Release date: 2021
Version played: Xbox Series X in 2021
At the behest of a new arrival to Eivor’s home of Ravensthorpe, Eivor travels across the seas to Ireland, a patchwork of petty kings squabbling over hills and fields. There meeting the King of Dublin, Bárid, Eivor also works alongside the fiery poetess Ciara, and the High King of Ireland, Flann Sinna, to unite the country under one rule. The Wrath of the Druids is the first major downloadable content expansion for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, which I previously reviewed here.
+ I liked the new characters of Ciara, Barid and Flann Sinna. Each had their own personality and motivations, and were involved to various degrees throughout the story. With the caveat of how your choices matter to the story (see below) the way you could interact with them was enjoyable
+ there are a few new weapons of the axe, sword and bow variety, and even a pair of new sickles. The new armour sets were my gear highlight, but I never felt compelled to use something different than the set I already maxed out and have been using for some 40 hours already
– there are basically all of the same complaints as in the main game, from broken geometry that will launch you across the map to inconsequential decisions where your choice is immediately disregarded. You run from synchronisation point to story mission and then fast travel back to where the mission comes from. Maybe you travel across the map just to be told to get back to where you came from. It’s just busy work that does nothing but elongate an already long game
– similarly, the new ‘trading post’ mini quests are presented as game changers, but it’s simply periodically collecting auto-generated resources and then buying stuff from a shop next door. There is no reason this couldn’t have just been currency generated instead, so you could buy other things
– I was supremely disappointed how similar everything looked. I’m not saying that 9th century Ireland would in fact look overly different to 9th century England, but Dublin was simply the same assets at Ravensthorpe in slightly different locations
> gosh I love Irish accents
Should you play this game: This was incredibly disappointing. Compared to the Valley of Kings pack from Origins and all of the huge content expansions from Odyssey, this felt like a drop in the bucket of what we expected. This was free with the Season Pass (which I received as part of the Ultimate Edition I suckered myself into buying) and even with it being ‘free’ I’m not impressed. Any new packs need to be significantly better for me to not write this entire game off as an underwhelming waste.
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