GAMING NEWS

Hello ladies and gents this is the viking telling you that today we are talking about 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla will bring back 'social stealth' and wrist blade insta-kills.

When I think about Assassin's Creed, I envision high-flying ninja types in stylish hoodies gliding effortlessly through crowds, climbing spires, shanking their targets, and then, poof—they're gone, into the night. Times and circumstances will vary, but there's always a distinct element of professionalism to the whole thing. Giant Viking berserkers swinging battleaxes over their heads with two hands, as we saw in the Assassin's Creed Valhalla cinematic, doesn't exactly fit neatly into that perception.

The series has changed a lot over the years, as it's evolved from Altair to Alexios, and so has the hidden blade that assassins wear on their arms and pop like a low-rent Wolverine when they need to wrap things up in a hurry. Recent games have seen its utility reduced somewhat, from a tool of quiet instant kills to just another blade, albeit one you can wear. But Valhalla creative director Ashraf Ismail told Kotaku that its effectiveness as a stealth weapon will be restored in the new game, in part because it will have a perhaps unexpected focus on stealth-based gameplay.

"Eivor receives the hidden blade quite early on," he said. "We continue with the idea that Eivor is not a trained assassin. Eivor is a Viking who receives this badass weapon and has to learn very quickly. Early in the experience, Eivor will learn a technique that, with the right timing ... can one-shot-kill virtually anybody."

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking.