I had assumed the new mega-game Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla was all icy fjords and spicy feasting. But it turns out most of it is set in the British Isles in 873 AD. The latest PC Magazine notes how…

Many environments look like recreations of The Lord of the Rings’ Shire, which itself was inspired by old England … where the bulk of the game occurs. … You can tell the development team spent many years researching the England of old. This is truly one of the finest worlds I’ve seen in a video game.

Nor do non-gamers have to wrestle with fiddly game mechanics and “pillage 10 villages to win a cow” grinding. Because the Assassin’s Creed games get special tourist versions. Eventually. You can already tour Ancient Greece, Egypt etc, from previous games, via a “Discovery Tour” version.

Will there be a Discovery Tour for Anglo-Saxon England? Yes. It was officially announced a month ago that Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla will get a Discovery Tour, along with addon-packs (‘DLC’) to add druids in a wild and apparently supernatural Ireland.

As for the Discovery Tour date, my guess based on the DLC timing would be summer 2021, so that it’s patched and ready for the back-to-school educational market in September. The game appears, from this screenshot, to include the cat-taming from the Ancient Egypt version of the game…

… but sadly it’s Windows 10 only. Also, the PC Magazine review concludes…

“To get the most out of Valhalla, you’ll need a near-godlike gaming PC.”