HIGH Charming pixel art, modern civilization fallen into ruin with Norse mythological backdrop

LOW Clunky movement, weak combat, wonky UI

WTF Why do I need to disconnect my controller just for the game to be able to launch?

Vessels of Decay makes a good first impression. 

When I saw a gameplay video, I was instantly drawn in by the retro-inspired graphics, isometric action, RPG gameplay and a post-apocalyptic setting steeped in Norse mythology.

The player follows the adventures of siblings Freja and Mud as they fight a wide variety of monsters on their quest to restore the world’s former glory, which entails navigating dilapidated city centers and mysterious Zelda-esque temples chock full of puzzles and challenges.

When I finally set out on my hero’s journey, however, that first impression quickly soured due to a host of technical issues… starting with the game’s failure to launch.

After trying to boot it up several times and failing, I took to the Internet to see if anyone else had encountered the same issue. Other players had already figured out that Decay wouldn’t launch if they had a controller connected, so I had to disconnect my controller, reboot, and then plug the controller back in once the main menu had loaded.

The menu featured the same image used for the promo materials, and it captures what appealed to me in the first place — the two siblings standing on a precipice overlooking a vast landscape and facing what appeared to be a giant deer god. Honestly, it’s a scene worthy of being an album cover. Things were looking up again… for a little while, anyway.

Getting back to controllers, Decay is poorly optimized for them. Even when I tried to rebind the controls, the UI was so clunky that I had to go through and reconfirm or reassign every input entirely (there’s no way to change one and back out) so I eventually just settled on the default settings, which detracted from the overall experience as the developers made many odd choices in determining which buttons to have the player use for certain actions.

Past the controls, I wish I could say that Vessels of Decay lived up to my hopes and expectations, but truthfully, I’m struggling to find positive things to say about it. I liked the vibe and appreciated what I could glean from the few cutscenes and bits of dialogue (each chapter shifted perspective from one sibling to the other) but the way the story was presented made it a little tough to tell the different between dreams or visions and reality.

Initially, I remember being enchanted by the ethereal synth music and the nostalgic pixel art throughout the city ruins which served as the tutorial area where (sadly) I experienced even more egregious technical difficulties.

I was shown the ropes of combat soon after. The game offers heavy and light attacks, a parry, a dodge and executions, but the movement felt sluggish, even when “sprinting”, which was quite finicky. Platforming challenges like swinging from pole to pole across gaps were mired by inconsistent timing, particularly infuriating during a chase sequence when I was being pursued by a giant boar. Balancing on beams between buildings tended to be glitchy — sometimes I would still be walking as if I was on the beam after I had already jumped off and I would be forced to restart from the checkpoint.

Once I made it to the first boss arena, I was disappointed to find that my opponent, the giant boar, was not necessarily challenging, but was still an incredibly repetitive and frustrating fight. There were many times when nothing was happening on-screen, yet the arena would ‘vibrate’ to signify that the boar was stomping around somewhere, so I would have to wander around the arena until I finally triggered its charge attack.

Sometimes the boar wouldn’t make any noise as it did so, looking almost comical as it flew silently around the map trying to attack me. At other times, the camera would neither track me nor the boar, and would instead be fixed on a patch of trees somewhere. Such a viewpoint made it impossible for me to tell where I was or what was going on, so I would end up guessing and dodging blindly in a given direction. Miraculously, I managed to finally bring it down, but rather than feel accomplished, I mostly just felt relieved to have gotten past something that had been the source of so much frustration.

As things progressed, I unlocked some satisfying abilities like the Thorn Stomp which allowed me to use what was essentially a spell slot to trigger far off switches or attack enemies from a distance. I also enjoyed the Charge Dash, though it caused me to get stuck in the wall on several occasions, requiring me to reload the game from a previous save.

The various types of puzzles and challenges in each area weren’t anything that hasn’t been done before (I half-expected the item discovery sound effect from Zelda anytime I opened a chest) but the areas were aesthetically captivating, and at one point I came across a shopping mall which acted as the lair for a host of giants, goblins and trolls — an interesting location!

