Zombie Viking Clans In Valhalla Review

Despite being a strategy game, Zombie Viking Clans in Valhalla seems to prefer brute strength to skillful tactics. Perhaps that makes sense given the boorish and brain dead nature of Vikings and zombies respectively. However, even a game this tough can’t muscle its way through the glaring problems at its center.

Like certain other zombie-filled tower defense games, Zombie Viking Clans in Valhalla has players lining up their defense on one side on an open field to ward off the mob invading from the other side. Spawning units is awkward and feels like it involves more button presses than it should, but once they are placed on the battlefield they don’t stop marching until they defeat the enemy or die trying. However, from here major problems start to surface. While there is some strategy in placing units in the lanes they are most needed, battles almost immediately devolve into two, giant, dumb waves smashing into each other until one gives up. Because both sides have access to roughly the same units, it really just becomes a question of who can spam the fastest and in the 10-level campaign the answer is almost always the computer. The game prides itself on its brutal difficulty, but this isn’t a satisfyingly challenging. It’s just needlessly aggravating.

Zombie Viking Clans in Valhalla’s problems are at its core, but at least the extra features surrounding it do a decent job at making the experience more tolerable. Units can be upgraded with coins earned from battles and special upgrades from Thor, Loki and Odin can be purchased directly from Asgard’s tavern. The game’s multiplayer, which has both players using the same device, puts combatants on more equal footing making the still simple gameplay at least more enjoyable. As for the whole zombie Viking shtick, while the combination is neat, the look and sound of the Nordic undead never rise above decent flash game levels.

Even if Zombie Viking Clans in Valhalla wasn’t so frustrating, its underwhelming strategy and overall generic feel would’ve kept it from being great. However, if it weren’t for that same frustration, it might have at least been good.

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