Ubisoft has never been one to shy away from reinventing the Assassin’s Creed series, whether they’re killing off their protagonist , taking a brief detour into competitive multiplayer, or transforming their most recent games into stat-driven RPGs. And the upcoming expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Dawn of Ragnarök, looks to be no exception. Taking on the role of the iconic Norse God Odin on a quest to rescue his son, you’ll find yourself with a plethora of over-the-top, game-changing supernatural powers that are unlike anything we’ve seen in the beloved saga of cloaks and daggers.
Among the abilities available to Odin are the Power of Jotunheim, which turns you into a frost giant and lets you teleport while dodging, rolling, or firing arrows where you want to reappear. It also lets you blend in with frost giants if you’d rather avoid conflict. Similarly, the Power of Muspelheim turns you into a fiery demon, making you immune to lava, fire, and explosions while also letting you trick fellow lava lads into thinking you’re one of their own.
But that’s just where your godly abilities begin! With the Power of the Raven, you can turn into a bird at-will, take to the skies, then return to your human form whenever suits you. Hysterically, this can be used to fly over an enemy as a bird then hit the oh-so-sweet “assassinate” button to instantly plummet to the ground, become human again, and kill whatever you were targeting. There’s also the Power of Rebirth, which automatically raises any enemy you kill from the dead and makes them fight by your side for as long as the ability is active. While in use, you can amass a sizable army and completely overwhelm your enemy like a badass necromancer.
Stealing the Power of Muspelheim social stealth ability instead would allow you to impersonate your enemy and casually walk through the fortress without any conflict at all.
Presumably because these powers seem overpowered as all get out, you won’t be able to teleport or raise undead armies willy nilly. Instead, you’ll have to find enemies in the world who carry these powers, kill them, then choose an ability to steal – which only lasts for a limited duration. Stealing the Rebirth power before entering an enemy fortress will allow you to recruit an undead army as you slay your way through the area, but stealing the Power of Muspelheim social stealth ability instead would allow you to impersonate your enemy and casually walk through the fortress without any conflict at all. Making the most of the powers you can take from the enemies around you allows for lots of different approaches to any given scenario, and that’s a really enticing premise to this aspiring god-king assassin.
Adding to the impressive repertoire of godly powers are some really awesome combat abilities that let you shoot lightning, enter a berserker rage, and use the new atgeir – a kind of polearm that can pull off some truly devastating stunts in combat. It all adds up to an exaggerated, superpowered sandbox unlike anything we’ve seen before in Assassin’s Creed and I can’t wait to cause absolute mayhem as Odin next month. One thing’s for sure: we’ve come a long way since the days of fighting with daggers and swords as good ol’ Altair, and Dawn of Ragnarök looks poised to breathe new life into a series I’ve been enjoying for nearly 15 years.
