Vikings - Wolves Of Midgard Gameplay

[Valda Atkeson]

Linuxwas not a same-day release. It had a bit of a delay but they made good on their promise of Linux support in August. I decided to let this one bake a little longer, since I was hoping for a decent action RPG experience on Linux, which is a genre we don't have much choice in.

In Vikings, you play as the Chieftain of a ruined settlement you're attempting to rebuild. Over the course of the game you will be upgrading it, meeting new people to unlock new locations, fighting all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures including wolves, other human clans and much bigger fantasy creatures. The story is fully voice acted, but leaves a lot to be desired. You get fed thin amounts of it as you progress, which only serves to momentarily break up the constant combat.

It's not all mindless button holding though, since you have various gifts (abilities) to use and you can also do a roll to dodge enemies. The problem with the dodge mechanic is that the timing between you dodging and an enemy attack animation doesn't always match up, resulting in you getting hit even when clearly not close enough to be hit. There's other times things don't match up either, like the sound of an arrow launching being played too soon and other minor issues.

The gifts system is quite nice though, since you're not actually locked to the type of character you pick. You can grind for a while if you wish, to unlock more levels and put your gift points into other character types. However, the gifts in each skill tree only work when you're using that class of weapon.

It's not all hack and slash, as you have to deal with exposure to various elements, like the cold. You can huddle around a fire to reduce your exposure to the cold, just be sure to keep an eye on the exposure bar. This breaks up the action a little, giving you some breathing room.

What can also break up the action more, is the "Kill Camera" feature, where it slows down time a bit for you to appreciate a kill. For me though, it breaks it up too much and becomes a nuisance. It also unfortunately shows off how some of the objects don't match up, like this Kill Camera shot showing my hammer clearly not attached to my hand:

There's a few surprising elements to the game, like taking down an animal with someone riding it, who then get off and attack you. There was also the time I was taking in the scenery, watching some birds fly around and then they suddenly dived down and attacked me, which was a little unexpected. Some bits of the environment are destructible as well, so something like knocking down a platform with enemies on it to deal with them quickly if you don't have a bow is possible.

The inventory system is a bit of a nuisance to work with. It does have the feature of comparing items on hover, with a right click swapping them but doesn't update the hover information to say which is equipped until you move the mouse away and back over. This can cause a bit of confusion when swapping two of the same types of items, when it seems to do nothing.

The base system is something that really does set it apart from other hack and slash RPGs. You always have the same base location for upgrades, your stash and so on. As you progress through the game, you're able to upgrade the various shops to get better equipment. On top of that, actually getting the equipment requires resources, not just gold. Unfortunately, this makes it take quite a long time, with repeated runs into areas to actually get everything you need to upgrade.

The level up system is also quite interesting. You need to have collected a certain amount of blood to level up at an altar, but you also need to upgrade the altar to enable higher level gifts (your abilities). However, much like the base upgrades, this can take a while.

Annoyingly, you cannot change the difficulty once you've made a character in-game, that character is locked to that specific difficulty, which to me is a massive oversight by the developer. It's apparently possible by editing config files, but that could result in issues so I don't recommend doing that.

I assume there was supposed to be some sort of logo screen and possible an intro, but all I got was two white screens to skip. Once you get past the character creation and try to start the game, you're greeted with another white screen before a narrator tells you very briefly what's going on. Checking on their Steam forum, it seems I'm not alone with this issue.

If you can forgive the rough edges of the game and you don't mind a bit of a grind, then you will probably quite enjoy it. It feels a lot like Victor Vran in terms of the main gameplay, as you just plow through missions killing everything you can. It's surprisingly light on actual story though, as it focuses mainly on the hack and slash. It's not bad, but it doesn't do anything particularly great either.

