Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £59.99)
Verdict: Meditative murder
Yakuza: Like A Dragon (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £54.99)
Verdict: Crazy crimes
Rating: 
The Falconeer (Xbox, PC, £24.99)
Verdict: Gliding not soaring
Rating: 
A new dawn has broken. After years of frenzied speculation and anticipation, the next generation of gaming consoles is finally here.
It started with the release of Microsoft’s new Xboxes this week, and will continue with the launch of Sony’s PlayStation 5 next Thursday. And I did say Xboxes plural. There are two, both with cumbersome names that do little to explain the differences — which are partly to do with how cumbersome they are!
The Xbox Series S (inset below left) is the smaller, less powerful console (but more affordable at a mere £249.99). The Series X (inset far right) is a broad-shouldered beast of a machine that will play the latest games at impressive speeds and with brilliant graphics (but at a cost, £449.99).
Valhalla isn’t just a workout for new consoles. It’s also a fantastic game in its own right, in part because it rejects the frenetic, insistent pace of other recent Assassin’s Creed titles
Assassin’s Creed lets you experience its many mysteries, wonders and, yes, puffins at your own speed
Is the extra outlay worth it? And if so, how to prove it? By playing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, which also came out this week. The 12th mainline entry in the series is a huge and ambitious game set in Viking times. From the snow-draped mountains of Norway to the autumnal pastures of England, which you eventually start raiding, it looks tremendous on the Series X.
More impressive than the look, though, is the speed. When you are playing Valhalla, you notice it in the butter-smooth movements of the main character, Eivor, as he or she — your choice — dispatches yet another foe. When you’re itching to play Valhalla, you notice it in the truncated loading times. What used to take minutes now takes seconds, which feels far more revolutionary than I thought it would.
More gaming will get done in this generation, simply because it is easier.
But Valhalla isn’t just a workout for new consoles. It’s also a fantastic game in its own right, in part because it rejects the frenetic, insistent pace of other recent Assassin’s Creed titles. Instead, it lets you experience its many mysteries, wonders and, yes, puffins at your own speed. A fine way to spend a lockdown and a winter.
I fired up the Series S to play another of this week’s new games, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, and was mighty glad I did.
Though £200 cheaper than the Series X, it is more refined-looking, won’t take up half your sitting room and should satisfy most gamers’ needs.
A new dawn has broken. After years of frenzied speculation and anticipation, the next generation of gaming consoles is finally here. Pictured: Xbox and PlayStation
As for the game itself, the established Yakuza template — Japanese crime saga meets Looney Tunes humour — has never failed before but this instalment manages to shake things up in pleasing ways. Consider it a drunken form of tourism.
The Falconeer is impressive on paper. It’s mostly the work of one developer, Tomas Sala, and he has created a ravishing, imaginative world of dog-fighting eagles and seabound ruins. In practice, alas, it is a little disappointing, even when given a boost by the Series S.
The bird-on-bird combat is just like a hundred plane-on-plane games, while the missions and scenery grow repetitive. Time to return, I guess, to Valhalla’s puffins.