Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Siege of Paris DLC Review

If you ever found yourself wanting to visit ancient Paris, and then cause a bit of chaos while you are there, the latest Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Siege of Paris DLC is just for you.

Two strangers arrive

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Siege of Paris kicks off with two strangers arriving at Eivor’s settlement of Ravensthorpe. Tolk and Pierre are two representatives from the Elgring Clan and come to the city looking for Eivor’s assistance. It doesn’t take much to convince Eivor to head off to Francia and help his two new friends fend off the despicable Charles the Fat.

Although the narrative does mostly follow the same beats of many of the other Assassin’s Creed games, it does help to move the story forward.

Arriving on the shores of Francia, I was expected to be wowed by a brand new region to explore that feels fresh and inviting. Unfortunately, unlike the previous Wrath of the Druids DLC, Francia mostly looks and feels similar to England visually. Sure, Paris itself offers a unique new environment to explore but, as for the rest of the region, it never differentiates itself from England in the same way Ireland did.

This doesn’t mean that exploring wasn’t fun and engaging, and some areas do mix things up just enough for Francia to set itself apart.

Kill your way

While the new region isn’t necessarily the best reason to return to the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the re-introduction of the “Black Box” missions from previous Assassin’s Creed games is.

Now know as “Infiltration Missions”, these missions give players a specific target to eliminate and the freedom to do it in whichever way they want to. This freedom is a welcome return to the franchise and something fans have been asking for quite some time.

Although these missions do offer various avenues to assassinating your target, the options can, at times, feel a little limited. Hopefully, we’ll see these missions making a return in the next entry in the franchise, giving us even more freedom.

More of the same

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Siege of Paris offers mostly more of the same and doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel.

You’ll still be following the same “look for this, kill that” mission structures as in the previous games. That said, combat does get mixed up a tad with the addition of Scythes, two-handed weapons of death.

These pointy weapons work great against mobs of enemies, allowing you to wipe them out quickly and efficiently. It would’ve been great to see more weapon types added but, unfortunately, this is it.

There are a few new enemy types to face off against, most notably the Frankish Knights — who I kept dying to time and again.

Should you jump back in for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Siege of Paris?

For those looking for something new, the DLC might leave you wanting as the environments and missions just don’t add anything new in terms of the overall structure of the game. The Infiltration Missions make a welcome return and do mix up the formula of the base game up a bit, but this is still an Assassin’s Creed DLC for better or worse.

If you find yourself wanting to dive back into the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and loved what the base game offered, then you’ll enjoy what Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Siege of Paris has to offer.