![]() ![]() Valhalla Hills looks to scratch that gaming itch where we want to challenge our wits and memory but can walk away before skipping any meals. The audio, while not the best I’ve heard, helps create a fun and appropriately Viking-centric atmosphere in which to spend hours building and battling.There are lots of different strategy games, all catering to a variety of tastes that only get broader as the gaming hobby continues to find new members. And the variety of landscapes, from snow covered mountain peaks to the sandy shores of the beaches, provide yet another reason to want to charge through the portal gate. The game’s day night/cycle shows off just how nice the stylised Vikings and their environment can look. The water is beautiful as waves crash into the island, the lighting is also excellent as evident by the beauty of volcanoes exploding on the horizon at dawn. Valhalla Hills boasts the Unreal 4 engine and the developer has put it to good use. The flora and fauna of the game are lovingly crafted and the details shine through as you zoom in closely to watch your Vikings work. Unless of course, Johnny5 is killed by Ice Golems or some other portal spawn. If you name a Viking Johnny5, you can follow his progression through each level as you move through the game. Some minor attention to detail really does the game well such as the ability to change your Viking’s names. Yet, isn’t that precisely what makes these games a challenge? It’s getting things to work the way you want that is the puzzle worth solving leading to your progression and, ultimately, victory. Like any game that stops short of full control over the units, Valhalla Hills can get frustrating when the AI doesn’t respond in a way that you hoped. Additionally, players can shut down a building to force Vikings to work elsewhere. ![]() Within each building there are little elements that can be tweaked such as how many Vikings will be trained or assigned to the building. Build a tent and you have access to more Vikings. Build a woodcutter and your Vikings start chopping wood and bringing it to the structure. Combined with the procedurally generated islands, players will have a bit of a fresh experience with each play-through. While this is not so advanced that it makes a huge difference after hours of progression, it does present a nice twist to the early levels. To that end, Funatics designed an interesting adaptive unlock system that presents players with new options based on how they play the game. The goal is to ease the player into the gameplay while keeping things interesting. Your first island is fairly simple but each island thereafter becomes more challenging as the player hops into each portal. As the islands get larger and more options become available to the player, the portals unleash more and more difficult creatures. I found this to be a great way to unleash the player’s creativity while retaining an easy to understand structure for the gameplay. Unlike many games in the strategy sim genre, Valhalla Hills leans more on the end goal of getting the Vikings to the portal on each level rather than accomplishing quests, missions, or storyline elements. Of course, the game provides military structures to help train warriors and equip them with weapons so they can battle these evil creatures. If unprepared, your Vikings will all be killed and your progression will end. The challenge of course is that when the portal is opened, monsters pour out and begin assaulting your Vikings. At the top of each island, there is a portal gate which the Vikings must first discover (by walking nearby) and then open to progress to the next island, and, ultimately Valhalla itself. You start out on a small island with very few building options and resources around. And then you are given your first handful of Viking failures with which to build and journey to Valhalla. ![]() ![]() Firing up the game, you are presented with an affectionate cut scene explaining Leko’s backstory. Fans of Settlers 2 will enjoy Valhalla Hills playstyle, as will just about anyone who likes strategy sims. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |