Valheim Reviews
Valheim is the oath of the ultimate survival crafting adventure fulfilled, with a gorgeous art style, deadly dungeons, charming homesteading mechanics, and a breathtaking scope.
One of the best survival games around is finally complete.
After more than 300 hours, I know Valheim well. Though somehow, it can still surprise me. That is why I suspect I will keep playing it for years.
But that's Valheim in one sentence: a game that hands you a goal (and a dozen better ones on the way there) and trusts you to pick whichever one you want.
Valheim is probably the most polished survival game I've ever played, with a ridiculously satisfying upgrade loop that kept me hooked.
Boiling down Valheim into a single word isn’t easy, what with its multiple biomes, staggering amount of crafting recipes, deceptively complex and detailed base-building mechanics, heart-pounding combat, and all. But if I had to choose, I’d call it epic. I don’t just mean that to describe the game’s awesomeness, of which it has plenty; I also mean that in its saga-like length and the downright mythical feats players get to achieve on their way from simple survival to the halls of Valhalla itself. This is the quintessential hardcore survival experience—don’t ever let anything convince you otherwise.
These issues will be ironed out and Valheim's content roadmap ensures that plenty of new content will be added to the game as well throughout 2021. In its current state, it's an incredibly engrossing experience and perhaps the first survival game of its kind to match Minecraft in pure fun factor. And if it's already this impressive in early access, one can only imagine how good it will be when it has its full release.
Valheim's world is low-poly for the most part, but features enhanced lighting and water refraction effects that create a beautiful blend of the early 2000s and modern graphics. Oceans and rivers look lovely, while even the dreariest of environments somehow stand out. Particle effects bloom and blossom in snowy locales, with dense fog sometimes permeating endless meadows of yellowing grass. It made me stop and appreciate the environmental design and procedurally generated scenery. This approach also allows for those even with fairly low-end machines to run the game.
But any Valheim wishlist betrays the truth of the game's current, "unfinished" state: there's already so much adventuring, crafting, building, and discovery available-and in ways that can easily be shared amongst friends for only $20. (And if the screenshots I've chosen haven't made clear, this game can be very pretty, as its engine smothers its blocky characters with handsome effects and gorgeous vistas). We've put games in our year-end lists for less potential than what I've already enjoyed in Valheim thus far, and I don't see us getting out of 2021 without repeating praise for this killer multiplayer adventure option on PC.
Having hit 2 million downloads on Steam in early access, Valheim is almost certainly going to stick around and get bigger and better. If Iron Gate AB stick to their current ethos of delivering faster-paced survival with the true freedom of opt-in PvP and community spirit, this could one day be the biggest survival game available. And considering the size of some of the current dominators, that’s no mean feat.
“Valheim” is a good, even great, game. But these days, games have to be more than just games. And “Valheim” is pretty good at that, too.
After 30 hours you’ll still feel like you’ve only scratched the surface, with every new encounter feeling fresh and rewarding. It’s also impressive to think that this is your world alone and that anyone else playing will have their own unique experience with happenstance adventures. You can play solo but with more territories and bosses to come you’ll soon want to convince your friends to join you, so you can adventure together. And for such a low price it will be hard for them to say no.
Valheim’s realism is so apparent that it’s easy to recognize, but not too much so that it would turn those looking for a similar experience to, say, Minecraft, away. Survival games are what you make of them, and that’s the beauty in it.
Valheim works very well in its current state, and it's worth exploring its procedurally generated world. With more updates on the way, Valheim has the potential to be a hit.
While there is a lot of content in this update to bring players back to the game, it may not be quite extensive enough to satiate fans long-term. Hopefully, the time between content patches will shorten as Valheim continues its Early Access period, and players can look forward to further updates as solid as this one.
Gamers looking for a hardcore crafting/survival game on consoles likely won't be able to find much better than Valheim, and its inclusion in Game Pass further makes it an easy choice despite a handful of issues.
You don't need to be as strong as a Viking to enjoy Valheim. However, having that strength and a few friends by your side might help you survive and navigate this fascinating yet unforgiving world.
It can be hard to rate an early-access title because you have to understand that what you're playing isn't complete yet, regardless of how good or bad it is. However, in its current state, Valheim is already well worth picking up. The future is very bright for this game.
Having achieved a modicum of security, I decided it was time to pack my bags, unfurl the sails and expand my horizons. Preparation is key – having a good variety of food and potions available, with better options being more complex to create, will dramatically increase your health, stamina, and overall survivability. Better armour and weapons, meanwhile, will greatly increase your effectiveness at fighting. The crafting system is satisfyingly deep, and finding resources to unlock new recipes provides a strong incentive to explore the world.
Overall, Valheim is a fairly complete game even though it is still in early-access. It suffers from some of the normal bugs and glitches that you see in other early-access titles but it also has a lot of content that is wonderful and works well. It is a great group game if you have a bunch of friends who feel like building Norse villages and going raiding. You can get this on Steam right now. I can't wait for future updates.