Originally planned as the final story expansion prior to the announcement of second year content for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, The Siege of Paris adds the French location and a few new ideas but essentially feels like more of the same.

Continuing the heavily political narrative themes of the base game and the previous expansion, Eivor is enlisted by a pair of foreigners to travel to their homeland and help bring down the Mad King, Charles the Fat.

It is impossible to ignore the visual similarities 9th century France has with the English territory that comprises the bulk of Valhalla’s experience. Lacking the same visual punch and unique qualities that Ireland presented in the previous expansion, Wrath of the Druids, Valhalla’s France looks like more of the same. Considering it plays essentially the same and provides a story that treads the same political waters, The Siege of Paris struggles to feel unique and like a meaningful addition to the ever-expanding experience.

My review of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla can be found HERE.

Having spent nearly eight hours tackling the story it was hard to feel satisfied in the sense it had essentially been told countless times throughout the core Valhalla experience. The format of wandering between new locations completing fetch quests, escorting characters and typical go here and kill this guy becomes all too familiar almost immediately.

The implications of the teases Catholic Church infiltration and radicalisation by cultists was interesting but ultimately wound up being a mystery unsolved. At least with Wrath of the Druids the cultist sub-plot was interesting and fleshed out rather than teased and possibly abandoned though it can’t be ruled out this arc won’t be returned to with the newly announced second year of content.

My review of the Wrath of the Druids expansion for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla can be found HERE.

With combat all but perfected with Valhalla the addition of a new and deadly weapon is certainly welcome. The large, double-handed scythe makes for a fun toy to dismantle the opposing forces and has some satisfying animations and executions. Its ridiculous size becomes normal after a few combat encounters and the fact that it’s nearly twice the size of Eivor is certainly comical at first.

Adding to the weird and wonderful additions of the world of Assassin’s Creed, as has become standard for the franchise, and especially with Valhalla, a new and completely ridiculous mount is available. A bear. With horses, giant wolves, a lynx, a lion and now a bear to choose from, the wacky side of Assassin’s Creed makes the dull moments of constant back and forth more enjoyable while being able to ride these crazy mounts.

The singular most interesting concept introduced in The Siege of Paris is the rat swarms that accompany the plague. Dwelling primarily in the sewers or beneath buildings these swarms of rats will relentlessly attack and damage the player. They can’t be damaged or killed themselves, but they can be attacked and forced to retreat into grates in the ground. When the rats have retreated an object needs to be pulled over the top of it to prevent them re-emerging. There is always a conveniently placed object within the environment to be dragged to do so. An interesting idea fails to feel meaningfully executed due to their sporadic appearances, annoying pursuit of the player when they are encountered and monotonous means of repelling them.

Perhaps one of the strongest deviations to the norm in The Siege of Paris are the Infiltration missions. Essentially repurposed from the Black Box missions in the also French-based Assassin’s Creed: Unity, these missions provided a handful of possible ways to reach the target or infiltrate their hideout and present unique ways to assassinate them cinematically rather than simply approaching them and driving a hidden blade through their throat.

These made Assassin’s Creed feel like Assassin’s Creed again since the gradual evolution to the state of the game today. It was a welcome addition and one that should definitely be revisited in the future of the franchise to satisfy the strategic assassin impulses that haven’t felt the same in nearly a decade.

Visually impressive as always and while the locations look amazing, they don’t feel different enough to feel justified. Some solid voice work is provided for some of the new characters, King Charles the Fat in particular adds a layer to the tyrannical rule he imposes that is interesting to see brought to life.

The Siege of Paris feels more like the same Valhalla experience we had at launch in contrast to the excellently diverse and different feel brought to players with Ireland in the Wrath of the Druids expansion. The prospect of more content to come to Valhalla is one that both excites me and has me concerned if it is just going to be more of the same across the board. Fans of the series and Valhalla will likely be happy with new content regardless but as one of those players myself, the novelty is beginning to wear off.

+ Infiltration missions are a welcome addition

+ Scythe and bear mount are fun

– France doesn’t look or feel different enough to England

– Story still stuck treading overly familiar political territory

– Rat swarm idea fails to realise its potential

– More of the same overall

Developed by: Ubisoft

Published by: Ubisoft

Release Date: August 12 2021

Platforms: Xbox One/Series X|S, PlayStation 4/5 and PC

* A digital code of the Ultimate Edition was kindly provided by the Publisher *

– Additional Links –

For more of my reviews, click HERE.

