Edge A Little Closer To Valhalla In Valheim - A "Brief" Game Review
Valheim is a great Viking survival game that will keep players busy for hours as they explore, craft, kill, and use their wits to stay alive while facing different challenges along the way.
Publisher: Coffee Stain Publishing
Date released: 2/2/2021
Developer: Iron Gate AB
Sales: 10 million copies (April,2022 report)
To Reach Valhalla You Must Conquer Valheim
Survival games have become so popular in a short amount of time, just check out Steam, you have a lot to choose from. But if one of these games manages to break through all the hype and actually make a name for itself, then that game is truly worth paying attention to – one of such games is Valheim.
Released on Steam in early February, 2021, Valheim comes with adapted gameplay mechanics similar to those found in the sandbox survival game classic, Minecraft.
However, in Valheim you are set in between worlds, the world of the living and the dead. Typically, vikings that have proven themselves in battle and died an honorable death are believed to be welcomed into the mead halls of Valhalla by Odin himself.
But for those vikings that were not so lucky to die with such honor, they have to wait their turn. To this end, you are sent to a sort of viking purgatory called Valheim where you are given another opportunity albeit in death to prove yourself worthy of Valhalla. That seems easy enough, far from it!
In Valheim you are saddled with the ominous task of literally defeating the evil that lies within with nothing more than your wits and on occasion Odin sends a raven to offer some guidance. Let’s face it, Valheim is Odin’s private playground where his enemies are banished to and you have to defeat them before you can be worthy of Odin’s embrace and mead from bull horns in Valhalla.Â
Valheim An Open-world Third-person Survival Game
As one of the hapless vikings not to reach Valhalla after death, you need to prove yourself worthy in Valheim by defeating Odin’s enemies in this third-person perspective survival video game played in an open-world setting.
You have to build your own shelter, craft enemy defeating tools, and vanquish all enemies that you find in your wake.
Valheim makes use of stylized low-resolution 3D graphics with atmospheric effects and soundtrack that further adds to the appeal of the gameplay.
A combat mechanism that would make most self-respecting action video games really proud, Valheim operates using an optional cooperative gameplay mechanism where as many as ten players can gang up together with one goal in mind. You also have a PvP gameplay mode which, like the co-op gameplay, is strictly optional.
Create Your Viking And Valheim World
What’s charming about Valheim is that you are not thrown into a world with an average misfit, far from it. You get to create your own character and even world using the available map seed.
In the Valheim world you create, you have a few biomes including the Ashlands, the Deep North, the Mistlands, the Black Forest, oceans, plains, mountains, and eerie swamp lands.
As you make your way through a biome, you have a unique set of items to pick up and enemies to fight. Even the bosses in the biomes are different. Another thing that makes Valheim such a great game is the sense of time with daybreaks and night scenes adding to the realism of the game.
Survival of the Bravest and Fittest In Valheim
You can only survive in this game by applying yourself. That means foraging for food, going on hunts, farming, and also mining for precious minerals. Without these natural resources you are left exposed to the elements and enemies without any shelter.
You also have to build your own equipment, tools, and weapons while you are sheltered. Everything works together for good or bad in Valheim. Each player has a health bar that can diminish whenever you are attacked by enemies or if you end up falling off a cliff during gameplay.
There is a stamina bar that gets depleted as you mount an attack or run. Both your health and stamina bars are replenished with food. To add to the excitement, the quality of your meals can go a long way to increasing the length of your stamina and health bars. So go hunting for venison rather than scavenging for road kill.
Enhance Your Skill Level In Valheim
You have a skill-level mechanism in Vaheim which consists of basic moves like running, attacking, and blocking. However, your skill level can rise to a nice 100% which unlocks a number of effects that greatly influence the mechanics of the video game.
To give you an example, your running ability affects your stamina as you sprint while your skill with a weapon like a sword will play a role in determining the amount of damage you are capable of with the said weapon.
Kill Six Bosses to Reach Odin In Valhalla
To be worthy of making Valhalla, you need to kill all six biome bosses. But before you can get to fight a boss, you first need to summon it with special items that you pick up on your treacherous journey to a boss altar. These items are given as offerings to the boss and they are then up for the fight.
Defeating a boss will earn you a collectable trophy which can then be positioned on the boss altar to unleash a special power-up with infinite powers.
Unleash Your Fury In Valheim
During combat, you can wield many weapons including one-handed or two-handed swords, are, and hammer weapons. You also have a shield to protect you from enemy attacks while a bow and quiver of arrows with spears offers you a chance of destroying enemies from a distance.
Your mode of travel is interesting in Valheim, as you can either walk it out across biomes or make do with building boats including a small raft and a variety of traditional Viking longboats.
Valheim To Be Released On Xbox One, Series X/S In Spring 2023
Xbox gamers have something to be excited about, as Valheim is scheduled to be out on the Xbox platform in the Spring of 2023. It’s no surprise really, as Valheim has sold up to 10 million copies since its February 2, 2021 release on Linux and Windows.
But if you are unaware of this game (under which rock have you been hiding?), you can still get it on Steam for just $19.99. There is also a Valheim soundtrack bundle for $25.18 and Valheim soundtrack for $7.99.
