by ryann - May 11, 2004

Northland... please put this game up north... very far north... because I never want to play it again.

Gameplay? What's that?

If you like like PLAYING GAMES--- then this is not the game for you. If you are in the CIA and like to keep track of every aspect of every person's life--- then you might be happy with Northland. This is NOT, repeat NOT, a game. It's a headache.

You have to do everything. This is micromanagement to the extreme. When your Viking soldiers come out of the barracks, you better make sure all of your warehouses are stocked with the products your villagers make--- thats right, shoes, spears, helmets, swords, bows, arrows, etc. You have to micromanage so many things... and, oops, my farmer is only at 87% experience for wheat farming... I can't build the armory I need to produce the leather shoes I need to make my blacksmith work faster to produce the shortsword I need for a single soldier.

There is no gameplay here whatsoever. I felt I needed to have an entire notebook just to write down the things my villagers were doing so I could make sure I had enough materials to produce a single soldier.

On the other side of things, I did like forcing the women to have children and renaming everyone in the village. Other then that... the game is horrible. Absolutely horrible.

David the Gnome?

This game has the most elementary character designs... I felt like I was watching Nick Jr. or something just looking at the villagers/soldiers. It has that cartoon look to it... a very bad cartoon.

You do have the option of sort of "zooming" in and out... move your mouse roller-ball forward and instantly you're transported to 1993 graphics where the good'ol colored square is your best friend. Zoom out, and your villagers look like tiny ants and the game lags.

Hrffigspoota

The sounds on the game are not bad... the villagers always speak in some unintelligible yet somehow comical Norse language.

The soundtrack isn't bad, but after spending an hour or so playing the game the same song becomes old very fast-- then again, who would play Northland for an entire hour?

Fun is fun. Northland is not.

This game is not fun by any means. I will say again that this is not a game and you can't possibly play it. It's more like sit at your computer and watch a bunch of Disney looking cartoon character Vikings walk around happy-go-lucky style like they are tripping on the mushrooms... except Funatics Software forgot about the part where the Vikings go beserk.

Mythology

I will give Northland some props on the mythology they included with the game. There is plenty of information for you to read about Norse Gods, Viking life, etc. in the game... but I could go to the library to get that information. The mythology would have been something nice to include with a good game. Age of Empires II has a large amount of medieval information and facts on each civilization.. but AOE-2 is actually good, and Northland is not. Go to the library for Nordic information... do not buy Northland.

Yep

Well, if you haven't figured it out I hated this game to the extreme. It's perhaps the worst strategy game I have ever played in my life, and I've played quite a few. My suggestion is never EVER buy this game and if you know anyone who does: hurt them.