Been a while since you play as the legendary Viking warrior Eivor in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla? It is time to pick up his axe and shield again with the latest expansion pack – The Siege of Paris.
In order to access this expansion, you have to complete one of the first two main arcs in England. When you have gained alliance with Grantebridgescire or Ledecestrescire, Eivor will stumble upon visitors from Francia when he gets back to his home of Ravensthorpe.
SPECS
PRICE: $32.90 (PC, version reviewed; PS4; PS5; Xbox One; Xbox Series X|S) or free with Season Pass owners
GENRE: Action adventure
These Frankish visitors will be offering suspiciously generous presents and soon you will learn their real motives. They have been sent by Sigfred, the head of Elgring clan in Francia, who is gathering allies and support to fight against the Frankish king, Charles the Fat.
With the Frankish forces likely to invade Ravensthorpe if Sigfred’s forces are overran, Eivor has no choice but to travel to Francia to help.
FOR
+ Retains the original’s superb gameplay
+ Return of black box assassination missions
+ More heavy weapons
AGAINST
– Rebel missions are not interesting
– Offers nothing vastly different
The suggested power level to play in Francia is 200, but there is no mandatory power level to play The Siege of Paris. I highly doubt there are many gamers who have attainted a power level of more than 200.
Gameplay wise, the Siege of Paris does not offer much differences to the main gameplay. You will play as Eivor, travel by foot, horse or boat, to complete missions and finish quests to achieve your objectives.
But in this expansion pack, it heralds the return of fans’ favourite black box assassination missions. Now called infiltration missions, you can choose which way to eliminate a high-value target.
You can do so either through barging through the front door and killing everyone in your path, or sneak past the defences to assassinate the target. Or you can do some side quests that opens a unique opportunity to kill the target.
For those who felt the original game seems to play like Skyrim, the return of these black box assassination missions will be much appreciated.
There are also rebel missions for you to complete. These missions are varied, from killing a selected target to intercepting a caravan. While varied, the missions’ primary aim is to disrupt the Frankish forces and reap some rewards. These missions are largely forgettable.
Other new features in this expansion include having a bear as a mount and the use of new heavy weapons such as one-handed longsword and the scythe. The scythe is great for fighting enemy swarms, but its slow speed might deter its use.
Overall, the expansion pack will probably add another 15 hours or so of gameplay at least.
VERDICT
The Siege of Paris might add little to the already full-of-content Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. But for fans, they probably will love the black box missions and the more things to kill.
RATING: 7.5/10