At this point, I’m running out of positives to share. I had completely lost interest in the story by this point of the game and all of the persistent technical issues drowned out any enjoyment Vessels of Decay had managed to cultivate. To be perfectly frank, it’s unlikely that the developers will be able to address all of the issues that would need to be resolved to make Decay appeal to a wider audience. There are a handful of great ideas here, but the execution falls so wide of the mark that I hope the devs can take this as a learning experience and improve their next venture.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Buy Vessels of Decay — PC — XBO/X/S — PS4/PS5 — Switch

Disclosures: This game was developed by Simon Jakobsson and Aurora Punks and published by Headup. The game is currently available on PC, XBO/X/S, PS4, PS5 and Switch. It was obtained via publisher and reviewed for PC. Approximately 3.5 hours were devoted to the campaign mode. The game was not finished. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game is not yet rated but it would likely be rated T for cartoon violence, blood and gore.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game has only text-based dialogue and no audio cues that impact the gameplay in any significant way making it fully accessible.

Remappable controls: The controls can be remapped.

The post Vessels Of Decay Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Dismembering foes like a sword-swinging badass.

LOW Every single time Abraxas opens his mouth.

WTF No brightness slider in a modern triple-A game? Are you kidding?

In the grand scheme of things, Asgard’s Wrath 2 is being positioned as more than just a regular release. Developer Sanzaru Games are hoping that they can achieve a full-on, triple-A tier, expansive VR experience on a wireless, portable headset. Of course, the question is whether it lives up to those lofty ambitions?

Sometimes it does, when not fumbling basics that I thought we (as an industry) had solved over a decade ago. There’s definitely something compelling to this mythological first-person brawler, but it’s hard to say whether it’s worth the patience required to see it through to the end.

Asgard’s Wrath 2 is a direct continuation of the prior game, picking up right where the original left off. Players begin trapped in a magical pub-slash-prison.

For those who want to know the backstory of how they ended up trapped, they can play through the original – it’s bundled for free with every copy of the sequel. That said, players will need a VR-capable PC, storage for the overwhelming 142.77 gigabyte (!!!) install, and a link cable long enough for their Quest. I’ve no idea why it’s so large an install, but it’s something to bear in mind for those who wish to experience the entire story firsthand. 

Otherwise, players can dive straight in or experience a ‘TL;DR’ retelling. Here’s the even shorter version – Loki tricked the player’s customized god, left them for dead, and is now mucking about in Egypt. The player must get revenge while also aligning with Horus and his insurgency as they oppose a tyrannical usurper of their own.

Slicing and dicing in first-person is as simple as swinging an arm around, and weapons naturally collide with each other, as well as objects in the environment. Players can possess one of four human champions, starting with the tomb raider Abraxas – easily the most irritating man in all of Egypt. Seriously, mute the voice acting whenever he starts talking. He has nothing useful to say, and he goes to great lengths to demonstrate that. On the upside, he has a cool whip-sword and magical throwing scythe, each of which can aid in traversal and puzzles. He’s also completely silent in a roguelite bonus mode!

Combat starts off fairly basic, but does gain some depth later on. For example, dual-wielding and unleashing special attacks require specific gestures to trigger. There’s also the ability to summon weapons back with a flick of the wrist (used later for some cool puzzles) and sections where players leave their champion’s body to solve puzzles that are room-sized, manipulating things with their ‘divine’ hands. It may be a gimmick, but it’s a good one!

There’s also graceful wall-running, mantling, climbing, and intuitive puzzles to solve. Pairing these with champion-specific movement abilities leads to some great navigational setpieces. I particularly enjoyed this after trimming back all the motion-sickness safeguards, which allowed me to naturally dodge traps fluidly. Honestly, I think Sanzaru might be better off leaning into traversal than brawling. It’s not that their combat is bad, but the graceful movement is more satisfying.

For instance, Asgard’s Wrath 2 emphasizes enemy numbers instead of maintaining quality for each duel. I soon stopped worrying about finesse, and instead started hacking away at enemies as quickly as I could. As it turns out, there’s little, if any, consequence for being sloppy, and there were times when I was rewarded for it by blocking enemy attacks I shouldn’t have been deflecting.

While the combat needs a bit of a tweak, what’s more troubling is how Asgard’s Wrath 2 betrays itself with other, more questionable design decisions.

