How Valheim Does Vikings Different Than AC Valhalla | Screen Rant
Valheim stormed onto Steam Early Access on February 2 and quickly garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews from PC gamers. The Viking survival game mashes up gameplay concepts from past viral hits, like Rust and Minecraft, and packages all of them in a Nordic adventure akin to Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. Even though Valheim and Ubisoft's latest open-world title share many similarities, they're different at their cores.
Both games have loose interpretations of Norse mythology, but Valheim is much more of a fantasy game than Valhalla. While they might both center around Vikings, Assassin's Creed's newest installment is more historically grounded than Valheim ever tries to be. The indie title is steeped in mythology, making it a high-fantasy game compared to Valhalla's historical fiction.
Valhalla's story is inspired by the Viking Age, where tribes of Norse folk began to expand outside of Scandinavia and into the British Isles. Ubisoft found that many of the historical accounts from the period were written from the Anglo-Saxon's point of view, which described the Vikings as savage invaders. The publisher chose to create the game from the lens of a high-ranking Viking leader so gamers can get the other side of the story. That involved a rigorous study of Scandanavian culture dating back to the Middle Ages, which did involve some aspects of mythology but nowhere near as much as Valheim.
Ubisoft's interpretation of Vikings is far from strictly historical. Valhalla includes mythical creatures, mentions Norse gods, and features an underlying plot that involves the Brotherhood of Assassins and The Templar Order from past Assassin's Creed entries. However, most of the characters and locations were created using historical accounts of the time period. The plot of Valheim is more like a tall tale that Vikings would have told each other.
All of the characters in the indie title are slain Viking warriors who have been escorted to the mysterious realm of Valheim to conquer it. Instead of being taken to Valhalla, the paradise for fallen warriors, they've awakened in a purgatory where they need to fend for themselves and slay mythical beasts, like Valheim's first boss Eikthyr. That's a far cry from the types of enemies players face in Valhalla that primarily consist of rival Viking clans or the forces of feudal Anglo-Saxon lords.
The warriors featured in Valheim are the stuff of legends, while the Vikings in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla are an interpretation of the Nordic culture during the Middle Ages. Both might still ride on longboats and carry wooden shields into battle, but they're far from the same.
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