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Valhalla Hills

Platform: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems
Genre: Survival
Release Date: December 2, 2015
Developer: Funatics Software GmbH
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment

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Synopsis

Valhalla Hills is a building strategy game in the tradition of games like The Settlers or Cultures. The player has to lead his outcast Viking heroes to the top of a mountain, where a magical portal is leading to Valhalla. But to do so the Vikings need to do one thing first: Survive!

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Gameplay

Set in the viking times, Valhalla Hill is a survival based game where you are commanded to direct your group of vikings to the top of the mountain that waits a portal. You will take on the role of playing the commander of the vikings by leading them through an array of events such as trying to cross a river or ocean to running into a wolf pack. Taking care of your vikings is like taking care of babies. You This game is put into a night and day simulator where you actually have to let your vikings go to sleep at night and feed them whenever they get hunger. You will have to let your vikings tear down trees and the environment to allow you to build homes and forts that will let your vikings have warmth and a place to sleep rather than in the snow or on the grass. Just remember if you can't climb a mountain that's 70 degrees than the Vikings probably won't either so you'll always need another plan at hand when playing this game because you'll get in many tight situations. I was also quite surprised with all the buildings and customization you can do in this game once played.

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Graphics

The graphics of this game really took me by surprised. The first time loading into this game really put a twinkle in my eye by just how detailed everything was. The engine used on this game isn't an ordinary engine we see in many games now. Everything seems like its made out of clay but just better. I mean when zooming in on something you can really see amazing texture and work put into this game. Even the water looks real when it flows and when the sun reflects off of it. The night and day really make this game great because when night arrives you will get to see torches light up the ground and reflect off everything creating HD shadows. There is also weather dynamics in this game such as fog rolling over the waters losing visual on things or a volcano erupting in the background. Each Viking and animal in this game really has a great element to their hair/fur and the armor they have on. The main thing I love about the graphics in this game I find weird but I just love the trees in this game, its something about the detail and work they did into making them look so good and having them stand out when playing through the game. Some people may also say the clouds in this game don't really look all that good but I believe it really brings out the whole feeling of the game.

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Controls

Controls are pretty self explanatory, everything is in the touch of the mouse when controlling your vikings and the world around you. You will have the chance to use your keyboard whenever you want to pop up the menu for building forts or moving around the map but you'll be clicking a lot of stuff and destinations with your mouse. All settings can of course be looked at in the settings of the game if you want to clarify any controls you can't figure out or want to change something.

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Rating

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 10/10
Controls: 10/10
Overall: 9.7/10