Iconic film director John Carpenter is a surprise fan of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Carpenter is responsible for a score of cinematic classics, most prominently riveting horror films like The Thing and Halloween. Though many of his movies were disregarded as campy flops when they were released, they have since earned renown; many consider The Thing to be one of the best horror movies of all time.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla, in contrast, is not a horror film at all. It's Ubisoft's newest entry in a long running series of historical action games that span a broad swath of human history. Valhalla puts players in the shoes of Eivor, a Viking raider who invades England in AD 873. The game released earlier this month as one of the biggest titles available on next-gen video game systems. Critics have praised Valhalla for its improvements over previous games in the series but the game has drawn some complaints for its high volume of glitches and bugs; an unfortunately common occurrence for the series as a whole.
One player in particular is quite taken with it, however, and that's John Carpenter. The director took to Twitter to sing the praises of Assassin's Creed Valhalla earlier today. According to Carpenter, Valhalla is a "return to excellence" for the Assassin's Creed series. He was especially taken with the design and size of the open world, which gives Eivor free reign of the ancient English countryside. The lands that populate this world take direct inspiration from real-life locations in the region, to add an extra level of realism that it seems John Carpenter is a big fan of. Carpenter also praised the gameplay and overall found it to be an incredible title.
John Carpenter is certainly not known for his game reviews. Even on his Twitter account, most of the director's missives are understandably concerned more with his classic films, and with announcing new endeavors that he's involved with. Carpenter has remained basically silent on the realm of video games for a long time now, and seeing him suddenly break this silence for Assassin's Creed Valhalla has certainly caught a few fans by surprise.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is, by most accounts, a solid game. The next-gen PlayStation 5 version does a lot to improve a lot of the stumbling blocks that held the new game back on current-gen systems. The Assassin's Creed franchise has been building up a very loyal fanbase over the course of many years, entertaining fans with a wide variety of fascinating and historical settings. Many of these long-time fans are surely enjoying living out the Viking fantasy in Assassin's Creed Valhalla right now. And now they can do so with the knowledge that John Carpenter himself is among their ranks.
Source: John Carpenter