Spoilers only discussed at the very bottom of the review

This is a review of the second Valhalla DLC. For the main review see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368448/

For a comprehensive breakdown of the game as a whole, please see:
https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368458/

For the first DLC, Wrath of the Druids, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368450/

For the third DLC, Dawn of Ragnarök, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368455/

For the final story DLC, The Last Chapter, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368457/


Siege of Paris was the second major expansion released for Valhalla as part of its Year 1 of content, and much like Wrath of the Druids, was interesting in that it was a rare instance of an AC DLC being more of a sidequel than follow-up. What I mean is, while every prior release had advanced the story of their respective game(s) in some capacity, Siege of Paris was different in that it was simply another adventure in the life of Eivor Varinsdottir.

This time around he’s been called-in to aid a tribe a ways out in France, and though initially resistant to such a prospect, ends up giving in under the goal of persuading the Frankish Emperor, Charles the Fat, from potentially targeting the Raven Clan.

As any longtime fan will tell you, stories have rarely been the strongest aspects of AC add-ons, and unfortunately Siege of Paris continues that trend via being too big for its own good. What I mean is it’s clear someone at Ubisoft wanted to do more with the premise, yet were simply unable to either because of developmental costs and/or time constraints. For starters, the eponymous siege lasts a mere couple of missions in the game, and when it does occur, feels more like a Saturday morning excursion than the year-long struggle that transpired in real-life. There are also several plot points brought up early-on that end up getting dropped later seemingly without notice(+).

Perhaps most jarring is the game’s lack of connection to the overall Assassin’s Creed universe. Now I know this is a criticism that’s been directed at the RPG trilogy as a whole, and while I’ve never believed it (due to, you know, actually playing the games), the critique is disappointingly valid here as nothing in the campaign has any relevance to anything you’d associate with the franchise: no Isu, no Templars, not even a Piece of Eden like in Wrath of the Druids. And it’s a shame because there were several venues by which they could’ve easily tied it to the lore at large(++).

Of course, not everything is negative, with most of my praise going to execution of the aforementioned prelude: backstories about the Viking incursion into France are expanded upon, Eivor is shown exploring all avenues for peace before giving in to the siege, and each of the primary characters is granted a surprising amount of screen-time. There’s a level of depth here not present in Druids wherein everyone’s motives, from the Viking Jarl Sigfred to Charles himself, are made explicitly clear, both of which significantly help in maintaining player investment. Unlike the main game, I was also impressed by the commitment to actually portraying the vikings as pure invaders, a facet that lends the consequent siege a surprisingly unsettling tone whilst you commit war crimes against the innocent civilian populace.

Sadly, I do have to finish this section on a negative note as it could not help bugging me throughout my initial playthrough, that being Toka, the viking who recruits Eivor. Serving as Sigfred’s second-in-command, she comes across as incredibly anachronistic: from her sleeveless design to unwillingness to commit atrocities, nothing about her character was believable in the slightest, and I was constantly taken out of the game whenever her annoyingly bubbe personality spurted up.

Graphically, Siege of Paris is definitely a step-up from Druids in two major ways. First, the production value is noticeably higher in terms of cinematic value; not only are there more mo-capped scenes, but even the algorithmic ones are offset by some really creative cinematography (i.e., the camera actually moves). And second, no longer are you privy to endless verdure, the Parisian lands instead composed of equal parts rich wine country and plague-ridden horror (that visceral differentiation even extending to the NPC textiles and walking animations!). It’s a shame so little side content was provided as I would’ve loved an excuse to just wander amidst the two scapes and take-in their variegated atmospheres.

That said, it’s clear greater priority was given to the metropolitan areas over the natural ones as there weren’t any particularly exciting landmarks or vistas in the surrounding acreage the way there existed in Druids.

SFX is as solid as it was in the base game, though you’ll encounter a number of sound bugs that diminish certain moments, from instant silence during action beats to the talking heads phenomenon of a few key personnel somehow representing a chanting/jeering crowd during such scenes. On that note, voice acting is really good, with Charles and Sigfred’s unsung actors, in particular, giving standout performances (why Ubisoft refuses to credit any of the cast and crew is beyond me).

