Gunnheim Preview: Thor Would Be Cooler With A Machine Gun

When you give Vikings an arsenal of death-delivering machine guns and explosives then total chaos is expected. At first blush, “Gunnheim” fulfills the promises of Norse mayhem that developer SIEIDI Ltd made when it was released on Steam Early Access. For the most part, this multiplayer twin-stick shooter in its current state sustains that theme fairly well, save for the catalogue of bugs and gameplay issues that are expected from an unfinished product.

Note: This is a Steam Early Access title. Unfortunately, the game was unbeatable here due to a progression bug during a final boss. Hopefully the issues mentioned are resolved before “Gunnheim” releases proper later this month.

When started, the game drops the player into a hub world where four foreboding exits await your presence with only one open. Each area is comprised of a handful of randomly selected stages that the player and his/her friends must brave through in order to reach a final boss.

The first immediately tangible issue is in the movement of your characters. The player is given eight directions to do battle in: up, down, left, right and diagonals. Because the environments of the stages are particularly detailed in shapes, it leaves the player at a significant disadvantage. It’s difficult to move in eight directions around a circular object while being hounded by a dozen enemies.

Movement feels just a little more intuitive when using a gamepad controller. In either case, it’s still hard to avoid various pitfalls and traverse across narrow bridges while keeping an eye on both the enemies and the awkward direction the characters move in.

Additionally, the recoil mechanic can be a tad cumbersome. With each shot, the character gets pushed back a little. The mechanic itself would be fine if it weren’t already troublesome to move the character, but as it stands the player is handicapped at both running and gunning.

While running, dashing can prove to be efficient in aiding the player across gaps to the goal. However, its use is greatly diminished due to the fact that it freezes the player for a brief period after use, leaving him/her exposed to the impending danger. This strangely only occurs when you’re not shooting.

Specials can also provide immediate assistance when needed. One such special turns your character into a spinning flame of rage while another throws out health packs for your party. The issue with the latter frequently results in the health packs being accidentally tossed into a pit.

Invite some friends because multiplayer is the essence of “Gunnheim.” Although difficulty is scaled based on the number of players present, battling solo doesn’t exactly provoke the same sense of fun. This is because the game is built for multiple people to wreak havoc in. When alone, there’s no real incentive for the player to stick around and shoot because no one else is hogging the camera view. The camera feels like it was designed to keep track of a couple of crazy Vikings, not just one.

The visuals are the greatest component of this game. Graphically, it’s unique and different from other twin-stick shooters. The art style is cartoonish, which creates a vivid and vibrant world full of colors, shapes, gore and effects that make it stand out. Though in-game character models are generally too small to pay any mind, the enemies and environments are well-realized from mountainous regions to valleys of death.

The soundtrack is enjoyable even though it sounds like it was made for a sci-fi shoot-em-up. Other than that, sound effects are relatively standard with gun sounds, monster noises, etc. Some enemies were missing sound effects, which made them a little hard to keep track of.

In its entirety, “Gunnheim” shows potential as an enjoyable anachronistic multiplayer game. If SIEIDI Ltd can smooth out all the issues that plague its Early Access build, we can look forward to this game’s launch later this month on Steam. Then you can invite your friends to shoot up Valhalla.