To see this review and other multi-platform content from my associates at BG4G, click HERE.

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All digital photography was captured in-game on Xbox Series X by Games of DAYNE

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It’s been six months since the launch of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and after a handful of community events and smaller scale content the first story expansion has finally arrived in the form of Wrath of the Druids.

Eivor is requested by the King of Dublin to visit Ireland, home to new main and optional mission chains, more political drama and as per recent trends in the series, mystical and supernatural beings and happenings. With a beautiful new location to explore, secrets to discover, puzzles to solve and things to collect, Valhalla’s first story expansion is meaningful in terms of depth and also introduces some of the coolest enemies in the franchise to date.

My full review of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla can be found HERE.

The story itself, much like the base game, is mired in political drama and power struggles. Forging alliances, defeating the enemy forces of those who oppose the King and securing trade routes bog down majority of the approximately six hour main story. Lack of mission variety holds the expansion back, treading familiar waters as opposed to introducing new and exciting mission types.

The introduction of the Royal Demands, quests that can be acquired from pigeon coops, are a step back if anything by tasking the player with the likes of clearing outposts, defeating designated targets and stealing items. For players who have already conquered all of Valhalla’s base game this will likely feel too simple and uninspired.

Additional elements to the Royal Demands include providing bonuses for avoiding detection or taking no damage for instance though these aren’t particularly meaningful and in the case of veteran franchise players, little to no actual challenge. Completing these missions helps with the influential gain over Ireland’s four regions which also opens up additional side missions and awards building resources, the latter an incentive that isn’t particularly enjoyable or worthwhile to pursue for players that aren’t completionists. Establishing trade posts that generate resources such as food or clothing that can be used to trade for gear is another new concept that isn’t particularly enjoyable or worthwhile.

Playtime can be increased substantially with the wealth of optional missions, areas to complete and tracking down the interesting radicalised cult of druids known as the Children of Danu. The druids themselves are easily the most visually interesting enemy types to date with their ragged attire, menacing skeletal headwear and supernatural abilities that strike fear into the folks of Ireland.

Their narrative arc, which intertwines with the Children of Danu and the advanced technology tied to the Isu, is by far the most interesting. Exploring their origins and purpose throughout the main story is fascinating and the combat encounters are approximately engaging due to their fearsome appearance and abilities. Their use of hallucinogenic gas affects Eivor’s perception of reality and in turn it appears as though they have magical abilities and can transform in surprising ways, a clever way to incorporate a supernatural element while maintaining a more grounded overall world.

New abilities have been introduced which can be unlocked and upgraded by finding the Tomes of Knowledge books. The new abilities include allowing Eivor to summon an Irish wolfhound, utilise smoke bomb arrows and unleash a powerful headbutt, all of which are fun to experiment with, especially when upgraded.

Ireland is beautifully realised visually, offering rolling hills, lush green plains and ominous forests that feel distinctly different to what England and Norway offer in the base game. With such a stunning backdrop to embark on this extended adventure Wrath of the Druids relies on the visual marvel of its environment and maniacal druids as the most meaningful new content. Unfortunately this expansion is merely more of the same in terms of gameplay and mission variety though Ireland and the druids do a damn good job of making it feel more interesting.

Wrath of the Druids main quest line doesn’t feel interesting outside of the pursuit of the Children of Danu and the newly introduced supporting characters do little to encourage an emotional investment from the player. For fans of Valhalla and Assassin’s Creed overall it’s a worthy voyage though casual players looking for new ideas, mechanics or simply variety will be disappointed.

+ New enemy types and designs

+ Ireland is stunning

+ Children of Danu and druid storylines

– Lack of new mission variety

– Royal Demands and trade posts aren’t enjoyable or challenging

– Overall “more of the same” gameplay

Developed by: Ubisoft

Published by: Ubisoft

Release Date: May 13 2021

Platforms: Xbox One/Series X/S, PlayStation 4/5 and PC

– Additional Links –

For more of my reviews, click HERE.

To see this review and other multi-platform content from my associates at BG4G, click HERE.

For this and additional reviews, latest news, trailers and more from the rest of the team at Xbox Gamer Dad and One More Game, click HERE.

Don’t forget to also follow Games of DAYNE on: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube!

All digital photography was captured in-game on Xbox Series X by Games of DAYNE

The post Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids Review first appeared on Games of DAYNE.