PwerlvlAmy

User Score
8.0

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 8.0
Value - 8.5

Does it Hogg the spotlight?

Nidhogg 2 is a 2D action arcade tug of war like beat em up developed and published by Messhof llc. Do you have what it takes to duel to the death in this wacky and weird game? 

Story: 

The evil Wurm has returned once more and it wants to feed on anything and everything. It is up to you to give it the proper sacrifice it needs,even if it means sacrificing yourself!

Plow through your enemies and spread their guts all over the place,only then will you be worthy. 

Game play: 

Ok first to the newcomers to series. If you've never played this series before then let me just tell you that its chaotic and very very weird. The game acts like a huge game of tug of war mixed with tag. The point of the game is to move from left to right to kill your opponent and advance to a certain part of the map so you can achieve ultimate victory. While you're trying to complete this task, your enemy is also trying to do the same, so matches against your opponent are either going to be super quick or really long,depending on yours and your opponents skill level. 

This is the only game that I can think in recent memory that in order to win the game or complete your goal, you yourself must be eaten by the Nidhogg monster. Its the strangest and funniest way to celebrate slaughtering your opponent, ''oh hey I won, guess its time to get devoured!''.  But hey, that's what gives these games their charm and honestly it makes it stand out from other games in the arcade beat em up genre just because of that alone. 

So what does Nidhogg 2 offer that the original title didn't? well if I'm going to be perfectly honest, other than visual style,new weapons and some new levels, its essentially the same game overall.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, the game play from the original game is chaotic and uses the same 1 on 1 scrolling beat em up fighting to the death as this one, but only this time you're with a new visual style,new levels and new weapons at your disposal. I guess just live by the saying of ''If it isn't broke, don't try to fix it''. That's the best way to describe this title. 

One positive the game has over the original is the customization of your character. You may add different styles to your character that you were not able to do in the previous entry into the series and while its not super robust, it does offer you a chance to make some pretty funny and weird designs.  The game also keeps the same exaggerated movements and quirkiness from the original title too, so mixing customization with the wackiness of the first entry? it works extremely well. 

Weapon variety can make somewhat of a difference in combat against your opponent, but it all depends on the situation you're put in. For instance if you have a dagger, you're capable of poking and stabbing at a much quicker pace than an opponent of yours would have if they use a long sword. But the disadvantage of having a dagger is also needing to get close to your opponent because if they have a long sword, then their reach is far greater than your own. It gives the game an almost strategic element to it that can determine how easily a match can be or it will determine how long it will take you to slay your foe. 

So let's get a check list here, you got a new visual style,chaotic combat,new weapon variety,more customization options. What else does this game have? well since you asked(I know you didn't,but who cares), the game also has a single player campaign and also has an online multiplayer option. In the single player you'll be fighting against an AI opponent and their difficulty ranges from low to high depending on how far you get through the games main stages.  The hardest match I had was halfway through the game, I could not get my timing down right or hit my double jumps and had a difficult time trying to block and stab the opponent. The further you get in the game, the faster the combat gets and the more your opponent parry's your attack. It gets rather interesting!

Multiplayer is basically the single player mode but now you're just vs a real life person. This is where most of the fun is going to be had for most people because the single player AI can be very predictable at times(although not easier) and you know what they're going to do(but you can't always stop them). But with a real life opponent coming at you, you have no clue how they play or how good they are.  It makes matches so much more fun because a lot of the time you will find yourself and your opponent flailing all around like a chicken without a head trying to get just one hit on eachother.  It makes for some highly amusing matches and it's really where the bulk of the fun tends to come from in my opinion. 

Lastly I want to discuss the exclusive levels to Xbox One and whether they make any bit of difference at all whatsoever. Honestly, I gotta say,not really. Sure they're exclusive to the Xbox One version, but other than some visual differences in the levels, they still have the same structure that you would find in the other levels such as pits,places to jump and hazards, those all stay the same. Is it a nice little perk? sure, but it's nothing worth getting hyped or excited about in the long run. 

Overall thoughts:

My final thoughts about Nidhogg 2 is that its a fun game to play in short spurts. The main single player mode is rather short overall, but multiplayer is there to back it up with some much needed variety against a real opponent. Anyone can pick up and play this title with ease because there's very little learning curve involved, so its a perfect game to just sit down with a friend or just by yourself and have a good time.  If you're a fan of weirdness,fencing duels,and all around wackiness of arcade beat em up titles that plays like a long game of tug of war, then I say pick this one up, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Nidhogg 2 is out now on Xbox One,PS4,PC