REVIEW: Griefhelm on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

I was kindly sent a review code by Renaissance PR

Griefhelm is a tactical dueling game set during medieval times, so no laser guns people, just big swords and shields.

Unlike your typical beat em up, there is no 100 hit combo, or coming back after being hit 50 times, Griefhelm takes a realistic approach in that a few hits and you are dead, and the same with your enemies. They attack you, you deflect or defend their blows and when you see an opening you take your chance to strike.

This is a 2D fighting game, but with very striking graphics, the backgrounds are beautiful and the characters look great. You progress through the game by choosing different routes on a map, different locations will give different benefits, you have 5 "lives" and no saves as such, in other words you cant keep trying to beat an opponent by loading up a save point. And yes you can kill an opponent with just one hit. You have three ways of attacking, low, mid and high attacks. If using a gamepad, as I did, you use the right stick to choose your attack, but this position will also decide how you will defend, if you match the attack of your opponent with your defensive position you will parry their attack which allows you to then go in for the kill.

Trust me hack and slash won't work here outside of the first level. You can't luck your way through this game, there is a specific way to attack and defend and for you to progress you have to follow that way. And this means a steep learning curve.

There are multiple weapons to collect, each are different, but are controlled in basically the same way.

As you play through the story you will encounter different styles of fight, from one on one, to "tug of war" which has nothing to do with pulling a rope, you beat opponents and get closer to their side of the screen and once you have beaten enough you will win that level, you will lose if they push you back far enough. There is also a horde mode, and of course you will have your fair share of bosses to beat.

There is also multiplayer mode, but I have not been able to play that.

The Good

Graphically impressive.

The Bad

I was hoping for more of a medieval beatem up, so for me this game was a bit limited in what it offered.

Summary

Just didn't quite offer enough for me as a whole, and although it tries to add longevity with different weapons, armour and so on, it just wasn't quite enough.

I score this game 5/10