Assassin's Creed Valhalla continues to be a popular entry in Ubisoft's long running series, getting consistent updates that improve the overall experience. These have ranged from simple hot fixes or game updates to larger content additions and live service elements such as the newly released Sigrblot Festival. In fact, just a few months ago, the first expansion called Wrath of the Druids launched, letting players take Eivor and his Viking clan across the Irish Sea from England to Ireland.
At E3 2021, Ubisoft held its traditional press conference, giving fans an early look at numerous games it has in development. Assassin's Creed Valhalla was featured during a short segment, revealing that not only is the game getting additional content beyond the first season, but it gave fans a first look at the upcoming Siege of Paris expansion. As expected, players will be heading to France a few years after the main events of the game, taking part in a prolonged Viking siege against the forces of the last emperor of the Carolingian Empire, Charles the Fat.
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In addition to the story synopsis, Ubisoft revealed a few gameplay-specific details, confirming that the fan favorite Black Box style missions would be making a return after being on the shelf for a few years. To prepare fans before the release of this latest expansion for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, here's everything players need to know about Black Box missions.
Ubisoft first introduced the concept of Black Box missions alongside 2014's Assassin's Creed Unity. The game took place inside of Revolutionary France and featured Arno Dorian, who's father was part of the French Assassin Brotherhood before being killed by Shay Patrick Cormac. Dorian is adopted, though he's unaware that his new family is actually part of the Templar Order. Arno is soon caught up in a new conspiracy when his adoptive father, who is the current Grandmaster, is murdered. The event pushes Arno on a quest of redemption and puts him on a collision course with the French Revolution and the growing threat of the new Templar Order.
The big shift in gameplay for Unity was seen in these black box missions, which essentially gave the player the freedom to complete a mission as they saw fit. During certain portions of the campaign, players would be given a mission such as assassinating a certain target. Upon entering the area where the target resided, the game would present players with contextual clues for completing the mission, but ultimately allowed them to plan and choose their own path for completing the mission. Once the assassination was made, the mission wasn't actually completed until Arno was able to escape the scene.
Prior to the game's release, Ubisoft showed off a Black Box mission where Arno was hunting Charles Sivert near the Notre Dame cathedral. The player is presented with numerous opportunities and methods to achieve the goal of taking out Siver,t such as storming the front gates, finding a more inconspicuous open window, following a target to learn more clues, or picking a key off of a character to unlock a door or window. It's all up to the player in a black box mission.
While Assassin's Creed Unity had a number of problems at launch, the freedom of these Black Box missions proved to be a highlight for both critics and players. The popularity helped these missions return in Ubisoft Quebec's London-focused Assassin's Creed Syndicate. However, the series would go on an eventual hiatus, allowing the franchise to be retooled with massive open worlds and a stronger emphasis on RPG mechanics. With these changes, Ubisoft also abandoned Black Box missions, as the games instead became entirely open, embraced a leveling progression system, and removed longtime series staples like the mini-map.
While the open ended nature of the recent Assassin's Creed games presented players with the freedom to choose what they wanted to do, many in the community lamented the loss of the feeling that the older games gave them, highlighted by the Hitman-style Black Box missions. Thankfully, Ubisoft has since confirmed that these missions are coming back, though the company hasn't specifically detailed in what way.
Considering that players are joining a viking siege of Paris, it's entirely possible that Eivor will need to infiltrate the palace of Charles the Fat, either to take out a high ranking member of his court or the Templar Order. It's also possible that to advance the siege in favor of the Vikings, Eivor may need to remove a key piece of the defense such as someone guarding the gate or utilizing a defense weapon that is keeping the invading force at bay. With Black Box missions, players will once again have the creative freedom to deal with missions in a variety of ways.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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