Can you defeat Ragnarok?
Available since June 19th, the real time tactics game Nordic Warriors is a must for any fan of Norse fantasy settings or for any fans of the 1997 Myth: The Fallen Lords game which this one is highly inspired from. The game is from the Mashmashu Studio.
You play the role of Freja, a young female shaman with her hunting party return to their village, but once you return, something is wrong in the air, an eerie feeling washes over you and your companions therefore you know you are not the only one and then you notice the bodies of villagers everywhere and it seems that none were spared nor men, nor women not even the children.
Scenario Hot
The scenario is pretty much textbook from this type of game, you return home only to find your village has been attacked by hordes of undead and their sorcerous masters. Not saying that it is bad nor great, it is what one expect from a fantasy based settings with magic, monsters, Gods and demons.
Game play Flaming Hot
The Game can be somewhat challenging as you can select the difficulty of Peasant, Warrior, Hero or Ragnarok, for the evaluation, I selected to test my skills at the Warrior level, and the game gave me some hardship, which was appreciated, as usually the lower level are too easy but as soon as your select a little lower the learning curve is too steep. For Nordic Warriors I was pleased with the different difficulty level and I can confirmed that I am nowhere near ready to conquer Ragnarok. One element that can be frustrating for new players to this type of game, is the fact that sometimes a unit will be blocked by another unit or by elements on the field. Controls are pretty much easy to pickup and understand, the game start with a quick tutorial to ease the player into them. Your most important unit is Freja, if it dies the game is over regardless the number of other units remaining. Beside her formidable attack Freja also possess a healing ability, but since it is limited, use it sparingly.
Graphics Hot
The quality of the graphics are some what surprising for a game of this type. The terrain is very well detailed and the story book written in runes that transforms as it is being read is a nice touch. In the heat of battle sometimes the different units can be hard to distinguish from one another.
Sound Warm
The sounds can be repetitive to the point that they do not offer much valid information except when you lose a unit and you get the notice “Casualty!” Honestly most players for these type of games pay no attention to the music.
Overall the game is well made and very enjoyable, some chapters may require multiple tries to succeed, but that is part of the fun of these type of games. I hope they plan for updated version where you can play against another player. The game is available on both Windows or MacOs. For review the game was tested on an Asus ROG laptop and a 32 inch monitor, wired keyboard and mouse. My final grade is Hot.
The image is the cover of the game without the logo it was created by Eidzo and can be found on ArtStation .