Zombie Vikings: Ragnarok Edition
Score: 79% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Rising Star Games Developer: Zoink! Media: Blu-ray/1 Players: 1 - 4, 2 - 4 (Online Multiplayer) Genre: Platformer/ Action
Graphics & Sound: Zombie Vikings: Ragnarok Edition not only presents players with unusual artwork, crazy characters, and a convolutedly funny story, but it does so in a side-scrolling hack and slash format that easily lets three friends join in the fun with little effort. Zombie Vikings has a unique look that while it should be gruesome to behold, is so over the top in its style that it comes off as amusing. Each level is filled with out-of-proportion enemies, disfigured zombies (typically your own characters) and skewed level art filled with all manner of devilish details, but instead of coming out as a horror piece, it instead has the feel of a cartoon you might see on Adult Swim. This offness becomes very apparent when you consider how it messes with both 2D and 3D perspective. While the levels are side-scrollers, you can move closer to and further away from the screen, and your characters remain 2D sprites that essentially disappear for a split second when you turn around and briefly see them on-edge ... yes, even in cutscenes. I was particularly amused by the amount of effort that went into this game's audio. Not only are the voices of the different characters amusing to listen to, but the background music is an odd mix that really got my attention. When not actively in combat, the music takes on a light, almost elevator music tone, but as soon as enemies appear, it changes to a much more energetic soundtrack that really gets your heart pumping. While the concept of increasing the music when enemies are around is so well established it's a trope, Zombie Vikings' implementation of that trope really makes for an enjoyable experience.
Gameplay: Zombie Vikings: Ragnarok Edition is all about you and your friends tearing your way through enemy hordes not only trying to complete the objectives and unlock various weapons, but also trying to collect as much money and deal out as much damage as possible in order to get bragging rights at the end of each level. The story (written by web-comic Zach Weinersmith of SMBC fame) has Loki stealing Odin's remaining eye. In retaliation, Odin summons viking heroes from the dead to search out the trickster god and retrieve the eye. With the zombie vikings on his trail, Loki runs from one end of the Norse mythological world to the next, throwing whatever he can between himself and his pursuers. Interestingly enough, it seems that Loki's path takes him to each of the viking's former homelands and we get to learn about each one's heroic story before they died. The Ragnarok Edition is the boxed copy for a game that has already been released digitally on the PS4. The original version only had four zombie vikings to choose from: Gunborg, Hedgy, Seagurd and Caw-Kaa. Two more fighters were introduced later as DLC: Raybjorn and Frostbjorn. The Ragnarok Edition not only comes packaged with those two characters, but it also includes a zombie version of Raz (the main character from Double Fine's Psychonauts) named Raz-ombie. Most of each level is all about your characters chopping their way through whatever enemies appear, but it does deviate from this pattern a couple of times. There are times when you will have to play an unusual version of Soccer, or toss exploding fish poop at a statue. While these little stops might be good to break up the repetitiveness of the game a bit, there were a few that seemed to go on a little longer than they really needed to, especially if I was in the mood to dole out some damage. Most levels also contain side quests, but don't expect these to be extremely involved missions. Typically, you come across someone who is missing something or wants you to fight something else. Finishing the quest grants you a new sword, and if you are playing in multiplayer, the game switches to a free-for-all match between the players to see who gets to claim the new weapon and play out the rest of the level with it in hand. Once retrieved, each of these weapons can be purchased, as well as runes that can add various stat boosts to your characters. Zombie Vikings also features a Versus Mode where up to four players can jump into one of 11 arenas and duke it out.
Difficulty: Zombie Vikings: Ragnarok Edition's difficulty is an area where the game could use some tweaking. Given that it can be played with a single player, or up to four players in total, I was hoping to see some difficulty scaling when more zombie vikings are thrown into the mix. This doesn't seem to be the case though. Based on replaying levels by myself that I had played with friends earlier, I found that the number of enemies, as well as those enemies' strength, were the same in both cases. This means that, while I found some areas tougher to get past when I was alone, the game quickly became a cake-walk when even one more player was introduced.
Game Mechanics: With the exception mentioned above, Zombie Vikings: Ragnarok Edition handles multiplayer really well. Not only does the game have quick drop in/drop out feature similar to those seen in the Lego games, since it ties each player to a PlayStation account, it seems to do a pretty good job of making sure a player's personal preferences are maintained. For example, exactly which weapons and runes have been purchased are tied the PlayStation account and not the game as a whole. This means that if I chose to spend my money on Blunt Fish Trauma (a sword made out of a hammerhead shark), then it isn't automatically available to another player. They have to choose to unlock it as well. Of course, they might want to spend the money on something else, like the Official Butterflies Socker Sword (which reflects projectiles back at the shooter). I can't say that Zombie Vikings is for everyone, but many gamers should find it entertaining. There are a few small technical issues, like times when some U.I. elements don't go away when they should, but these are minor and only a rare annoyance. While it does handle online play well, I found it was more fun to have a friend on the couch with me while making my way through the levels. Because of that, I can see this game finding an interesting niche as a party game for those that want some mindless hack-and-slash action.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Related Links: Zombie Vikings Home Page SMBC Home Page Game Vortex's Review of Psychonauts Buy Zombie Vikings: Ragnarok Edition at Amazon
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