Valheim Review
Valheim is a 2021 open-world survival simulator by the Swedish developer Iron Gate. It’s a totally unique virtual world inspired by Scandinavian mythology and Viking culture. Developers say that they were inspired by Skyrim and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild, but the final result appeared to be completely different. Let’s dig into the details of this extraordinary project for Windows and Linux computers.
More Than a Fantasy
It’s hard to imagine this, but the entire game on the current stage was developed by only 5 people as Valheim features a huge and highly detailed world. What is more surprising, the entire thing is procedurally generated (like Minecraft). It means that you will never encounter the same location when you start a new game. This feature definitely adds some magic to the gameplay. Actually, the entire world of the game is a huge dungeon without vaults with all the traps and bosses scattered on the surface.
The Mysterious Story
When the game starts, a huge crow brings a Viking character into the dense forests of the country of Valheim. Odin’s crows will notify you that multiple supernatural creatures must be defeated, but first, you have to find a way to summon them.
You embark on the dangerous journey with bare hands and have to explore the forest to get the right wood and stone to create primitive weapons and build a shelter. Similar to Minecraft, you have to mine rare resources to unlock advanced weapons and tools. At the same time, you have to keep an eye on the character’s stats to keep him in the right condition. This involves sleeping, eating, boosting powers with a honey beverage, etc. Actually, the diet must be healthy. otherwise, you won’t gain enough strength to fight the monsters!
You can explore the world on foot, but the best way to do it is to build a boat as there are many rivers, lakes, and even seas. Some zones are impossible to enter if you don’t have the right skill level and protective items. For example, some areas are just too cold to stay there or even poisonous for the Viking.
The Beauty Around
The world of Valheim is extremely beautiful and every journey on a Viking dracar is memorable. At the same time, it’s impossible not to notice that the quality of models and textures is very close to what you can see on PlayStation 1! The trick is that developers used a smart play of light and shade to liven up low-poly objects. Physics is also extremely advanced, so don’t be surprised when you see that a stove fills your shack with smoke if there’s no chimney in the ceiling! The effects are so well-made that you may think that the RTX is on! We hope that after reading our review, you will download Walheim and dive into this amazing world!
Pros
- Extremely detailed survival simulation with new mechanics;
- Exciting building and mining simulation;
- Friendly open-world environment;
- Unique style of visuals;
Cons
- It’s only for PC and Linux.
Great – 5
Valheim is a one-of-a-kind computer game and it fully deserves its overwhelmingly high rating in Steam Early Access. Although the game was launched in Early Access on February 2, 2021, it already offers more content than Rust! It’s probably one of the best games in the genre ever and it’s really cheap for some reason.