I sometimes found myself standing still for close to ten minutes during cutscenes, and boy howdy does Asgard’s Wrath 2 love to wax on… and on… and on… which is an issue since the story isn’t the selling point here, and none of the characters inspire a modicum of interest. They’re not all as bad as Abraxas, and I appreciate the inclusive cast – the primary shop owner is even nonbinary! However, what they lack is quality writing that makes you care. The capable voice actors have so little to work with, and I’m unclear as to what the overall tone was supposed to be, even more than a dozen hours in.

Even with that said, I could forgive so much of this if Sanzaru hadn’t fumbled so many quality-of-life touches that were solved as far back as the PlayStation 2. I’m talking about very simple additions like: offering the player options for auto-looting, auto-equipping, a brightness slider, an intuitive pause menu, or a sell-all function for useless loot. 

There’s also often a secret, simpler, one-button way to do something like consuming a healing item, but instead the tutorials teach a more convoluted and contrived method. It’s not more immersive to summon an item from a menu and reach into it to grab a health potion than it is to just hit A and get back in the fight. Sometimes the simplest option really is the best one. Here’s the thing though – a lot of these issues are fixable, so hopefully a future patch addresses them. Regardless, I can’t pretend it isn’t extremely weird that in the year 2024 I had to write “desperately needs a brightness slider” in my notes. 

Between missions, players can hang out with their Egyptian deity buddies in an elaborate stone tower with stores, sidequests, and little bits of exposition to flesh out the world. Navigating the tower is a breeze, and has teleport points for players with weaker VR stomachs. The only aspect that’s truly bizarre is requiring players climb up and down a chain to reach their bedroom. Sure, it’s neat that climbing works smoothly, but since there’s a loading screen between both rooms anyway, why the extra input?

Asgard’s Wrath 2 would be an enjoyable thrill-ride if it could only get out of its own way, yet every highlight was drowned out by missteps. Players new to VR gaming are likely to be quite impressed, but as someone who’s been into VR for a while, it’s tough to see past the problems and enjoy the parts that pop.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Sanzaru Games and published by Oculus Studios. It is currently available on Quest 2/3/Pro. This copy of Asgard’s Wrath 2 was provided by the publisher and reviewed on the Quest 3. Approximately 12 hours were dedicated to the single-player campaign, and it was not completed. 

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M for Violence, Blood, Partial Nudity, and Use of Alcohol. The nudity is in no way sexual and is fairly minimal. The alcohol is purely aesthetic — the player can ‘drink’ it but there’s barely any sign of intoxication to indicate the nature of the drink. The only truly M-worthy aspect is gore, as players can decapitate and lop limbs off of enemies. However, it’s all done in a tame, more cartoonish fashion with PS2-era throwback aesthetics. Blood is also typically depicted as glowing orange. If your kid is old enough to watch The Lord of the Rings, then they should be fine with this. There’s hardly even any swearing.

Colorblind modes: colorblind modes are available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles, as well as an arrow indicating off-screen enemies, and visual indicators for incoming enemy ranged attacks. Multiple other settings can be adjusted. I believe this game would be fully accessible.

Remappable controls: This game offers partially remappable controls, including selecting the dominant hand.

The post Asgard’s Wrath 2 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Looks gorgeous, but at the cost of 60fps on console.

LOW A torturously unexciting puzzle gauntlet midway through the campaign.

WTF Key story beats presented like the holographic recordings from Tacoma.

In developing the original Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Ninja Theory famously consulted with mental health experts in creating a sympathetic portrayal of a character with psychosis. I’m not someone who experiences visions or hears voices, but I’ve had my own struggles with mental health, and I saw parallels between this Pict warrior’s acceptance of who she is and my own. Like so much great art, Hellblade had a specific and intended meaning, but could also be appreciated on broader levels.

As such, it gives me no pleasure to report that Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II made me feel very little on any level. Whatever their faults, I would never accuse Ninja Theory’s past titles of lacking a clear sense of direction, but I suppose it makes sense that their first sequel would be the one to break that streak. Every multi-part narrative, given enough time, eventually reaches the point where things just happen for the sake of having more story. With Hellblade, we’ve reached that point by episode two.

It’s difficult to pinpoint where exactly Hellblade II goes wrong when, on its surface, it treads closely to the original formula. One might expect Ninja Theory’s first major release under the Microsoft banner to be their most bloated, but initially it almost feels praiseworthy for what it doesn’t do. There’s no open world, no resource gathering or crafting, no skill tree that adds an extra 3% damage to Senua’s strong attacks, and no upgradable bracer that increases her parry window by a fraction of a millisecond.

