War of the Vikings | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Fatshark |
Publisher(s) | Paradox Interactive |
Director(s) | Anders De Geer |
Designer(s) | Daniel Platt |
Programmer(s) | Robin Hagblom |
Artist(s) | Robert Berg Mikael Hansson |
Writer(s) | Magnus Liljedahl |
Engine | Autodesk Stingray |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
Release | 15 April 2014 [1] |
Genre(s) | Hack and slash |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
War of the Vikings was a multiplayer hack and slash video game developed by Fatshark and published by Paradox Interactive. The game was announced at the Paradox Platypus Homecoming Event on 7 August 2013 in Sydney, Australia. [2] The game is a follow-up to the 2012 Fatshark game War of the Roses .
The announcement notice said that "War of the Vikings is a new standalone entry into the War-franchise that will pull players into the brutal and bloody Viking Age, challenging them to design a personalized warrior and sack England as a mighty Norseman – or defend it as a brave Saxon. Built on the same close quarter combat-tech as War of the Roses, War of the Vikings delivers the next generation of Paradox's close quarter combat focused brands that moves the setting to the Viking Age. All of these factors enabled us to create a game experience that has an increased intensity, improved accessibility, and more intuitive combat experiences ensuring you're always presented with interesting choices." [3] [4]
War of the Vikings was released on 15 April 2014. [5] On 2 October 2014 Paradox Interactive announced they would stop development of the game after two patches to increase stability and solve some major issues. [6] On 28 February 2017 the servers were shut down and the game is not playable anymore.
War of the Vikings puts the player in control of a single soldier fighting for either the Vikings or the Saxons. The player will be able to define the game character profile by choosing everything from armour style, heraldry, shield paintings, beards, armour, weaponry and perks. The game plays mainly in a third-person viewpoint and is a multiplayer game. [7]
The player can choose from 5 character classes:. Warrior (Medium Class): An all-around warrior with medium armor, with a sword, shield, and throwing axes. Champion (Heavy Class): Heavily armored, with charged up attacks whose two-handed axe deals a lot of damage. Skirmisher (Light Class): A ranged fighter who picks off enemies with a longbow, but carries a light axe for close-quarter melee combat. Shield Maiden (Medium Class): A defensive front liner with spear, javelin and the Snowflake shield. Berserker (Light Class): A fast, dual wielding fighter with two swords. [8]
Melee attacks are divided into right and left side swings and overhead strikes. Each melee weapon also has a special attack which does a large amount of damage if it connects but will leave the attacker vulnerable while the animation plays.
There are 5 game modes, each of which can be played by up to 64 players. Arena is a single life game mode in a small map, where, when a player is 'downed' they can be killed by the attacker hitting them where they lay or can be resurrected by a team mate. Pitched Battle is a larger version of a single life game mode, suitable for clan battles. TDM game mode is where the player has the ability to respawn, however each full death counts towards the score (a resurrected player does not count as a death for the game score). Conquest is a multiple life game mode where the teams battle to advance one objective at a time. Domination is another multiple life game mode where all objectives are available and must be held simultaneously to win.
War of the Vikings was developed by Fatshark. During development, the team conducted research on Viking history by consulting with scholars. These scholars had specialties in areas including the weapons, gear, culture, language, and lifestyle of both Vikings and Saxons. They stated that this was in order to get away from stereotypical depictions of Vikings. [9]
War of the Vikings was made available through Steam's Early Access program. [9]
The game's reception was mixed with a 62 rating on Metacritic. [10]
Nox is an action role-playing game developed and published by Westwood Studios and Electronic Arts in 2000 for Microsoft Windows. It details the story of Jack, a young man from Earth who is pulled into a high fantasy parallel universe and has to defeat the evil sorceress Hecubah and her army of necromancers to return home. Depending on the player's choice of character class at the beginning of the game, the game follows three largely different linear storylines, each leading to its unique ending. In the multiplayer, players can compete against each other in various game modes such as deathmatch and capture the flag, while the freely downloadable expansion pack NoxQuest added a cooperative multiplayer mode. The game was generally well received by critics and the media.
Knowledge about military technology of the Viking Age is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representations, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and laws recorded in the 12th–14th century.
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict is a first- and third-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Midway Games. It was released in April 2005 for Xbox. The game is part of the Unreal franchise, and is a direct sequel to 2002's Unreal Championship. Unreal Championship 2 was designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the Xbox Live gaming service.
Super Smash Bros. is a crossover platform fighting game series published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The series is known for its unique gameplay objective which differs from that of traditional fighters, in that the aim is to increase damage counters and knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars.
Dungeon Siege II is an action role-playing video game, the sequel to 2002's Dungeon Siege. It was developed by Gas Powered Games and released in 2005. The story is a continuation of the Dungeon Siege storyline. An expansion Broken World was released in 2006.
