Northgard Impressions - The Viking RTS We've Been Looking For

Shiro Games should hopefully exist a somewhat familiar name to those of you who follow gaming, as the creators of the lovably mannerly Evoland and its sequel, Evoland 2. The team is now creating a Real-Fourth dimension Strategy game called Northgard.

While at Gamescom I had the risk to see Northgard in action. I was likewise able to talk to Sebastien Vidal, the co-founder of Shiro Games and lead designer on the game. He spent quite some time introducing me to the world of Northgard, how the game works, what features are already in and what's to come. A time well spent, every bit I already know for a fact that I want to play Northgard on release.

Even at this early stage, Northgard has a lovely visual aesthetic. It features an extremely colorful palette, showing a lovingly created world. It also features well crafted and detailed animations that bring the Vikings, as well as a number of mystical creatures and elements, to life. Included is a working seasonal system, though the transition between summer and wintertime is currently not implemented, that has a directly impact on the aesthetics and gameplay itself.

The title should give away that Northgard takes a very nordic theme, which is combined with a hex-based real-fourth dimension strategy game. The story is that the Vikings take discovered the new content of Northgard and the tribes are competing to decide who controls information technology. You control i of the clans that are at that place to conquer and settle the new territory, each having their own play-style and advantages.

The action occurs on a hex-based map like Civilization, but zoomed in to a Settlers-like level. Although real-time, and non pausable, Northgard is very much a game of long-term strategy, space and time management. To capture a hex yous need to send a scout, it will have some fourth dimension to explore and then reveal it, letting you then either capture it or leave it as information technology is. This slow approach seems to allow for a more relaxed gameplay manner, particularly equally each hex has a limitation on the number of workers and buildings that it can support.

Sebastien did reveal that in that location are iii tribes as of now, with more than to come. He likewise introduced me to the number of unlike victory atmospheric condition found when playing the game. The military victory can be obtained through conquest. There'south an economical victory through trading with off-map nations. If you find the sword of Odin, you can rebuild it and obtain a wonder victory. Capturing and holding Yggdrasil for ten minutes volition besides result in a victory. Every action yous accept results in fame, which raises your standing in the Vikings eventually allowing yous to get the king of Northgard.

Information technology was also revealed that at that place are unaligned factions, an example being Giants, that can be traded with or fought. Creatures like dire wolves, dragons and more tin can also exist found around the randomly generated world, and to capture the hex they're on, you will need to fight them for it first. Due to the limitations on each hex, exploration and expansion are greatly recommended.

Sebastian did reveal that the hope is to release a Northgard beta, or release information technology in early access, within the side by side two months. Depending how this goes, the hope is for an stop of the twelvemonth or an early 2022 release. The game will be released on Steam, with back up for Mac and with the possibility of Linux support. Needless to say, it's certainly a game that's worth looking forrard to if you lot're interested in the genre.