In a climate where seemingly every major release is a months-long commitment, there’s something refreshing about a triple-A videogame that can be completed in a weekend and doesn’t force its players to learn a hundred new systems. If the mission statement with the original Hellblade was to offer big-budget production values at a modest scale and for a modest price, the sequel at least upholds the tradition of not wasting too much of our time.

However, while Hellblade II avoids many of the most frustrating tropes of modern gaming, it struggles to fill that space with anything else of substance. It can’t be overstated how much of Hellblade II is spent simply traipsing along linear paths with literally nothing to do but stare at the pretty scenery and wait for Senua to reach the next cutscene. My instinct is to say that an experience this beautiful and empty tends to arrive at the start of a console’s life cycle, when there’s new tech to show off and not much else to play, but that’s being unfair to forgettable launch titles. At least the action in Ryse: Son of Rome heated up more than once an hour.

The original Hellblade was admittedly light on mechanics, but it was story-first fare that trapped us in Senua’s version of hell and made us question what was real, going so far as to gaslight players into believing that their save files were at risk. It was a mean, oppressive, and grueling experience. It played with audience expectations up until the very end, when it beautifully tied the experience together with an empathetic message about accepting loss and living with — even embracing! — what can’t be changed.

Hellblade II, in stark constrast, has no edge and no sense of purpose. With Senua’s psychosis now mostly under control — the voices and visions are still there, but nowhere near as overwhelming — she’s forced to wander the “real” world, engaging in bland heroics and preaching messages of love and acceptance across a desolate landscape of pillaging and plundering. My most charitable reading of Hellblade II is that it reworks the sinister imagery of its predecessor into what feels like a morality tale for children — light versus darkness, love versus hate. I’m sure there are people out there who aren’t yet convinced that empathizing with one’s enemies is a more productive solution than enslaving them, but I doubt Ninja Theory will be the ones to change their minds.

I would go further, though, and argue that Hellblade II actively harms the franchise’s standing as a well-researched and sympathetic portrayal of mental health. The original lucidly visualized the invisible demons that people with mental health struggles deal with on a daily basis. Although it ultimately taught us to see Senua’s psychosis as a feature rather than a bug, it didn’t mince words about how self-destructive the mind can be, and how torturous such an existence often is.

That’s why Hellblade II largely lacking any sense of danger has repercussions beyond the game simply being boring. It portrays Senua as a singularly gifted force of good, but that’s rarely reinforced in any of the things that we’re actually doing as players. Without spoilers, there’s an excruciatingly long sequence midway through the campaign in which Senua is searching for something ancient and forbidden that can only be unearthed by “proving” herself. These trials are hyped up to be The Ultimate Test, and the ground is littered with the corpses of those who’ve failed.

Once there, it turns out that The Ultimate Test is just a series of rudimentary puzzles that largely involve flicking switches in the correct order. Putting aside the arbitrary nature of these puzzles — the rune-hunting exercises in the original Hellblade weren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but at least they served a thematic purpose! — they’re just insultingly easy. Even someone with no intuition for this sort of thing could bumble through using simple trial-and-error, yet Ninja Theory treats completion of this task like a show of worthiness on par with lifting Thor’s hammer. It’s infantilizing to both the player and to Senua herself, who’s seen by everyone in this world as some sort of mystical fairy child for essentially completing a dungeon from a junior-level Zelda clone.

As expected with Ninja Theory, presentation is not the problem here. They’re industry leaders when it comes to performance capture — working with Andy Serkis will do that for ya — and the way its animations seamlessly transition in and out of cutscenes is remarkable, even given how much we’ve been spoiled by modern tech. Hellblade II‘s announcement predates COVID-19 lockdowns, and while its long development cycle doesn’t feel evident in the scope of its story, it’s at least evident in the visuals and the level of polish.

On another positive note, the combat is still enjoyable. It’s simple and easy to grasp, and the camerawork, effects and sound design sell the power of every sword swing. It worked in the original as one of Ninja Theory’s tools of oppression and claustrophobia. Here, I just appreciated the jolt of energy in an experience where I was often pausing every few minutes to get up and pace around the room in order to stay awake. Sadly, while the fleeting combat segments are the only time Hellblade II builds any momentum, it’s never sustained for long. The climactic moments, for all of their flash and pomp, feel gamey and artificial, like the multiple instances in which Senua must run from cover to cover to avoid insta-death. That kind of thing would be a lot easier to forgive if I were engaged in the story, but alas.

