We took some time to give an extensive look at Nords: Heroes of the North from Plarium, a Facebook and browser based RPG from makers of Total Domination, Stormfall: Age of War, Soldier’s Inc and a variety of other similar RPG strategy MMOs. Spending a few hours checking out the game we will admit it was done with baited breath, from our previous reviews of Plarium’s games it’s hard not to make the comparison between titles even though rightly each should stand on its own to be counted. That said the developers don’t shy away from the fact that all their titles are extremely similar in regards to the available mechanics and features, with only the general theme/story and graphics differing, seeing it as their own winning strategy and formula (and it is winning, these games are hugely successful and extremely popular). Unfortunately their previous titles and strategy haven’t exactly been something that we personally enjoy, so how did we feel once we’d come out the other side of our Nords playthrough? Read on.
First impressions we were actually surprised and extremely impressed with how the game looked, graphically it was head and shoulders apart from its sister titles in terms of a more colourful comic style that accompanied the humorous tones set by the games larger than life characters. Greeted by King Björn the Mighty/Awesome/Handsome (his title was pretty interchangeable) and his trusty bard sidekick Skald we were walked through the tutorial portion of the game with a funny dialogue between the two that was definitely accentuated by having the all too familiar voice of Patrick Warburton (Joe Swanson from Family Guy, Jeff from Rules of Engagement, Agent Tee in Men in Black II) taking on the main role as King Björn. Professional actors combined with majorly impressive and detailed graphics then it was pretty clear how much time, budget and effort had gone into Nords, a far cry from the “copy paste” we have often felt playing their other games that sometimes just comes across as being lazy. It looks and feels like a AAA game that will most definitely do well on the Facebook and mobile platform with that Clash of Clans style feel to it.
Unfortunately whilst our initial impression was great, once we started playing the game it was the same old feelings that came back as we started slogging through the content. The game has very linear progression similar to the other titles, starting from the tutorial we are baby stepped through every aspect of the game, which is fine, but this hand holding goes on way longer than required with the implementation of “Quests”, essentially tasking us with constructing a specific building, training a certain unit, attack a particular location, by completing quests we get extra rewards and so the incentive to do them is strong, to the point where not doing them and trying to go at it your own way can actually leave you struggling quite early. Essentially this just means you are following the flashing button around the screen, clicking what you’re told to click, and even after two hours this was still the case; that’s what our gameplay experience felt like, clicking buttons we were being told to click and it’s hear that the budget for famous voice actors and a tidy script earned its money as it meant we weren’t as bored as normal.
The linear mindless auto-pilot continues with combat, sure we get to train up our own units and the strategy essentially comes down to having the right formation of units that you unlock through your “Blood Pacts” (technologies), but other than building up a force to be reckoned with and choosing your target there’s little else involved. We do get to watch some nifty animations of our characters fighting, which is a little more interesting, but other than checking out new enemies that we’d not seen before the fights themselves aren’t that interesting to watch as they’re recaps of a fight that has already happened so you already know what the outcome will be.
As mentioned the Blood Pacts are the games versions of technologies, signing pacts with other villages and regions (don’t confuse this with actually signing pacts with other players, albeit there are elements to trading that kind of thing in the game) , the tech/Blood Pact trees were pretty linear and in more than a few places had long chains of techs with no deviation, forcing players into a rather linear technological advancement that wouldn’t be that different from other players.
The linear technology system flags up an issue we had with the other games that is unfortunately still in Nords; the Black Market. Here players can spend Emeralds to purchase resources, unique buildings, powerful units and more by spending premium Emerald currency that players can purchase with real cash albeit items are level locked so players can buy the biggest dragons as soon as they start. The issues are plentiful that surround this, firstly is that given the linear Blood Pact progression it typically means players are generally on a similar footing with each other and before any Emeralds are spent then there’s not that much to divide players. Then throw in the fact that the primary wall defenses require Emeralds to be spent puts non-cash spending players at a disadvantage, whilst Emeralds can be earned through gameplay this is mostly limited to top ranked players outperforming others, usually those who have already spent cash and so rewards the already top players with Emeralds to spend to keep them at the top. The only way to really dethrone someone seems to be to outspend them because quite simply the strategy isn’t deep enough to do it through skill apart from a slight preparation of your army composition. Spending cash doesn’t just become helpful to stay at the top, it’s pretty much a requirement, and that’s what we dislike the most about the game as for a free to play game it makes it near impossible to advance as a casual player.
Overall the developers have put a really good face on the game, it looks, sounds and feels like a quality title and in all honesty makes their other titles look pretty bad in the process; the level of detail and clear budget that has been put into Nords: Heroes of the North makes it clear that Plarium are really trying to step things up to the next level. Unfortunately, at least for us, it is another case of all that glitters ain’t necessarily gold and beneath the surface we still see the same tedious and linear mechanics and emphasis on cash buying that we’ve seen in their other games. Their award winning strategy formula definitely has a strong emphasis on being a successful money making business, which is fine, but to us it seems to be at the expense of the majority of players and is geared towards the big money spenders; great for a business model but not that great for a game.
SCORE:
- Graphics: 8
- Gameplay: 5
- Performance: 9
- Pros: The graphics are superb, fully voiced NPCs, humorous content and story, sleek User Interface.
- Cons: Boring quest content, progression extremely linear, endgame pay to win/pay to compete mechanics.
Rating: 7
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