Assassin's Creed Valhalla's free new River Raids mode is out now

Assassin's Creed Valhalla, that famously content-light videogame, has received a major free update today. The Yule Season update adds a new game mode called River Raids, which adds higher stakes raids, a new and customisable longship, and a

There's a trailer explaining the new features below.

Raiding in Valhalla is where you get on your boat with some viking pals and go pick a fight with some Englanders. Alice B enjoyed it in her Assassin's Creed Valhalla review, and this update is designed to let you do more of it without messing with the main game progression or impacting your alliances around Englnad.

Valhalla was already utterly massive, as per most Assassin's Creed games, but this update also adds three new river-set maps to sail around. There are different types of settlements you can raid in the region, and some are designed to be more challenging than those from the main game. You'll consequently unlock better rewards for completing them.

The part that interests me most isn't mentioned in the video above - not in detail. The vikings you'll take with you on these raids are recruited and upgraded via a new Jomsviking building, but Ubisoft mention that those Jomsvikings are "created by other players online". I'm always a fan of that kind of ambient multiplayer, and being able to mention a pal to say that I got them killed while trying to burn down a village. More games - all games - need to have a bit of that Dragon's Dogma stuff in them.

There are more Valhalla updates to come, with the Ostara update due in March to bring another new game mode.