Until now, I’ve liked each new Ninja Theory game more than the last, and I can never deny the craft on display. Given that this is their first major release since the Microsoft acquisition, I credit Hellblade II for not feeling compromised by corporate interests, but that only makes it more baffling that it lacks any real vision that I was able to discern. It’s not an offensively bad experience, and yet I can only offer one of the most damning criticisms imaginable — I have no idea why it was made.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Ninja Theory and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is currently available on XBX/S and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on both XBX and PC. Approximately eight hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Strong Language. Not for kids! This is a spooky, sinister game full of impalements, dismemberments, and human sacrifice.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles can be altered and resized. Considerable attention was paid to make Hellblade II more accessible in this department than its predecessor. I don’t recall any sequences in which hearing audio cues is an outright necessity, and the game includes a number of accessibility options such as closed captioning, menu narration and speaker direction. I believe this game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The inspired idea to merge Norse mythology and science fiction.

LOW Some save points are too far apart.

WTF How ridiculously dark it is.

It’s safe to say that there’s recently been increased interest in Norse mythology. This can be seen in the Marvel cinematic universe with Thor or with the God of War series moving from a Greek to a Norse mythology setting. It’s even been used to explore less obvious themes, such as mental illness in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Hellblade also incorporated horror (as have a few others) but I haven’t seen many take the Norse foundation and marry it to a futuristic setting — not since the infamous Too Human, at least. Apsulov: End of Gods does this now.

Apsulov, developed by Angry Demon Studio, is played from a first-person perspective and at times seems to fit into the genre of a narrative-driven adventure (otherwise known as a “walking simulator”). There are some key differences though, with the inclusion of shooting and horror elements. However, like those narrative-driven adventures, Aspulov has a heavy focus on story, which begins with the well-worn trope of the player character not remembering who they are. The main character wakes up in a dark research base full of crazed enemies, with no idea what’s happened or why they are there.

As the tropey setup suggests, Apsulov is pretty derivative. This becomes clearer as the player finds and listens to the various audio tapes (another worn-out trope) and learns that discoveries were made and scientists messed with things they shouldn’t be messing with, echoing countless games like Doom 3 and Dead Space.

There isn’t anything particularly new in the gameplay either. The elements that push Apsulov away from being a typical walking simulator — namely, the horror and the shooting – are lackluster, especially when considered on their own. For example, the shooting is slow and cumbersome, relying on a charge mechanic powered with very limited resources. 

Apsulov is also not an especially scary experience. Enemies boast basic and unimaginative character models, contributing to a lack of terror despite how quickly the player character can die. Rather, gameplay leads to situations that frustrate more than terrify, such as one instance in a corridor filled with enemies, which I was obviously supposed to sneak through. After many frustrating deaths and all sense of tension evaporated, I ended up just blindly running through the area. Blindly is an apt word – Apsulov is a very dark game.

This can give it a heavy sense of atmosphere and lend a striking appearance in places, such as one instance where the piercing glow of a giant axe cuts through the darkness. However, it can also make Apsulov an absolute chore to play. There is an augmented vision mode, that helps in some areas, but in others it doesn’t make anything much clearer. Indeed, Apsulov became nigh-impossible to play due to screen glare on a sunny day, here I found myself stumbling around in the dark, dying because I just couldn’t see. What’s worse is the spacing of the save points — sometimes too far apart, and dying between saves only added to my irritation.

While what I’ve written so far may make it sound like I didn’t enjoy Apsulov, I actually enjoyed my time with it overall.

It’s true that the elements of Apsulov ’s gameplay don’t stand out when considered on their own, but the variety did help to keep the game fresh, and this was further aided by a welcome game length of around 6 hours. Despite my frustrations with the darkness and how it combined with other factors to make it a chore, I found myself eagerly continuing to play due to the story which truly brings it all together and makes it stronger than the sum of its parts.

This may seem in contradiction to my description of the setup as derivative, but ultimately, I found the combination of science fiction and Norse mythology to move beyond surface-level integration, with a surprising level of faithfulness to the source material. This allows the story to go in an interesting direction that I won’t spoil here, and although some of this is well-telegraphed ahead of time, I still got a kick out of it. 

