Einar

Release Date: July 20, 2017

Action, TPP, fantasy, free-to-play, indie games, the Vikings, slasher, singleplayer

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Einar is a free slasher game in which we play the title wikinga, endowed with magical weapons. His mission is to clear a small village of mutant, ugly monsters before the plague they carry will consume further victims. The title was created as a credit project for students from the Dutch NHTV University.

Story
Mechanics
Technical aspects
Other information

Einar is a free third-person action game created by a small Dutch studio DreamPunks, known from the FPP logic game The Automatician and Waiter Wars, the latter designed for VR goggles.

Story

During the short adventure we play as the eponymous Einar - a brave wiking, who has to eradicate a plague of terrifying creatures, currently occupying a small fishing village. As a result of a tragic combination of circumstances, the villagers were infected with a mysterious substance, which transformed them into mutants. Armed with divine weapons, the hero is the only person who can prevent the spread of the disease.

Mechanics

Einar is a typical hack'n'slash game. The hero was equipped with the powers of three Nordic gods - Freya, the goddess of magic and war, gave him a magic bow, Thor gave him his iconic hammer, and Týr provided him with a fiery axe and shield. The variety of opponents makes the player have to adapt to the situation - so we switch between the bow for ranged combat, axe for fast melee or opt for the slow but devastating blows of Mjölnir.

Combat may resemble the Dark Souls series, were waiting for the right moment to attack dominates over thoughtless button mashing, and the last-minute roll is able to save the hero from death. Subsequent battles increase the level of difficulty and place more and more groups of enemies before us, often commanded by a miniboss towering over the battlefield.

Technical aspects

The game uses a realistic visual style, inspired by real northern European locations. Gloomy levels, maintained in a cold palette of colors, are contrasted by the warm colors of fire, which often dances on the ruins or throws a glow over the surrounding area. The opponents' luminescent in orange clearly stand out against the static arenas. The title uses Nvidia Ansel technology, which enabled the devs to photograph the surroundings in 360 degrees.

Other information

The project was developed as an experiment, in cooperation with DreamPunks and students from NHTV - Breda University of Applied Sciences. During one year of their study, 40 students of art, programming and design faculties worked on this game from the first idea to the last update, creating an impressive, for the work of complete amateurs, title.

Last updated on February 16, 2020

Videos and Screens

[1:59] Einar launch trailer