NORDIC WARRIORS Review: If Chess Was A Battlefield

PC Review Code Provided by Liron Peer

Looking to challenge players with a nightmare-level of strategic battle comes developers Liron Peer and Roman Levin. Working with publisher Mashmashu Studio, they released this hardcore, tactical-based warzone full of undead horrors called Nordic Warriors on Steam. Entering a genre that has so many great titles behind it, as well as many poorly made ones, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was going to be a game worth the time and effort to earn a victory from. After losing a few hours to this game, I have to say that I am simply impressed!

Story

During an age when man fights for his very survival, only those blessed to be shamans have the ultimate power to save humankind.  The evil sorcerers and their undead hordes know this and have launched an offensive against those last beacons of hope.  Knowing that if they can wipe out the shaman protectors the rest will fall into their clutches.  You are a leader within the frozen north, bound to gather your fellow warriors and protect your shaman as you make your way through undead infected lands.  Do you fight your way through, earning a place in Viking Mythology?  Do you make a run for it, hoping there is safety in speed and stealth?  The choice is yours.  May you be lucky enough to live with the consequences.

Gameplay

The concept is, in overly simplistic terms, keep the shaman alive.  Once you lose her, it’s game over.  So, to speak.  In actuality, there is so much more that goes into this game.  Different units in your war party have different capabilities.  You have a large array of formations you can use to maximize your offense, defense, protection of your shaman, or any other idea that you have in mind.  There is plenty of options for you to mess around with mixed formations and unit types.  The possibilities are unlimited! Not actually mathematically unlimited, but there is a LOT of options for you to choose as you make your way through the game.

From the start, you have the option to choose between the Training Ground and Chapter 1.  First-timers should definitely go for training.  The developers do a great job of walking you through most of the different character types, controls, and formations during the training session.  The fact that they do such a good job should serve as a testament to them knowing how potentially difficult this game can be while playing, of course depending on which difficulty setting you select.  Once you complete your training you get to start working on missions.  This is where things start to get real!

Let’s just state a fact you need to know, without giving away any real spoiler information – Your merry bunch of Nords will be greatly outnumbered.  Luckily, your enemies are kind enough to come at you in waves.  Sure, some of those waves come at you while the previous one is still engaged, but that’s what ranged damage and trap makers are for, right?  How many waves will you face?  I can’t answer that for you.  Not to avoid spoilers, but I am fairly certain they will continue towards until you either die or make your way successfully to your goal location.  Notice I didn’t say “until you make it to safety”.  This land is harsh.  Violence is around every corner and is unavoidable.  There is no safety if you decide to play, but there is success and GLORY!

The options for setting difficulty are: Peasant, Warrior, Hero, Ragnarok.  Note, that unless some games with a gatekeeper in the program that requires you to beat one level to try again on the harder level – Nordic Warriors is open season on whichever level you want to dive into.  Personally, I am a fan of it being open like that.  If I want to embarrass myself by starting out on hard mode, I should have that opportunity.

You also have the ability to set up sub-units within your forces, assigning hotkeys to each one for faster selection and assignments.  Movement commands are basically handled by selecting the troops you want to move and clicking on the location they should set up at.  It is simple, which as you go through the training will have you incorrectly thinking that the game is going to be simplistic as well.  I believe this was the developers give the player a bone, so to speak.  Troop movements can grow to be pretty complicated if you take advantage of the predefined troop units and multiple preassigned team formations.

Visuals

The graphics are good.  Not amazing, but good. When you are talking about this game with your friends (and you will when they ask what you have been doing to keep you away for so long) you will NOT be bragging about how the art is done in the game.  You won’t be complaining about it either, most likely.

Sounds

The studio did a great job on the sounds of the game.  As items explode and creatures fall, you get pulled further into the simulation.  As you would expect in a strategy game most of the different members of your party have canned responses they rotate through as you make your way through the game.  They opted for the cliché accent for the dialogue, but it works really well in this game.  There is also the constant traditional tavern music lightly playing in the background as you make your way towards safety.  All-in-all the soundtrack and narratives were well done and make the game more enjoyable.

Replayability

Nordic Warriors is one that can be played multiple times without getting boring.  The design of the game as you go through the different scenarios allows for there to be multiple tactics that can be used to achieve your goals.  Restarting and trying each one can lead to loads of additional fun, and possibly help develop future insight into what works best for your enjoyment of the game.

What Could Be Better

The mapping in the game takes some getting used to when you first start playing.  In most games, it is oriented so that the top of your map is the direction associated with the top of the screen.  In Nordic Warriors, for some reason, the top of your area is actually to the far right of the map – or at least it was when I started playing.  At first, this caused me to be disoriented and constantly walking in the wrong direction trying to figure out how to get to a place on the map.  As I played more, I tended to figure out where I was going and use the map less, opting to just head in a general direction.  I still would like it if the map either placed the direction you are facing at the top of the map or had a marker for direction in some way.

When I went into windows mode, to grab some screenshots, each time I moved my mouse off-screen to interact with paint or word, the map would adjust location flying way off the center of my party.  This forced me to use the map to find myself again on the map.  During the actual game events, it caused my party to get lost off-screen during the battle a few times, adding to the casualties.  Again, this was bothersome because I was trying to multi-task and document the gameplay as I went.  If you are a person that likes to work and play at the same time, be warned.  If you are playing the game and nothing else, this won’t be an issue for you.

Conclusion

With Nordic Warriors, Liron Peer has a hit on their hands!  It is fun to play a game that forces you to know your party capabilities and think on your feet.  In the end, if you are seeking a game that provides the opportunity for you to test your inner commander under a real-time pace – get a copy of this game.  What it lacks in fancy graphics it makes up for with command options and variances in how you approach your objective. Remember the sole goal of this game, according to the introduction and training, is to save your shaman.  Personally, I felt that even when I managed to deliver my shaman to the objective location, I felt like I hadn’t succeeded if I had heavy troop losses.  It drove me, as it will you, to do better and protect as many as I could. I enjoyed the game and can see myself spending many hours playing. If my wife asks, I am working to beat a deadline and cannot be disturbed.