There is no question that Apsulov is a flawed work that can sometimes be incredibly frustrating to play, but by fully committing to marrying science fiction and Norse mythology, it ends up in a good place. I can be forgiving of gameplay faults if the overall experience is as enjoyable as it is in Apsulov and it is safe to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Angry Demon Studio and published by Digerati Distribution. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4, PS5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher download and reviewed on the PS4.  Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed.  There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language. The site reads: This is a survival horror game in which players assume the role of an amnesiac woman who finds herself in a facility overrun by monsters. From a first-person perspective, players explore the facility, interact with characters, solve puzzles, and attempt to avoid monsters. Some encounters with monsters can result in players getting slashed and bitten; one sequence depicts monsters dismembering a character’s arm. Additional instances of intense violence include an impaled character’s neck getting snapped and a character drilled in the face. As players explore dark environments, they can encounter large blood stains and dismembered/mutilated corpses with exposed organs/viscera. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” are heard in the game.

Colorblind Modes:  There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered or resized. Due to Apsoluv‘s reliance on darkness, sound cues with no visual component are frequently used to reveal enemy positions. As a result, this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable.

The post Apsulov: End Of Gods appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH A very pretty hub world.

LOW Stiff and clunky combat.

WTF Dodging, parry, and running on the same button?!

As Arlan approaches the cave entrance with his fellow Viking survivors, a shiver runs up his spine. He has seen this stone door before, and he knows what lies beyond — because he has seen it in his nightmares. The god Carnoccus calls out to him, taunting him to enter his realm, but Arlan knows that if he walks through the archway before him, he might not walk back out.

Gods Will Fall is an isometric third-person adventure game with roguelike elements. The player controls a group of randomly-generated Vikings who are shipwrecked on an island. There has been a struggle of power between these gods and mankind, and these survivors are the last hope humanity has of defeating the gods and getting out from under their power.

Each of these survivors has their own backstories, fears, and abilities. Some can run faster than others, while some thrive in certain climates like desert or water areas. They can use a variety of weapons such as swords, spears, and hammers. They even have relationships with each other — I had a pair of lovers once, and had two brothers another time. Unfortunately, none of them survived.

The island is a large, open area for the player to explore. There isn’t anything to find in this hub world, but the sights to see are pretty. From large trees and water pools to dry grass and desert sand, each area gives a hint of what the player will encounter when they enter a god’s realm.

These realms are accessed via stone doorways that are scattered throughout the hub. Each realm is thematically different, but ultimately the player faces off against the same enemy types. Foes all wear tribal attire, adorned with face masks and large clubs or spears.

Defeating these enemies can chip away at a god’s health bar before they arrive at the fight, but if the Vikings fall in a god’s realm, they will not return to the hub world. They either die outright, or become a prisoner. If captured, the only way to save them is to send in another Viking to beat the area and the god with it. The risk here is that there is also no way of leaving a realm partway through. If entered, the Viking must finish it or fall.

The formula here looks good on paper, but the issue is that combat in Gods Will Fall feels clunky. Characters have a light and a heavy attack, but every swing feels incredibly inaccurate thanks to the lack of a lock-on mechanic. There is a parry ability available by pressing the dodge button at the perfect timing while running towards an enemy, but I found it impossible to master.

I reviewed Gods Will Fall on PC, but using a controller is an absolute necessity as the game only gives keyboard support, with no remapping to the mouse at all — without a controller, my hand got cramped and it was a frustrating experience.

I was able to reach the end of each gods’ realm and faced off against each of them, but not once did I defeat one. Eventually, after a series of losses, I would be so low on available Vikings that I would end up having to abandon the run and start the game over again from scratch, which quickly killed any desire to carry on.

Gods Will Fall has some striking visuals and the randomly-generated characters with their varied stories and abilities are great, but the frustrating, sloggy combat, repetitive nature of play, and the lack of any sort of exploration or value in the hub area is disappointing. The developers have already released a road map for more content in the future, but let’s hope they polish the combat first. 

