The game offers an arcade mode which can be completed under a half an hour, then there’s an online mode which can be interesting as well. You don’t have a lot of options to choose from but it’ll get the job done. The player can also customize his own character. The soundtrack makes up for some exhilarating fights which by the way, can be bought on Steam. The visuals and music for each level blend in perfectly within this world that’s dominated by the Nidhogg. There are ten maps and each map is build up differently: gaps, moving floors, plateaus, hiding places, buildings… etc.
All of these maps have so much more ground to cover. The sequel also brings some new interesting maps. Of course, some weapons feel a bit more disadvantageous towards others but it’s up to the player to use the weapon to its fullest potential. All of these weapons can also block or return incoming arrows of the bow. A dagger has a small length but it can easily be used as a quick throwing projectile and the fencing weapon is basic. Broadsword can only be held in the lower and higher stance but it covers more ground. The player can change this bow’s stance between the 3 mentioned before. The “bow and arrow” is pretty cool since it allows you to fire projectiles.
Each weapon plays differently, so it’ll take some getting used to on how to use them. Playing locally offers you the option to disable or enable any of them.
If you don’t like a weapon or you made a mistake by flinging your weapon at your opponent while he countered it, there are only 2 ways to equip another weapon: by death or picking up the remaining weapons from the previous encounters. The moment you rise from the dead, there’s another weapon in your hand. All of these weapons are at your disposal during the fight but you can’t manually select them. There’s a dagger, broadsword, bow & arrow and a fencing stick. Like I said, the game offers some weapons to brutally kill off your opponent. It’s a game about watching your opponent’s moves and react to it. A player can disarm his opponent and you can even block incoming “projectiles” by positioning yourself in the right stance. It’s an interesting “dogs and cars” type of war that’s constantly keeping you at the edge of your seat.Įven though the game looks very simple, there’s still some strategy within this game. Each time you kill your opponent, their weapon falls and can be picked up to use for yourself. The killed player will spawn between you and the end of the screen, so they’ll always have the chance to catch you off guard and run towards their final screen. Once you’ve killed a player, there’ll appear an arrow that points the direction to “your final screen”. There’s also the possibility of jumping, slide kicking and dive kicking to close some space between you and your opponent and eventually deal the killing blow. All of these weapons are throwable but not everything is “effective”. You both start with a weapon and all of these weapons can behold in 3 stances (high, low and medium). Nidhogg 2 ‘s gameplay is all about killing your opponent and running towards their end of the screen until you reach the final screen and offer yourself to the Nidhogg. Even though the sequel uses the same formula as the original one, it’s not a bad thing. Pick up the controller and start to run for your life. It’s an intuitive game that’s accessible for casual gamers and even non-gamers. This game is an excellent game with not that much to offer but it does the job right and that’s what’s important. Nidhogg is one of those games that looks very simplistic and too outdated to actually enjoy it, but it’s a whole lot of fun and a must-own local multiplayer game at home.