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Northland

EMAIL PRINT pc

8.5 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: GMX Media

Developer: Funatics Development

Genre(s): Real-Time Strategy, Action

Players: 6

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: March 15, 2004

Summary

The story begins where the plot of "Cultures 2 - The Gates of Asgard" ended. After perilous adventures our four heroes defeated the Midgard serpent and thus saved the world. A great celebration began and everyone was happy and content. But everything has to come to an end sometime, and time to say farewell came faster than our friends wanted.

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Cultures Cultures 2

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

GameZone

While Northland has a good focus on combat and more exciting missions than Cultures 2 had, it still has a lot of focus on the building and Godsim elements as well. This does add a ton of up front play to the game though, and it is amazing how addicting this game gets once you sit down and start getting into it.

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Game Informer

Somewhere between "The Sims" and "Civilization," Northland fills a unique gap in the strategy genre. [Mar 2004, p.113]

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Adrenaline Vault

A superbly sculpted hybrid of genres, crafted in a very logical, yet organic way.

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Loaded Inc

If you like to eat your dessert before your meal, this is not the game for you. However, if you are a patient gamer, you may find something satisfying in the end.

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IGN

The trade interface is just plain cumbersome. I would offer some comments on multiplayer, but the game locked up every time I tried it.

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PC Gamer

Northland is really a sim posing as an RTS game. I doubt it'll fully satisfy fans of either. [July 2004, p.69]

GameSpot

It's difficult to care about the story or any of the characters in it when the game doesn't have any voice acting to lend personality to it.

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GamerFeed

Northland would have been a great primer for new RTS fans if it wasn't so complicated. Population growth and logistical issues too often distract the player from the overall goal of the mission.

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Gamer's Pulse

Examining Northland as a strategy game, it fails miserably with ridiculously tedious micromanagement gameplay that falls behind the times.

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Yahoo! Games

Micromanagement bogs things down just when your village is becoming interesting and productive. That a game has barriers or limits isn't a bad thing; that the barrier appears at the same point as the game becomes appealing is unfortunate.

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eToychest

The slow pace, even at heightened settings, is horribly boring. The graphical issues make things even worse, especially for owners of newer video cards.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Harvey "Danger" M gave it a10:
More games like this should be made. It is an old game, the graphics look a little silly now and some of the interface is confusing/nonfunctional (eg can't turn the game's sound off). Look past this, though, and you have a totally unique game that never got the (in my opinion, massive and unrelenting) recognition it deserved. The game is a sort of cross between the sims and age of empires; each person in the town you control has a name, a residence, a profession that they must work at to improve, and can grow up to have a husband/wife and have children. They need things like food, so you have to build networks of farms, mills, and bakeries throughout your expanding community while training ever more farmers, millers, and bakers to work at them. Improve their efficiency by gathering stone and building roads, using leather generated from cattle farms to give them shoes, or have the local potter open his supply of crockery to the public. This is not micromanagement, this is fun. With an ever expanding base of operations you will eventually be able to reach higher-tech production levels. Ships, breweries, alchemists, and, eventually, massive, raging troops of vikings set free to burn and pillage the towns of your enemies. Or just towns that happen to be close by. Not for the unimaginative.

Jae P gave it a10:
I fell in love with Cultures and have loved each and ever one of the Cultures series. Yes, it takes time to get through each mission. But, isn't that what gaming is all about. It's a chance to escape from this world of reality. My family knows, when they see the little Vikings on the screen, to leave me alone because I'm on my time. This game, as well as the other Cultures games, help me survive the real world. You have to get knocked down to really know what is important. Living on the streets for awhile gives you a real clue. Now I stop and smell the roses. I play Cultures so I won't have another nervous breakdown. CULTURES is GREAT! It helps me keep my sanity. Try it, you'll like it.

Clock Crazy gave it a9:
Don't know what all these are whining, this game is GREAT! If you're in a hurry, don't play, but if you have patience, and like RTS, and don't care about strange things, then TRY IT!!!

Pedro M. gave it a 5:
The Games Domain review tell better what the game is about.. it's hard to control the civilians, the game is slow and it becomes boring after an hour or two of gameplay.. long live settlers 2.

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