Vikings were quite the troublemakers in Europe during their time, and Eivor has been busy raiding and pillaging Europe in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After leaving snow-covered Norway to find a better life in the greener pastures of England through political assassination and violently overthrowing monasteries, the next stop on the map took her to Ireland to deal with a druid problem and drive a snake out of the country. Not satisfied with only pillaging and spilling blood in the English speaking countries, Eivor's next adventure takes him to Francia in the newest expansion Just France 2021 The Siege of Paris.

After building a bit of renown throughout Europe another ship has arrived at Ravensthorpe seeking out aid from the Raven Clan. This introduces the player to Toka, a woman from Francia who is requesting Eivor's assistance in dealing with King Charles the Fat. Most people aren't going to turn down an invitation to Paris, and since this invitation is asking to become part of a rebel uprising to overthrow a monarch, this sweetens the deal for Eivor. So it's off to set sail for Francia, a new land filled with mysteries to solve and interesting people to kill. And rats. Lots and lots of rats.

The story unfolds in way that should feel familiar to veterans of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. In the usual fashion, Sigfred and his band of malcontents is displeased with Charles the Fat and wishes to abdicate him by force. As Eivor provides assistance it's gradually revealed that there's more to events of major players in Francia than was initially revealed, leading to a complex web of lies, betrayals and lots of killing. It's a new story with new characters in a new location, but everything about its progression feels on par with everything that has come before in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The story is new but feels familiar as it follows the template that was established earlier in the game.

The main objective is to assist Toka and Sigfred in the war against his corpulent majesty Charles but there are other things to be done in Francia. When dealing with any problematic despot a violent uprising seems to the best way to go, or at least most entertaining from a gaming standpoint. Eivor can lend her blade to the rebel forces and take on side missions to eliminate Charles' henchmen. Doing so will increase Eivor's infamy level and allow him to train the rebel forces from disorganized rabble with farming tools into well armed seasoned warriors.  Black Box missions have been rebooted as Infiltration missions, where Eivor can achieve her objective by seeking out information from villagers which can also lead to some additional assassinations, making them an interesting way to delve deeper into the lore while adding some variety to the gameplay. Lastly, there's a mystery involving The Hidden Ones in Francia, but to not spoil the fun we won't say anything else about that.

Two other noteworthy additions are the return of the one-handed sword, a longtime fan favorite from that has been conspicuously absent in Valhalla. Better late than never, even though by now most players have already adapted to the current weapon selection and found their favorite. The current arsenal at the Hardcore Gamer office is dual wielding sickles, but the one handed sword is a nice addition. The other, which is far less welcome than the sword, is the swarm of rats. Ubisoft games are notorious for having the biggest group of jerks to compose their animal population, and the rats are by far the worst. They swarm around Eivor's feet and can kill her within seconds. The rats can't be killed but attacking them can scatter them away for a few seconds, and if they player is lucky in some locations they retreat into drain gates which sometimes can be covered with moveable objects. On the plus side, some have complained about England having too many snakes and at the time of this review only five snakes have been encountered in Francia.

Recommending The Siege of Paris is a lot like recommending its Irish predecessor. It's enjoyable and the new additions mentioned above make it feel like not entirely more of the same. The Infiltration missions are an enjoyable reboot of the Black Box missions, which is a nice nod to the French setting in Assassin's Creed Unity. The rebellion missions do feel like padding to the content to make it feel more substantial, but for a few quick missions they were actually fun. The rat swarms are just terrible and the current least favorite Ubisoft animal out of a zoo's worth of awful animals. But those new things aside, The Siege of Paris is mostly more of the same. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is overall a good game, but it's also a long one. Those who are still interested in playing or can't get enough of it can find a lot to enjoy in Francia, but the new content doesn't offer enough to rekindle extinguished interest to those who have had their fill.

The graphics, soundtrack and control are about the same level of quality with the base game and previous expansion. The music is great, especially during Raids. The voice acting is well done and the actors try to give each of the characters in the new area a French accent lest The Siege of Paris have to endure to level of ridicule as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. For the most part the controls and game mechanics do what the player wants, but sometimes when you want Eivor to jump down a hole, Eivor will nimbly do everything to avoid said hole, or while fleeing attackers or engaged in battle Eivor may decide now might be good time to grab unto a wall which the player may not see because foliage is obscuring the view of him. But those complaints are probably familiar to Valhalla veterans and minor annoyances. Also it should be noted that the recommended power level for Francia is 200, so while this content may be enjoyed prior to completion of the main game, it's recommended that the player have already invested some serious time into Valhalla, unlike Wrath of the Druids which was more welcoming to newcomers with its power level of 55.

Closing Comments:

Assassins Creed Valhalla: The Siege of Paris is an enjoyable expansion to an already massive game. The story and characters are interesting enough to make the playthrough worthwhile. The Infiltration missions offer the biggest level of variety from the base game and should be pleasing to fans who missed the Black Box missions. But while these new additions offer more variety to the gameplay, The Siege of Paris doesn't break a whole lot of new ground for Valhalla. As fun as this expansion can be, the new additions don't do a ton to help prevent the "more of the same" feeling which may not be enough to convince players who have already had their fill to resume Eivor's saga.