Frozenheim is a Viking tale centred around the intrinsic fight for survival.
Paranoid Interactive’s title Frozenheim has a lot to go for it. The game is very ambitious, featuring mechanics from a menagerie of games. Part settlement builder, part real-time strategy, Frozenheim has a lot to cover. The game isn’t exactly massive, but it features enough mechanics that it will keep your attention for 15-20 hours or so.
There are a lot of things to unpack about this game, ranging from the many facets of gameplay to the game’s visuals. To start with, I will focus on the game’s narrative. Now it is very clear that it is not truly a major aspect of the game. The stories act as 4 sagas about different settlements that dive both into the natural and supernatural stories of Viking legend. While there is a solid base here, the stories serve to be uninteresting and simply serve to guide players through the gameplay.
I will, however, go off on a tangent and say that Frozenheim has one of the best tutorials I have seen in any game, never mind any in the 2 genres that this game technically covers. Because of this extensive tutorial, I never felt ‘lost’ in the game’s mechanics. Everything made complete sense, and while in other games that try and weave a tutorial into a narrative element, Frozenheim cuts through all of the fluff, which I think works best for this style of game as ultimately, players just want to get to playing… Speaking of which…
Frozenheim has two facets of gameplay, as mentioned before. Settlement Building and Real Time Strategy. These two elements combine to create an interesting experience. In terms of the settlement building, Frozenheim is not for players who enjoy the meticulous planning of their settlements, as the game is quite simply not built in such a way.
Players will begin with a few units and the jarl’s homestead and slowly build out the various buildings required. Housing to house the workers. Workers are assigned to buildings like the Hunter’s cabin or the Fisherman’s hut. This aspect of the game is very fun and also very simple to manage. Much of the settlement construction is very simplistic and features very little micro-management. However, the settlement building also features a sincere lack of buildings.
Everything feels too constrained, and it feels that regardless of playthroughs, your village will look the same. It’s an unfortunate caveat that lessens what is an excellent aspect of the title. In addition to this, managing resources can be complicated. The game does not inform players how much of a particular resource they are making per minute. Now the player can piece it together by going across every building, however, when you are attempting to understand what resources are in surplus and what resources are in decline, it becomes an irritating process.
As you build up your settlement and it grows in size, the game throws in attacks at you. These attacks against your settlement mean that you will have to send your forces to counter these attacks. These sections are ultimately the best feature of Frozenheim. Where the two major gameplay mechanics intertwine and weave together as you fight off the many forces that intend to burn down many important sections of your settlement. I cannot describe the sheer terror when raiders came and burnt down my logger’s hut, losing me a large amount of timber that I needed to construct a second fisherman’s hut, meaning that my village was now under the threat of starving.
These types of interactive systems are where Frozenheim excels.
Frozenheim’s combat is in every sense similar to the Total War franchise and ultimately feels like a more unpolished version of those titles. The animations for the characters are poor, which, due to the lack of interactivity in RTS-type games, can lead to players just watching enemies swing wildly at nothing until the enemies are dead.
The combat does capture the viking-esque feeling of raiding and burning down villages to conquer territory, and makes for a rather fun experience. Plus, enemies (and your men) aren’t exactly health sponges, which means that you’d better keep re-upping your army unless you want to find yourself overrun during one of those raids mentioned previously.
Frozenheim does feature a lack of units, however. Your army composition will stay mostly the same throughout your time in Frozenheim. While this is not a major issue, the game’s lack of units and buildings can lead to the game becoming rather stale in a short time.
In terms of the game’s audio and visuals, the game is superb. I have very few complaints about this area of Frozenheim. Visually, the game is stunning. Whether it is the depths of the forests or the open seas, Frozenheim excels visually at every given opportunity. I particularly enjoy the shift to winter with snow covering the environment. Frozenheim looks spectacular.
Audio-wise wise Frozenheim features brilliant sound design (Aside from a few voice lines from your warriors) the game sounds tremendous. The music, as well as all, combine to create a full atmospheric sound that enhances the experience of Frozenheim.
Overall, Frozenheim is a fun (If unpolished) title that immerses players in the Viking world. While the settlement building features a lack of buildings and the combat features a lack of units, the game still manages to conjure an entertaining experience. It may not feature a lot of replayability and have a rather poor, almost non-existent story, but Frozenheim will keep its grip on you for hours and hours.
The game’s visuals and audio are stellar and allow you to lose yourself in what I think may be Frozenheim’s greatest strength. Atmosphere.
Frozenheim is available now on PC. Here at GamesCreed, we cover everything gaming. From the latest news to stellar reviews, GamesCreed has you covered.