The score was composed by Stephanie Economou, and like Druids, is another case of DLC music blowing the main game’s out-of-the-water. What you’ve got is another one of those medieval-themed arrangements built on orchestral overtures, and while it’s going to be familiar-sounding to similar releases, Economou still does a great job making it resound like fresh experience. Her vocal tracks, done in collaboration with singer Ari Mason, are especially enchanting, and I fully expect people to go back to them just for that spiritual aurality.

But it’s the gameplay everyone will be most interested in as Siege of Paris made waves early-on with its marketing of blackbox missions. For those unaware, blackbox was a system pioneered in AC Unity (from the blueprint of ACI) wherein you were given multiple venues to take down an assassination target, a distinction from prior releases in which things were much more linear. Now personally, I’ve never believed them to be inherently superior to the old model as some of the best kills in the Ezio/Kenway (and later RPG) games came from following a straightforward path; nor do I believe they were ever fully abandoned as a lot of the forts and camps in the RPG games blatantly took inspiration from blackbox. However, it was definitely deserted for mainline targets, and so the return here was interesting.

As far as execution, they’re actually done quite well. SoP places a greater emphasis on social stealth than before, which aids a lot in exploring sneaky opportunities to get by or around guardsmen. That said, the system isn’t perfect and there are problems: one, it’s very easy to stumble upon a solution via sheer accident courtesy of all the routes being relatively close together (compared to Unity/Syndicate, where opportunities were more spread out); two, the reimplementation of unique kills, something I was NEVER a fan of in Syndicate due to it completely diminishing the purpose of blackbox ala having a “canonical” solution available for players; and thirdly, once again, the absence of confessions, which is particularly inexcusable here given the presence of a mere three targets in total.

Siege of Paris also gained notoriety for introducing scythes and short swords into the base game (the latter being an inexcusable absence). However, as I was playing the Complete Edition and had access to such weapons from the get-go, I cannot comment on the extent to which these were a game changer to players at the time.

Finally, as I alluded to above, side content is very sparse, with Siege of Paris just copy/pasting the standard loot/mysteries you experienced in England. The sole salient addendums are rebel missions, done to help garner allies for the vikings from the adjacent Parisians. Unfortunately, you’ll quickly realize these are literally just rehashed Reda contracts made all the more infuriating by their pathetic rewards and the inability to start more than one at once.

In the end, The Siege of Paris is solid enough. Credit where credit is due, it doesn’t come across like a glorified arc the way Wrath of the Druids did, and the titular blockade actually feels different from the many assaults Eivor partakes in during Valhalla’s main campaign. But it’s too short for its own good and needed more time to really be what it aspired to be. If you’re simply looking for additional content, you can’t go wrong here, but if you were hoping for a fresh coat of paint on the standard Valhalla formula, this won’t be it.


NOTES
-Rats are a new obstacle thrown into the game, but they’re shallowly-implemented, easy to throw off, and don’t make for any unique puzzles.

-Only one new enemy archetype has been created, the charging horseman, and no, you cannot knock down their steed the way you could in Brotherhood.

-Flyting is surprisingly absent despite the presence of charismatic dialogue choices here.

-Despite playing a major role in the historical event, Rollo from the Essexe arc is nowhere to be seen. Now, a number of fans have accused Ubisoft of removing him out of a desire to make the DLC accessible from the get-go, a theory I do not buy given the high level requirement and the fact that they themselves asserted they had future plans for him at one point. Granted, Ubi could’ve been lying, but I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt.

-
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
--
-

-
-
SPOILERS
+There are allusions to Charles’s madness being contagious and infecting other people, a town full of mass suicide victims owing to some cognitive contamination, an overly-zealous sect of the Church, and the plague as a whole. All of these are either never brought up again or outright disappear as the story progresses.


++The most obvious was of course making Charles a Sage in light of his constant quarrels with another entity in his head (Eivor even references the concept, and the idea of an Aita Sage meeting a Norse Sage would’ve been fascinating to see), but if that was too on the nose, the writers surely could’ve had a Piece of Eden be responsible for the above delirium afflicting parts of the populace, OR incorporated the lone Hidden One left in Paris into the plot (his presence unveiled following the completion of his eponymous tombs).

--
-
-
-
-
----
-
-
-
-
----
-
-
-
-
----
-
-
-
-
----
-
-
-
-
----
-
-
-
-
----
-
-
-
-
----
-
-
-
-
----
-
-

-
-
-
-
-