NORSE: Oath of Blood I have followed for a while, so this demo didn’t take me by surprise like Of Ash and Steel. However, the demo by itself is a surprise in how entertaining it felt, especially going by the atmosphere, writing, and the satisfying turn-based combat. A prerequisite is that you must like Vikings, as the setting is supposed to be as authentic as possible to them, according to the developers. No monsters, dragons, or zombies this time around, yet murderous slavers, and lunatic forest hermits can be unsettling enough!
Gunnar, the honerable Viking
You play as Gunnar, a man granted a piece of land of his own by his Jarl, and when arriving at the fjord with his men, they notice that it’s already inhabited. The people living there are facing terrible hardship, since they are constantly raided by slavers, looting their food supply, and taking prisoners to sell.
Gunnar, being a man of fairness and justice, accepts a deal with the locals. If they promise to take care of these slavers, the people will let them stay, and so starts the adventure of establishing a new settlement, and seeing it prosper.
Three parts
The gameplay aspect consists of three parts (so far), and you get to try them all. These are not the official names, but I call them adventure mode, turn-based combat mode, and settlement mode.
In adventure mode, you get to move around your group of chosen companions you selected for the mission. You will inspect, loot and instigate battles here, as far as I can tell. It seems to work well and roaming around feels cozy. However, not having a walk key for this segment ruins the immersion a tad, since your men will sprint around like maniacs instead of purposefully moving through the forest like true Vikings. Hopefully something that will be added for us roleplaying immersion freaks.
When a deadly confrontation eventually starts, it switches to turn-based mode, and it’s very tactical with clear rules concerning action-points, movement range, skill descriptions, and damage dealt and received. The fighting also looks damn brutal with nice combat animations, but I did notice some jank here and there with animations failing to play properly. Polish will fix this, I’m certain.
Then we have the settlement mode where you build up your village, forge equipment for your men to use in battle, and where you choose which mission to undertake. In this mode, you will also be presented with the majority of cutscenes and story progression, going by the demo structure. It’s hard to say how deep this build-system will go, and if your hird can suffer permanent death and injuries from missions, but I got the impression that yes, this will be the case. Don’t quote me on that, though.
The three gameplay segments match each other together, and I think it will make for an exciting complete game when it releases. I actually got slight X-com vibes from it, but then again, my brain is X-com damaged!
Writing, visuals and sound
Beyond the interesting gameplay, I found the writing clever and genuinely funny, without it feeling forced. The characters are well-written, and the general plot is engaging, especially how the game sets up the Wolves as future antagonists. They are apparently a band to ponder and fear, which is excellent for creating tension. Will these guys be tough to face? Will my village be ready for when they come?
The graphics are great, but it has some weird stuttering, as it’s on Unreal 5. By now, it’s a tradition that U5 games will run poorly. After fiddling with the graphics and changing the upscaler to Nvidia DLSS, I managed to get a somewhat stable 60 FPS with only minor stuttering on a 1080p screen. Not perfect, but playable. Sound and voice acting is splendid, which goes for the music too—very Viking-esque tunes that set the mood for Viking action.
All in all, a pretty good demo, albeit short. However, what we get to try out impressed me, with it looking to be a great turn-based game for those who want an experience with a historical flair. The release date is presented as “soon”, which could be any date. Here’s hoping it’s this year, at least. I highly recommend giving the demo a go, if it sounds interesting to you.
Thanks for reading.
– Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 