The gaming world’s worst kept secret of the last year was officially revealed at the end of April, when a trailer was released for Ubisoft’s upcoming entry into its signature Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
While the trailer is four minutes of awesome cinematic mayhem, many gamers were quick to point out that the Norse Viking setting of the game was eerily reminiscent of 2018’s God of War.
In fact, many fans used this as a sticking point when complaining about the direction of this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed. Many are calling it a ripoff, seeing as how it was heavily hinted that the gods of Norse mythology, who were featured heavily in God of War, will play a role in this game.
But God of War Director and all-around awesome guy Cory Barlog headed off these cries for blood in a tweet posted on his official Twitter account.
“No one should be worried,” Barlog said in the tweet. “The myths have been around a long time and will preserve through the ages, providing countless creatives a deep well to pull from – provided they are willing to sacrifice an eye for the knowledge.”
He then added, “Very excited to play Assassin’s Creed Valhalla when it comes out.”
God of War was once steeped on the lore of Greek mythology. However, after three “main” games and a number of offshoot games for various platforms, the development team behind the journey of Kratos decided against returning to that particular pantheon for the series soft reboot.
Instead, Kratos found himself in the realms of Norse mythology, encountering the Norse god Baulder throughout the game. Other characters from Norse lore to be featured in God of War include the goddess Freya, Mimir, and the World Serpent, not to mention the sons of Thor, Magni and Modi.
In the trailer for Valhalla, during a major battle in which the vikings take on British soldiers, the main viking hero sees a shrouded man standing beneath a tree. A raven flies out from behind him and he exclaims that Odin is with them on the battlefield.
Playing into mythology is not something the Assassin’s Creed franchise was really known for prior to the release of the previous game in the series, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Players were able to embark on missions where they would fight against creatures of mythological lore like Medusa, the Minotaur, and even the Sphinx.
It has heavily been rumored that the Norse gods will play some role in this game, but at the moment it is unclear how that will occur.
