In my many years of gaming, I’ve noticed that there aren’t to many games that star vikings or are influenced by Norse mythology. Yes there have been games about vikings and that use elements of Norse mythology, but compare that number to the number that use and star samurai/ninjas, pirates, and knights. Personally I can only name about three or four games that center around vikings and Norse mythology. So when I found out that there was a new action RPG that is heavily centered around vikings and Norse mythology called Vikings Wolves of Midgard, I was very interested.
Valhalla
It’s Diablo 3 but with vikings- When I first booted up Wolves of Midgard, the first thought that came to my mind was, “Hey this kinda looks like Diablo 3, but with vikings”. When I started to play through it, again I thought, “Hey this plays kinda like Diablo 3, but with vikings”. One of my favorite games that came out during the PS3 lifespan (and ported to the PS4 later) was Diablo 3.
Heavy use of viking/Norse mythology- One of Wolves of Midgard’s strengths lies in its heavy use of viking/Norse mythology in the story (we’ll get to that later), the game world, character/enemy design, music and even the loading screens. Instead of just taking bits and piece of viking/Norse mythology, Wolves of Midgard goes all in.
Interesting story- As I mentioned earlier, Wolves of Midgard uses viking/Norse mythology to flesh out its story. The core of the story is that the gods of Asgard are warring with the frost giants of Nifheim, again for some reason. As the army of the frost giants march towards Asgard, they happen to cross into Midgard (Earth) and march right through your village, killing the village chief and destroying everything in the process. Obviously ticked off you set out to get revenge on the frost giants, all the while conquering neighboring villages, repairing your own and striking down those who get in your way of vengeance.
Niflheim
Almost too much like Diablo 3- While I did say earlier that being similar to Diablo 3 isn’t a bad thing, as a developer you don’t want your game to be called “a clone”. Yes its good to take inspiration and use it to craft your own game, but if the elements you use start to look too similar to the original game, then you run the risk of having players label your game as a clone and will ask themselves “why play a clone when we can play the original”. Wolves of Midgrad walks that line very gingerly, mostly with the UI elements and controls. Speaking of controls…
Controls a bit rough- Wolves of Midgard controls similarly to Diablo 3: spells are mapped to the face buttons, dodge on the right analog stick, movement on the left. Even with controls mimicking one of the greatest action RPGs of all time, there are a couple of flaws. For example the dodging mechanic feels a bit sluggish, there’s no auto-lock for ranged weapons, interacting with items and objects can be a bit frustrating, etc.
Vikings Wolves of Midgard is a pretty decent action RPG, or some will call it, a Diablo III clone. The game plays just like Diablo III, which is great for those looking for an alternative however it borrows so much from Diablo III that it might sway gamers to pick that one up instead. Despite the clunky controls, Wolves of Midgard pulls players in with its heavy use of Norse mythology in the story and spread throughout the game in general. If you are looking for a game like Diablo III but with vikings, then this is the viking game for you.