Heimdall is an action role-playing game developed by The 8th Day, published by Core Design, and released in 1991 for the Amiga and for the Atari ST and DOS in 1992, with a console version created for the Sega Mega-CD in early 1994. The game features a mixture of puzzle-solving, exploration, and dynamic combat mechanics, in which players must explore various islands in the search for the fabled weapons belonging to the gods of Norse mythology. The game received favourable reviews upon its release, though the console version was given mixed feedback by reviewers.
Pirates, Vikings and Knights II is a multiplayer team-based first-person action video game, developed as a total conversion modification on Valve proprietary Source engine. The game is currently in beta development stages, with its first public release on 1 January 2007. The second major public version was released a year later on 7 February 2008.
Cabal Online is a free-to-play, 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by South Korean company ESTsoft. Different localizations of the game exist for various countries and regions. Although free-to-play, the game makes use of the freemium business model by implementing an "Item Shop", both in-game and via web, allowing players to purchase special premium coins using real currency, in order to acquire exclusive game enhancements and features, useful items and assorted vanity content.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is a real-time strategy-tactical role-playing video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ for Microsoft Windows based on the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. It is the sequel to the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War video game series. Dawn of War II was released in North America on February 19, 2009 and in Europe on February 20, 2009. A sequel, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, was released in April 2017.
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is a 2009 action game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It is derived from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and borrows many gameplay mechanics from Pandemic's Star Wars: Battlefront games. The game allows the player to play as both the forces of good and evil.
Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West is a team-based third-person shooter multiplayer video game. It was developed by Fatshark and published by Paradox Interactive and released in 2010 for Microsoft Windows via Steam and the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network. An Xbox Live Arcade version was announced, but it was cancelled.
Mount & Blade: Warband is the standalone expansion pack to the strategy action role-playing video game Mount & Blade. Announced in January 2009, the game was developed by the Turkish company TaleWorlds Entertainment and was published by Paradox Interactive on March 30, 2010. The game is available as a direct download from the TaleWorlds website, through the Steam digital distribution software, as a DRM-free version from GOG.com, or as a DVD with required online activation. The macOS and Linux versions were released on July 10, 2014, through Steam.
Total War: Shogun 2 is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega in 2011. It is the seventh mainline entry in the Total War series and returns to the setting of the first Total War game, Shogun: Total War, after a series of games set mainly in Europe and the Middle East.
Ryse: Son of Rome is a 2013 action-adventure video game developed by Crytek and published by Microsoft Studios. Set in an alternate version of Ancient Rome, Ryse follows the life of the Roman centurion Marius Titus as he becomes one of the leaders in the Roman Legion. Gameplay revolves around Marius using his sword to strike enemies and shield to deflect attacks. Execution sequences are featured in the game, which are quick-time events that serve as an extension to combat. The game features a cooperative multiplayer mode, which tasks players to fight against waves of enemies in maps that are changing dynamically.
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is a multiplayer-focused hack and slash developed by Torn Banner Studios as their first commercial title. The game is set in a fictional setting. On September 20, 2012, a trailer was released which set the release date to October 16, 2012. The developers had confirmed that the game would be PC exclusive initially, but in October 2014, they confirmed that the game would be coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in December 2014. A standalone expansion pack called Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior was announced on August 23, 2013, as a tie-in for the television series Deadliest Warrior. It was released on November 14, 2013.
War of the Roses is an action hack and slash video game developed by Fatshark and released by Paradox Interactive. The game is set during the Wars of the Roses which took place in England during the 15th century. It was released on 2 October 2012. War of the Roses was well received for its extensive customisation enabling character configurations to be tailored to very specific tastes and for its original "control scheme to tackle a new kind of combat with the aim of creating a completely different experience". The game shut down on 28 February 2017.
Cobalt is an action side-scrolling video game developed by Oxeye Game Studio and published by Mojang Studios. It was released on 2 February 2016 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and the Xbox One consoles.
God of War: Ascension is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). The game was first released on March 12, 2013, for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console. It is the seventh installment in the God of War series and a prequel to the entire series. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist, Kratos, the former servant of the God of War Ares, who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. In response to this tragedy, Kratos renounced Ares, breaking his blood oath to the god. Kratos was, therefore, imprisoned and tortured by the three Furies, guardians of honor and enforcers of punishment. Helped by the oath keeper, Orkos, Kratos escapes his imprisonment and confronts the Furies, aiming to free himself of his bond to Ares.
For Honor is an action game developed and published by Ubisoft. The game allows players to play the roles of historical forms of soldiers and warriors such as knights, samurai, and vikings, controlled using a third-person perspective. The game was developed primarily by Ubisoft Montreal and released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in 2017.
Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide is a 2015 cooperative survival video game developed and published by Fatshark. The game is set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. The game is multiplayer-only, and its structure is similar to Valve's Left 4 Dead series. Set during an apocalyptic event called the End Times, players can team up with three other players to fight against the Skaven, a race of rodent-like creatures, in the city of Ubersreik. At the end of each match, the players are given the opportunity to roll dice, which determine the weapons they will receive as reward.