— Cody Bolster

Disclosures: This game is developed by Clever Beans and published by Deep Silver. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4/5, Switch, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 7 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood and Violence. The official description reads as follows: This is an action game in which players control eight Celtic warriors as they explore dungeons and battle evil gods. From a ¾ overhead perspective, players explore cave-like dungeons while battling human-like enemies and fantastical creatures in melee combat. Characters use swords, spears, clubs, and special attacks to kill enemies and giant boss creatures. Some weapons can be thrown at enemies, resulting in impalements. Combat can be fast-paced and is highlighted by cries of pain, impact sounds, and blood-splatter effects.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered or resized.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers remappable controls, but on PC there is no basic mouse support. On a controller, it is fully remappable.

The post Gods Will Fall Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH A moody soundtrack.

LOW A repetitive slog of a final battle.

WTF The achievements give away the entire plot.

Fimbul is the latest continuation of the industry’s love affair with Norse mythology, which means that it’s snowy, dreary, and full of names like “Eymdargrim” and “Akraspillir.” Just once I’d like to see a game where the Vikings get lost at sea and wind up in the Bahamas or something. Maybe some relaxation in the sun would help them stop being so damn somber all the time.

But no, this is yet another self-serious trek through Midgard, featuring a warrior named “Kveldulver” who is tasked with — what else? — preventing Ragnarok. His story is told via comic book panels, which is a creative choice that falls disappointingly flat. The art is both basic and unstylish, depicting characters almost exclusively in head-on shots, and the dialogue is purely functional. It’s an uninteresting plot presented in an uninteresting manner.

It’s a shame that the comic book angle doesn’t land, because it’s the only intriguing idea in an otherwise forgettable game. Put simply, Fimbul is an action romp in which the combat kinda blows. It’s sluggish, clunky and unresponsive, and the over-elaborate animations bear little relation to which attacks are actually connecting. It’s obviously intended to feel heavy and impactful — the kind of thing that could be called “realistic” if there weren’t giants and trolls marching around — but the hit detection is so unreliable that Fimbul feels floaty regardless.

Players can fight with swords, axes and spears. The latter can be thrown, assuming Fimbul’s awful targeting system cooperates (On a related note, the right analog stick goes completely unused.) By landing successive attacks without taking damage, players can build up a special meter used to either heal or launch finishers. Players are also locked into combat zones until all enemies are cleared, which gets a little disorienting when the AI gets stuck somewhere offscreen.

Though the campaign lasts no more than three hours, it quickly grows tiresome, thanks in no small part to the pitiful enemy variety. It’s either ‘guys with shields’ or ‘guys without shields,’ and the only real difference in defeating them is how many times I need to mash the X button before they go down. Fimbul has one or two easy stealth sections (in which Kveldulver outmaneuvers giants with spotlight-eyes) but for the most part, we’re either fighting or walking to the next fight.

The only significant variations in combat are the occasional bosses, which are hardly an improvement. They’re total damage sponges that take ages to bring down — a problem exacerbated by the fact that, for some reason, Fimbul switches to slow motion every single time one of these giants or trolls uses a ground pound attack. It’s mildly cool-looking the first time it happens, but then it just brings battles to a halt. In a climactic encounter when we’re fighting multiple giants at once, the brakes are pumped so often that Fimbul comes off looking like a parody of a Zack Snyder movie.

If I have anything positive to say about Fimbul, it’s that the soundtrack, full of droning strings and thundering drums, is tense and moody. And while the comic art is a letdown, the in-engine graphics are sharp and attractive, but only when the automated (and possibly drunk) camera isn’t merrily clipping through objects in the foreground. I know that developer Zaxis realized that this was an issue, because the characters get vague outlines whenever our view of them is obscured, which is quite frequently.

Fimbul has very little going for it, even on paper. Its protagonist’s stoic journey through Jotunheim is well-trodden territory, and its combat is so thin that Zaxis runs out of ideas long before the brief campaign reaches its conclusion. Without the dignity of even being a curious failure, Fimbul is both bad and uncreative, leaving me no reason to recommend it.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Zaxis and published by Wind River Games. It is currently available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately three hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated Teen and contains Blood and Gore, Mild Language and Violence. A lot of blood gets sprayed in combat, but I didn’t notice dismemberments or anything particularly extreme. Profanity is minimal.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Dialogue is purely text-based and sound cues never play an important role. It’s fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. Using an Xbox controller, the X and Y buttons are used for quick and strong attacks (respectively), A is used to roll, and B is used to interact. The right bumper is held to initiate special attacks, and the left bumper is used for blocking.

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