The announcement of Assassin's Creed Valhalla leads us to review other video games that have invited us to visit the Nordic countries and their mythology.
As it has been rumored insistently in recent months, also due to clues left by Ubisoft itself in games like The Division 2, the next Assassin’s Creed will visit the Nordic countries. Thus, the recently presented Assassin’s Creed Valhalla comes to fill a gap that might seem big, but if we dig a little, we can find a good handful of video games set in Norse mythology, or with Vikings as protagonists, some of them very surprising. Let's see a few.
Action and northern fury
You have to start by talking about a classic like The Lost Vikings, released in 1992 for systems such as Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, Commodore Amiga and several others, and developed by Blizzard before the studio gained worldwide fame. Its plot premise was somewhat crazy, and that is that the story started from the alien abduction of three Vikings, Erik, Olag and Baleog, and whose objective was, obviously, to return to their world. Of course, after visiting others such as outer space, ancient Egypt or, directly one called the Absurd World, which makes the philosophy of this title very clear with a surprising playable richness, since each of the three protagonists he has different abilities. Another game with a classic look, but which is not since it was launched in 2013, is Volgarr The Viking, with action and platforms, as well as a difficulty to take into account.
Another game that can attract attention, more to come from who comes than for its quality -which is not excessively high- is Viking: Battle for Asgard, edited by Sega and developed by none other than The Creative Assembly, a British studio specialized in strategy genre. Known for being the creators of the Total War saga, they were able to get out of their comfort zone successfully with Alien Isolation, but not with the game at hand, Yes it is true that it had several virtues such as some freedom when exploring the environment, and that it was released at a reduced price-less than 15 euros-, but was not able to rub shoulders with the greats of the action.
We also find other minor proposals, such as Zombie Vikings, from the Swedes of Zoink Games, who always show off a very funny sense of humor, and this is no exception. Good duration and a very personal artistic section, together with its quality as a cooperative game make it a good option. Jotun is also an alternative if you like simple action, because while it is true that you try to implement some exploration, you stay halfway. Meanwhile, Vikings: Wolves of Midgard offers us a similar formula to Diablo, in zenith perspective, also with cooperative although only for two players.
Of course, we leave for the end the two most interesting, one of them absolute elite. We are talking, on the one hand, about Hellblade: Senua´s Sacrifice, inspired by Norse and Celtic mythologies, and that although its action section is not at a very high level, its visual aspect, completely spectacular and that supports a dark setting that borders terror on specific occasions. Also with puzzles, it shapes the mental problems of its protagonist like no other, and its success has earned Ninja Theory to engage in a sequel that we hope is at the same level.
But if we want to distribute axes -and controllable- at the same time that we live an adventure with capital letters, obviously God of War is the option. After mistrust of what a reboot could entail for this franchise, the change of setting suited him phenomenally well, moving Kratos and his son Atreus to the Nordic countries and taking them on a journey that would lead them to leave the ashes of his wife and deceased mother, respectively, on the highest mountain. Along the way, dozens of spectacular battles, an environment more open than ever, a complete progression system, technically portentous … One of the greats of the generation.
Strategy and survival in Valhalla
The strategy genre is also highly represented in the Nordic world. Games like Northland or Tribal Trouble -this very lighthearted- can delight fans of the classics, while others like Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage offer more digestible, even causal proposals. However, a very remarkable one is Valhalla Hills, in which we manage our Viking town after a series of catastrophes, making sure to provide food and resources for the survival of our Vikings, at the same time that we seek expansion and progress. Also with a very funny visual aspect, comes Funatics, the creators of the Cultures saga.
If we are looking for more hardcore experiences, we can name two very demanding games, similar to each other. One of them is Dead in Vinland, which combines survival with role and strategy when fighting, with the peculiarity of being able to build our own refuge, in addition to controlling 14 playable characters and with the possibility of exploring an area of more than 150 different areas. We end this selection with The Banner Saga, which offers us a similar proposal, with a great argumentative weight through which we make decisions that can have disastrous consequences for our fellow travelers. His part in turn-based combat, although it is not especially deep, it is demanding and difficult, which together with the fact that there is permanent death, can make it a frustrating experience at times.
