Land of the Vikings

There's a niggling feeling that we might have reached an impasse with Viking-themed games here. The large influx of releases incorporating the period of history or Nordic mythology has largely eroded interest for the past couple of years. Still, some developers need to take their ideas on the theme and incorporate them into their releases. And here we have Land of the Vikings.

The game, at first glance, wouldn't strike a player as different from any other similar release. Land of the Vikings is a city-builder game with a Nordic theme, sharing the same ideas as other colony sims. However, the title wants to take its crack at being a more fruitful, immersive experience. You can't argue that Land of the Vikings already looks beautiful, which is worth trying.

Odin Guide Us

Land of the Vikings, like most indie releases these days, releases as an early-access title. There may be improvements according to user feedback. Still, we know there's enough of a game here to give our critical angle on its overall stature. So what's the gist of gameplay? Well, it's a city-builder based on growing a colony in the Viking age; no if, and, or buts about it.

However, there are fundamental differences between releases of the past. Land of the Vikings tries to take your building experience to the next level. There's a challenging social system, an intricate resource management story, and villagers who all have their personalities. All the particular nodes of gameplay are threaded together by beautiful visuals, where players can interchange between top-down and first-person views for a more profound immersion factor.

Land of the Vikings is nothing new in terms of genre and theme. However, there's no doubt that the game is a fine city builder. Players will enjoy facing the challenges of man management and developing a thriving colony under the gorgeous mountainous backdrops. Naturally, there's combat to be had to defend your people against regular violent raids and protect your trade routes to ensure a steady supply of goods.

Overall, Land of the Vikings is an entertaining colony sim that enhances similar games and offers refined mechanics to supercharge your Viking experience. The title is good despite the intense micromanagement and odd technical difficulty.

By the Hammer of Thor

Most players would understandably enter Land of the Vikings thinking the game would be nothing more than a clone copy of Northgard or Banished. The pleasant surprise is that the title has its own more intricate mechanics that dive deep into the lifestyle of these Nordic warrior folks. Yes, the theme isn't much different, and the visual base is similar to the games mentioned above. Still, the gameplay is undoubtedly a cut above.

Round-Up - Pros & Cons

Pros:

• A mechanically sound city builder
• An immersive experience where your characters bring the colony to life
• Diverse gameplay cycling between trade, combat, and management

Cons:

• Visually similar to other Viking-themed games.
• Some mechanics pull a little too hard on the micromanagement strings.