Tribes of Midgard

Set in the Norse mythological universe, Tribe of Midgard takes place during the apocalyptic event of Ragnarok. Players (either solo or with up to 9 others) must battle hordes of invading giants to protect a sacred artifact. Fans of the Diablo series, Don’t starve and even Runescape 2 will love the game’s fantasy setting, as well as its top-down perspective.

Don’t Starve With Better Combat?

Tribes of Midgard is a survival game at heart. Like Don’t Starve, players begin the game with nothing (not even a decent pair of clothes) and must quickly scramble to collect resources, gather weapons and build defences. This part of the game is big, yes, but mining and chopping down trees takes only a single click, so it keeps the games pace from slowing down when you need some extra resources.

The combat plays a major focus in Tribes of Midgard, but the game does suffer from a bit of clunkiness where it could be smoother. As the game is still in beta, there could be changes to the combat system to smoothen things out, but players will have to see later on down the line.

Combat is affected by which weapons you use, as each weapon offers the player different abilities in combat. There is also a combat meter that builds upon successful hits on enemies, that allow you to mix up your array of attacks for greater success in battle.

Playing With Friends

While the game is playable solo, it’s definitely not the recommended way to play. The game benefits greatly from having a group of friends alongside you. Not only can having friends make the gathering of resources much quicker, but friends can also revive players in a downed state after taking too much damage. This gives you an extra chance not to lose your gear, which needs to be picked up after death. If you leave it too long or die before you get to your chest of gear, you’ll lose them forever.

Friends also make boss battles much more fun and action packed. After a number of days through the game’s day and night cycle, players will be informed that a giant is approaching their town. Eventually players will be informed that the giant is closing in on their town, and everyone playing will need to drop what they’re doing to help fight it off.

These battles are a highlight, and the game does well to show off how massive the bosses are. Unfortunately there isn’t much weight to how the bosses move, and it would be nice to have more variety in the full release.

Beta Blues

Tribes of Midgard does suffer from only being in beta. The foundation ideas and structure are interesting, so players can hope for a fully-fleshed out experience upon the game’s final release.

That said, there are just a number of things that are impeding on the game’s success. The combat, while the focus of the game, does feel a bit unintuitive and unsatisfying. The speed of the combat is very different between the player and enemies. Foes are much faster and agile than the player, and the game offers no way to truly combat the contrast in speed, which leaves the player feeling clunky and slow without the added bonus of taking less damage.

PROS

• Interesting setting and art style
• Nice quality of life settings
• Fun to play with a big group of friends

CONS

• Doesn’t feel like it is built for solo play
• Still in beta
• Difficulty spikes are frequent without lots of players

How many Viking games have been released over the past year? It seems like an endless trove of offerings that base themselves on Norse Mythology. Maybe nobody got the message that the city-builder Nordic survival game has been done already a thousand times. Luckily though, Tribes of Midgard isn't a game of that genre despite the Viking theme.

What we have here is a game that amplifies the roots of Viking stereotypes. Vicious combat, strategic teamwork, and character building. It's like taking a corporate seminar and sticking it into a Nordic world. The intensity of the action and the vibrant color palette of the game already seem alluring - but does it manage to break the Viking game boundaries?

We're the Guardians of Midgard

As different as the game looks, it seems that whenever Vikings are involved - you can't shake off the survival instinct. Tribes of Midgard does offer players a focus on intense action against a horde of traditional Nordic foes like elves, trolls, and giants. But the procedurally generated world and encouragement to collect and craft are more familiar with other games.

What does make Tribes of Midgard stand out is the diverse colors and cel-shaded visuals. Where visuals are usually icy, cold, and dreary - the game attempts to wow players. There's colorful magic, fluid animations, and distinctive inventory. It makes every frame pleasurable to the eye and smooth to the control. No doubt that the look and feel of the game are right where it needs to be.

Enemies look fearsome, and combat is satisfying - but you can't help feel Tribes of Midgard is going through the motions again. It follows the narrative line of protecting your world until it all becomes too much and the game ends. Where have we heard that before? Oh yes, nearly every Viking-style survival game. You could be satisfied by what's on offer for a while, then get the notion of rinse and repeat.

And don't even think about trying Tribes of Midgard as a solo player. It's kind enough to offer that function for the introverts out there, but you can count on not getting very far. The game is relentless and will require a group of other tribesmen to make sure there is any fun to be had.

Faster Than Odin's Raven

If there's one thing to take away from Tribes of Midgard is that it's ambitious. The gameplay tries hard to incorporate the city-building, action role-playing, and survival mechanics seamlessly. It does make a better attempt at the cross-genre task than other games like Elder Scrolls: Blades. But still, it faces the age-old development issue of too many eggs in the basket.

Pros:

• Visuals make every scene alluring throughout the game
• Fluid and fast combat make the game immersive
• A fun experience when sharing with other players

Cons:

• The solo mode is relentless and frustrating
• The cross-genre mechanics make the game feel muddled
• Feels similar to other Viking-themed games