End of the world prophecies are nothing new. Many cultures have had different beliefs about some cataclysmic event bringing about the end and perhaps a rebirth of the world. In Norse mythology, this event is known as Ragnarok, and the legends state that when the coldest winter occurs the Jotan will return to take their vengeance against the gods of Asgard in a battle that will likely bring the end to all life on Midgard. As the frost giants gather their armies to bring destruction across the land, they end up at the village of the Ulfung, the Wolves of Midgard. The giant armies destroy their village, which as one can imagine is not taken kindly by these viking warriors. A lone warrior from this village sets out to battle the Jotan, trolls, hordes of terrifying undead monstrosities and the beasts of Ragnarok. For vikings battle is a glorious event and Vikings - Wolves of Midgard puts the player in the role of a one man army in a bloody battle for the fate of Midgard.

Vikings is what many would call a Diablo clone, or in layman's terms an isometric action RPG where the player hacks numerous enemies to death while collecting loot and growing more powerful. Vikings approaches this tried and true format in a slightly different way. Instead of experience points, blood is collected by slaying your enemies in battle which is then sacrificed to an altar to gain a level. Leveling up gives some stat increases and skill points, which are then spent in different weapon skill trees designated to different weapon types and ruled over by different gods. For example, mischievous Loki favors dual wielding, so players that enjoy having a weapon in each hand will find the skills for that style under Loki, whereas those with Odin on their side will have dominion over staff combat.

Since this is a game about vikings and not vampires, blood is not the only souvenir collected from the battlefield. Wood, animal hides and other crafting resources are scavenged and used to increase the size of the sacrificial altar and to upgrade equipment. Upgrading equipment is just as important to the overall power of the viking, which can be done in the village by visiting the smithy and armorer. Additionally, there are fragments of mythical arms scattered across the world to create extremely powerful equipment and to satisfy a player's lust for loot.

Vikings plays exactly how someone would expect a Diablo-inspired action RPG to play. It doesn't revolutionize the genre by any stretch of the imagination, but does a fantastic job of successfully implementing what makes this formula fun while adding enough unique elements so it doesn't feel like just another rehash of the dozens of games in this style out there. Vikings, for whatever reason, have not had a ton of starring roles in games. The Lost Vikings, Viking: Battle for Asgard and For Honor are the only other games that immediately come to mind (feel free to prove me wrong comments section), so battling through a Norse mythology inspired fantasy world doesn't have the same been there, done that feel that can be found with other settings. The player will travel to the Nordic realms of Midgard, Utgard, Niflheim and Dvergheim, which the landscapes of each area is as varied as the probable mispronunciations of each of their names.

Some of these environments are so harsh that only those made of the hardiest viking stock will be able to survive. The Fimbulwinter is a cold winter that will punish even the stoutest of Nordic warriors. A separate meter will fill under the life bar when the player is exposed to these frigid conditions, and if it completely fills up, then the viking popsicle will freeze to death just like poor Valfar, though hypothermia can be prevented by seeking warmth from fires that are scattered throughout the frozen mountains. Other environmental effects include blazing heat and poison, proving that Scandinavia wants to show Australia that there is more than one continent that is hell bent on killing you.

For those familiar with this type of game, Vikings is naturally designed around the endless stimulus loop of looting, leveling and killing. To reiterate, this title does not do anything that new and groundbreaking; it just puts its own spin on something that works and does it well. The gameplay mechanics are smooth and intuitive, and with each button on the controller eventually assigned to a specific action, it's a breeze to dish out the assorted special attacks and using rolls to dodge the giant clubs those pesky frost giants use to try to crush your viking. Or to heal yourself in a near death moment because Vikings aren't known for their acrobatic skills and those giant clubs can really hurt. What vikings are known for is berserker rage, so it is only appropriate that there is a rage bar that fills with kills that grants the viking warrior a temporary period of increased power. Environmental destruction is another tool for dispatching of your enemies, knocking someone off a mountain cliff never gets old and there is something satisfying about breaking down an archer tower and watching them die as they fall to the ground amidst the splintering lumber.

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