Developer Shiro Games has ported its Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game, Northgard, onto the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo Switch. The game boasts a solo story mode, single-player skirmishes, and competitive multiplayer. While there are few RTS games on the Switch, Northgard offers a surprisingly deep game with a variety 🌊of ways to play and is a welcome addition to any player🅠’s library of strategy games.
Northgard is a land recently discovered by the Vikings following years of explorations. Players take on the role of the boldest Northmen, setting sail to explore and conquer these new shores. Each clan has its own bonuses that feel familiar in a way that makes one think of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Civilization series of games. The options are broad and encourage a diverse set of playstyles. This is not only great for replayability, but lends itself to some gr🔥eat multiplayer experiences when coordinating with a partner.
Unique RTS Experiences
The mechanics🎃 are straightforward for the genre. Players are tasked with creating and maintaiꦅning a village and must build structures with prerequisites and resources. Unlike other RTS games, players must develop a Scout Camp to earn the ability to search adjacent lands and new uninhabited areas. Expanding to a new area requires it to be colonized first and takes up additional resources.
There are various unique elements to this brand of RTS 🔯as well. Food must be grown to feed the villagers, but seasons restrict what kind of buildings can produce certain types of food. As a🐈 result, farming does not yield resources in the winter, but fishing works year-round.
Lore is another unique aspect of the game. Players have access to a skill tree that allows them to be more efficient in various part of the game, ꦯbe it harvesti🍌ng, building, or making more efficient warriors. Gaining points for this skill tree primarily comes from Lore, whereby exploring new territories reveals things like ruins that can be studied to learn about the history of an area.
Combat in Northgard can be either defensive or offensive. Players build warriors🌟 t﷽o keep a village safe, but can be sent to clear out adjacent territories of roaming units that block colonization, as well as to crush an opponent.
Surprising Controls
RTS games are not common on the Nintendo Switch, which is not surprising when one considers the difficulty in replicating the smooth controls of a keyboard and mouse to a console controller. Luckily, this is not a significant issue for Northgard, in part due to the simplistic, yet intuitive control mapping, as well as the slow pace of play lending itself to not having to rush. A game like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Starcraft on the Switch would feel odd because players have been conditioned over the past decade to competitive players pushing out a maddening 300 actions per minute (API) on the PC, but Northgard succeeds by slowing things down.
With that in mind, the slow pace of the game is not always appreciated. Once the core mechanics of the game are mastered, it can feel like one is waiting around f♍or too long, but this is a minor complaint.
Multiple Ways To Play
A great part of this game is that while the gameplay is solid and diverse, players have various options for how to play the game. The story mode is engaging and a great way to learn the ins and outs of the game. Campaigns have specific objectives to meet before moving on, and I found that completing the main story was satisfying. Replayability of the story is ꦆquite high,🎀 since new objectives are unlocked after defeating a level.
Following this, players can choose to play a single-player match against AI-controlled opponents of varying levels of difficulty. Here again, we see a similarity to the Civilization seri🌱es𝔍, as players can win through several conditions:
- Domination: Destroy other players’ Town Halls and become the master of Northgard
- Fame: Gain enough Territory and raise your Fame to obtain the title of King
- Trade: Amass Riches to become the greatest merchant in Northgard
- Wisdom: Discover ancient knowledge and become the wisest Clan leader in Northgard
This mode is what I found to be the most enjoyable for repeat plays because much like Civilization, the different victories require completely different strategies, and my early attempts at non-Domination often s🐽aw ꧂my villages overrun by an opponent due to a lack of defenses.
The multiplayer shines thanks to these diverse conditions for victory. Players can face off against friends, or they can partner together to take on AI opponents. This allows for some creative gameplay as players work towards complimentary goals and w🔯orked without any major issues.
Embracing Its Cartoonish Design
Visually speaking, the game looks fine in its design of cartoonish Nords. Years ago, one might have decided not to play a game for this type of design, but games like Clash of Clans have made the look a standard in mobile gaming today, and Northgard benefits from that as well.
One issue with the visuals comes with performance and framerate drops when zooming out. This does not seem to occur often when zoomed in close, but was noticeable and frequent when expanding and looking over my territory in large parts. This feels a bit similar to what happens in the port for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Cities: Skylines on the Switch. It i🥃s not game-breaking, but the larger the expansion, the more the game tends to stutte♒r when zoomed out.
A Welcome Addition To The Switch
Overall, the game feels like it is in a good place. The RTS genre does not normally lend itself to enjoyable experiences when it cannot be played with a keyboard and mouse, but Northgard feels right at home on the Switch. The blend of RTS with elements that are reminiscent of Civilization may not be innovative, but it does ensure that Northgard has a g𝓰ood amount of repla꧋yability either alone or with friends.
4 Out Of 5 Stars
A review code for Northgard was provided to TheGamer for this review. Northgard is available now for the Nintendo Switch, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Linux, and Mac.
Northgard
- Released
- March 7, 2018
