, and most obvious, is Texas as in "everything's bigger in". Valhalla just feels like it has more of everything.
The map is huge, with each area having its own mini-saga of warring locals and power struggles to complete to get them on side. There's a whole menu of evil Templar agents to hunt down, a la Assassin's Creed Origins and Odyssey. There are themed gear sets to collect and upgrade. There are side missions a-plenty, ranging from stealing clothes from nudists, to tripping on mushrooms, to collecting Roman artefacts. And stealthy assassinations are back, too. Valhalla is daunting and messy, but it's also a pick 'n' mix of all the best bits from the series. With cool Viking haircuts thrown in.
]]>No need to spend an hour in character creation before you start playing Viking 'em up Assassin's Creed Valhalla since you'll be lacing up the boots of Eivor either way. What will you fiddle with before going a'raiding instead? A whole hunk of PC graphical and accessibility settings, of course. Ubisoft have run through all the options PC players can muck around with in a new video.
]]>Ah yes, here's the face of Eivor. You know him for being the muscly, bearded bloke in Ubisoft's upcoming Vikings game Assassin's Creed Valhalla. No surprise such a famous fella would be getting deals to appear in commercials for—sorry, wait, he's still repping his own game that's not out yet? I dunno, are you absolutely sure he's not selling performance-enhancing basketball shorts or something? Oh alright, I suppose he is still drumming up views for Valhalla until it launches in November.
]]>Everyone just wants to be involved with cloud gaming at the moment, don't they? Ubisoft have announced they're rebranding their UPlay+ subscription service to Ubisoft+, and they're whacking it on Amazon Luna on November 10th, then Google Stadia later in the year.
For PC folks the service isn't changing much from what you might've been used to with UPlay+. It costs £13/$15, you'll have access to a library of loads of Ubi games, and be able to play upcoming new stuff like Watch Dogs: Legion, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Immortals Fenyx Rising.
]]>I'm dead serious, on both counts. Netflix's NX Twitter account just Twote out a little teaser for a live action Assassin's Creed Netflix Original Series. Right now there's no date, no hint at the setting, and no actors attached. It is a few bars of that musical sting we all love, and the AssCreed logo with an N in it.
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