Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Having already provided players with pitch-perfect renditions of Ancient Egypt and Greece most recently, this year Ubisoft is crafting the ultimate Viking era sandbox with the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in November. The setting may have changed but the template is much the same, with you as raider-warrior Eivor roaming Norway before eventually setting up ship in England to create your own personable settlement.

Much like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, players will again be able to pick whether they experience this journey as man or woman – the only difference now being that you can change between genders at any time on the fly. You’ll stealth and assassinate your way through such cities as York, Winchester and London, superseding the reign of King Alfred the Great in the hopes of making the land yours.

New this time around is direct dual-wielding, where players will now be able to equip their version of Eivor with a range of different duel-welding weapon set-ups; you can even fight with two shields should you choose. This unlocks plenty more combat opportunities than most previous Assassin’s Creed entries, whether you’re going one on one with an enemy or engaged in a full-scale conquest battle.

By this point the Ubisoft team have honed the craft of creating fully realised worlds and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is no different. The version of 873 AD England presented here is full of texture, life and vibrancy, resulting in one of the prettiest Assassin’s Creed instalments yet that’s packed with things to see and do.