Coming off of the first Nidhogg, Nidhogg 2 appears on the surface to diverge significantly from Messhof’s original game. Gone are the low resolution, minimalistic graphics of the first, and in are bright and colorful 32 bit style sprites. Despite the visual departure, the intense sword flinging and swinging is intact and carries along with it a few new tricks.
Combat
Like its predecessor, Nidhogg 2 is a game primarily about sword fighting. Your goal is to kill your opponent in order to move further down the map, eventually reaching the end in victory. Since your opponent has the same goal, the game has a tug-of-war quality to it, being pulled back and forth until one advances far enough to achieve victory.
The combat, at first glance, seems simple. Attacking and jumping seem easy enough, but the combat becomes intricate through the high, middle and low combat stances, as well as throwing your weapon. There are also parrying, jump attacks, as well disarming and low sweep maneuvers to add to the mix. All of these elements mix together to create fast and intense battles. Theres a great mix of thoughtful attacks and quick reaction slashing that will have you shouting at your TV, yet always feeling fair. Nidhogg 2 introduces new weapons into the mix, such as the dagger and the bow that change up combat, but feel right at home with the original gameplay.
Presentation and Art Style
Nidhogg 2 is a gross fighting game.
Like, really gross.
Between flying meat factory pirate ships to being defecated out of a mythical creature, Nidhogg 2 is not afraid to pull out all the punches on being grotesque. At the same time, those same moments all look fantastic. There’s a fine line between fun gross like Ren and Stimpy, and actually gross like Drawn to Death. Nidhogg 2 sits safely on the fun side with exploding disembodiment, curb stomps and even poop being charming.
Before each round, players can customize their character with a variety of clothing and hairstyles which add a nice, personal touch. There are also numerous neon colors you can choose for the character’s skin that nicely paint the stages with bright neon blood from each kill.
Each stage features a unique setting and provides interesting gameplay scenarios. Active volcanos, rainbow bridges and even the insides of a nidhogg set the stages for your battles. Each stage features varied terrain with high and low grounds. You will also need to beware of environmental hazards as well – like a meat grinder or falling into a frozen lake.
A distinct audio track accompanies each stage. Channeling Hotline Miami vibes, the electronic soundtrack from artists such as Daedelus, Mux Mool and Doseone meshes with the gameplay perfectly, driving the quick combat along naturally.
Gameplay Modes
The installment features three modes of play – arcade, local and online.
Arcade is the game’s only single player option where players will fight across ten environments, each with increasing difficulty. Local features quick two player matches, as well as 2-8 player tournaments. Online lets you fight directly with an invited friend or matchmake to find an opponent for either a ranked or non-ranked match. Hopping on to play against a friend online is a blast, and was simple to connect and play.
At the time of this review, matchmaking is not live, so we can’t speak to it’s quality, but we will update this article once servers go live.
It’s disappointing to not see more single player options. Arcade mode lasted about 35 minutes on our first play, and has little replay value other than to beat your previous time. In general, the computer opponents are not much of a challenge. In our numerous plays, we never had the opponent push as back further than the second area of a map, let alone win the round.
Recommendation: Nidhogg 2 is fast, intense and fun. The gross-out visuals go all out and are a masterwork of retro sprites. The game is lacking when it comes to single player and overall modes of play, but the overall gameplay is tight and refines the original while adding new elements to keep it fresh. If you’re a fan of the original, you’ll quickly feel at home.
