If you’ve ever wanted to try yourself in the role of a medieval army commander who is ready to sacrifice himself to save and protect civilians, then this game is for you. Don’t be fooled by the minimalist graphics and bright visuals – in reality, everything will not be as simple as it might seem at first glance.
In case you think that strategy is too difficult a genre for you, I hasten to please you. As a fan of games with a linear plot and solutions that the developers have already come up with for the player, it’s quite unusual for me to play various types of strategies and “tower defense” genres. I’m bad at projects where you need to think through a specific plan and every step before the next move. In general, I’m not much of a battle strategist. However, this game proved that everyone can try on the role of a defender of the territory and a valiant warrior defending the lands from the bloodthirsty Vikings.
This game has a low entry barrier for those new to strategy, very simple logistics and interesting troop development. Of course, after half the path traveled, your euphoria from easy victories will end and you will have a hard time defending your lands from stronger and more unpredictable opponents. But the game allows you to prepare and get used to it as best as possible.
Even if you have never played a strategy game, as you play through this game you will quickly learn how to deploy troops depending on the situation and use their skills against certain types of enemies. You will upgrade your units as a priority and prepare your strongest and best army on the entire northern coast, which will cope with any attack. And so, step by step, you will free all the islands from the tyranny of the invaders.
Using this example, you will personally see that strategy games are not only complex and in some places completely incomprehensible, but also very exciting and challenging.
Let’s set off on a dangerous liberation voyage.
"Bad North" is a real-time strategy game developed by a Swedish company Plausible Concept and published Raw Fury. The release of the first version took place August 20, 2018 on Nintendo Switch, and later on other sites.
Also, October 15, 2019 a free extension was released "Bad North: Jotunn Edition", including many new items, troop stats, enemy units and more, as well as adding checkpoints on the map, otherwise the game would be overly difficult even on low difficulty.
The project received mixed reviews from critics and was nominated for an award D.I.C.E. Awards. American magazine PC Gamer spoke of Bad North as "a great little strategy game perfect for short breaks.» It is noted that "there’s something about the way those little sprites hit each other that keeps you coming back to the game.»
More in Nintendo Life noted that real-time strategies often have a high barrier to entry, “drowning you in waves of menus and subsystems, but Bad North’s minimalist approach ensures there’s no logistical overload.» This gives players the opportunity to discover a new genre and fully immerse themselves in it, rather than abandoning everything at the very beginning because they couldn’t figure it out. On the other hand, the presence of different difficulty levels will also attract established fans of tough battles and complex tactical decisions to test their skills.
However, the game is also criticized, for https://independentcasinosites.co.uk/review/aztec-paradise/ example, Kevin Marseille from a gaming website Destructoid was dissatisfied with the game, citing "random spikes in difficulty in the second half of the game.» It didn’t seem so to me, as I said earlier, the game quite competently prepares the player for more complex battles, opening new enemies on the islands, whose attacks are initially unpredictable and complex. But even against them, as the player progresses and develops, he will be able to develop a winning battle plan. After all, without difficulties, it’s unlikely that the passion to move on will remain, as it seems to me.
Game structure and plot
The game has no plot as such, there is only a simple and literally linear task – to liberate houses on a large map from sieges of enemy ships to the last island, where the most difficult and intense battle will take place. The map is divided into several parts. If you don’t have any free commanders left, you’ll have to skip a turn, and then the tiles from any corner of the map will begin to close together, cutting you off from individual islands on which you can no longer land. And skipping a turn is necessary so that the commanders gain strength and are back in action. For this reason, the player needs to think through his every step, which islands to go to before they are swallowed up by a horde of Vikings, like a plague wave.
Before going into battle, you can first inspect the island from all angles, and this is important, since they have different terrain, which in turn can make your battle more difficult or easier. You also need to pay attention to the type of enemy troops (their icons are visible above the island) – this will allow you to assess your strength and choose troops that are more suitable for a given situation.
Along the way, you will come across islands with special marks on the map. This may be a question mark, which means the opportunity to find some useful item or weapon that you can equip your squad with and increase the chances of successful completion. Or the flag of a new squad. If you successfully retake the island and do not lose the unit in battle, it will subsequently become part of your army.
