The Siege of Paris is an exceptional expansion for AC Valhalla. We have brand new enemy types, weapons, and a whole new map of Francia to explore. If you’re expecting a drastic upgrade to your experience, you might not be pleased. But if this is a stepping stone to the upcoming expansion that Ubisoft has promised us for next year, then you’ll find it interesting. The Siege of Paris proves that AC Valhalla, entering its second year, can bring with it the additional gameplay mechanics and intriguing villains that we’ve all come to expect from the series. So let me share with you my AC Valhalla The Siege Of Paris Review and why I think it’s one of the best expansions in the series so far.

If history has taught us anything about Vikings, it is that the Siege of Paris was their most ambitious conquest. Sigfred led 700 ships up the Seine, carrying perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers. This is the largest Viking fleet ever recorded in historical records. You relive history as Eivor Varinsdottir of the Raven Clan who answers the call of Sigfred’s cousin Toka, second in command for the Elgring Clan in Francia. Sigfred asks for your help in laying siege to Paris and stopping the Francian king Charles the Fat from destroying all Viking settlements around the English Channel. You will embark on a journey into the heart of Francia, where you will complete 10 hours of main missions and another 5 hours of side activities.

9th century Paris doesn’t have a radically different environment compared to the lush grasslands and hills we got in Ireland via the Wraith of Druids expansion. But the atmosphere is utterly mysterious, with the mist and darkness of destruction hanging over the war-torn land. Looking at Paris itself now, do I feel like the city in the DLC does justice to its history? I’d say yes, if a history lesson isn’t what you’re looking for. If your goal is to visit these key moments from a Viking perspective, then you can certainly experience that in this expansion. The team at Ubisoft Montreal successfully captures the essence of Paris during the second Viking invasion.

But there were a few elements I missed. Like hearing Old French from the 9th century or even Old Frankish, that would have added a lot more to the realism, like Assassin's Creed Origins, where you hear modernized Egyptian on the streets of Siwa, Greek in Alexandria, and Latin among Roman soldiers. Because Francia looks like England, you sometimes get confused about where you are. Looking at both locations side by side, I wish there was more to the map than what we got. But that's what these countries actually look like. Both England and Francia have vast farmlands that attracted the Vikings in the first place. So I can't really blame the developers for that.