The player will not only have to repel enemy attacks, but also not allow them to get to the houses scattered around the island. If at least one Viking passes, he will immediately begin to throw torches at the house, and if it burns down completely, no coins will drop out for it. Money is needed to improve your army, buy and upgrade skills until they become professional fighters with maximum stats.
The game has a separate interesting section – Code. It contains information about all classes, skills, items and character traits of the commanders in chief. With each new campaign you have a chance to find a new item or unlock a character trait.
There are three standard difficulty levels. At the very beginning you will be given the choice of two squad leaders. For now, only infantry are available, but as new islands are liberated, your army will be replenished with useful archers and strong spearmen. The player, at his own discretion, sets up a different composition of his army, if it seems to him that this will play into his hands in a particular battle. It is only important to keep in mind that if the entire squad dies in battle along with the commander-in-chief, you will lose him forever. It especially hurts if this is your strongest and leading squad. To avoid this, there is no shame in leaving the island if the situation is completely deplorable. Your fighters can occupy enemy boats and retreat. True, then it is considered a loss, and you will lose the island. But sometimes this is a healthier decision than losing half the army and not being able to go further on the map, because the passage does not become easier.
by Wolfdog-ArtCorner (DeviantArt)
by Wolfdog-ArtCorner (DeviantArt)
by Wolfdog-ArtCorner (DeviantArt)
In addition, there are few control points scattered around the map – this at least makes the game passable, otherwise it would be complete darkness. Yes, you may be thrown far enough and you will lose items and units that you managed to get along the way, but again, this is much better than starting the game completely over again.
As the game progresses, the game becomes more and more intense. You will encounter new types of enemies, against which it will be difficult to think of a winning strategy. But it’s worth watching them, and the best solution will definitely come. And of course, concentration and attentiveness are required so that during the chaos of battle you do not lose your entire squad, but have time to send it to recovery, and then the fighters will enter the battle with renewed vigor. And sometimes it’s hard to immediately notice in this heap that you only have 2-3 people left from your squad.
The game seems to become quite complicated even at the simple difficulty level, but the excitement of trying new strategies and focusing on improving different units after defeat only increases. In different ways, even if not the first time, but you will definitely be able to reach the final grand battle.
Gameplay
The controls are very convenient – just a couple of mouse clicks will place units at certain points, and they will attack enemies autonomously. Plus, you can use the abilities of each unit in battle, choosing the most appropriate moment. A very simple skill tree will help you figure it out and get into the game as quickly as possible.
Losing and losing your best squads, on the development of which hard-earned money was spent, is an inevitable fate in the process of passing, but the most important thing is to conquer the island with the nearest checkpoint, and then your squad will return in its original form.
Defending each island, especially the last one, brings a lot of pleasant adrenaline. During the battle, you need to carefully monitor the entire area, since enemies can land at different points at the same time, and you only have four units for defense. Depending on the environment and types of enemies, you need to place the most suitable warriors in terms of class and abilities for defense.
I can say that even playing on low difficulty, every landing in the second half of the game will be a test for you. I replayed it three times. If you are inattentive and do not think through your plan well, you can quite quickly lose everything that was difficult to recapture.
As a result, you can either stop in the passage at the defense of the final island, or try to open everything on the map in order to complete the campaign 100%.
You will have the opportunity to experiment and upgrade different units in the army. For example, you can put more emphasis on archers, and then they will take out the Vikings even before their boats touch the ground. Or make half the army armored infantry – you will get faster and stronger melee fighters who can hold off attacks from tanking invaders.
Upgrading archers helped me in the final battle. With such a large number of dexterous and accurate guys, you can make the battle easier for infantry and spearmen, so that they don’t get distracted by trifles, but deal with the threat more seriously.
Visual design and musical accompaniment
I really liked the style of the game, so simple and minimalistic. It’s even somehow pleasant to interact with a project in this style. The nature and weather conditions on the islands are different from each other and well convey the atmosphere of the dangerous medieval sea. I especially remember the shores of the rocky islands covered in gray impenetrable fog. Small houses are mercilessly drenched in heavy rain, or their roofs are covered with soft snow. But our warriors stand in neat rows under any bad weather, fix their eyes on the sea and wait for their land to be sprinkled with the blood of their enemies.
I liked the colors of the game too. Against the background of nondescript gray-brown Vikings, the bright blue armor of our soldiers looks like a victory banner, and in front of them they proudly hold their colorful coats of arms. They’re ready to add a little more red to these shades.
