Welcome to the Colony… Wait, Wrong Game
If you have been craving a Viking game that trades the mythological superpowers of God of War or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for mud, blood, and turn-based shield walls, NORSE: Oath of Blood might just be the raiding party you’ve been waiting for.
Released just yesterday, February 17, 2026, by Norwegian developer Arctic Hazard and publisher Tripwire Presents, this game promises a grounded, gritty take on the Viking Age. It’s XCOM with axes. It’s Expeditions: Viking with a higher production budget. It’s… currently sitting at “Mixed” reviews on Steam.
Why the mixed reception? Is it a disaster, or just misunderstood? After spending some time on it, the answer is frustratingly simple: It is an excellent game that probably needed another month in the oven.
Story and Atmosphere
Let’s start with the good news, because there is plenty of it. The narrative in NORSE is fantastic.
You play as Gunnar, a young warrior whose life goes south fast when the ruthless Steinarr Far-Spear kills his father, Jarl Gripr, and burns his home to the ground. Forced into exile with your twin sister Sigrid and the absolute unit of a protector, Arn Shield-Breaker, you must rebuild your clan from scratch and enact bloody vengeance.
The writing pedigree here is legit. The story was penned by Giles Kristian, a bestselling author known for his historical fiction (the Raven saga). You can feel his touch in the dialogue. It’s sharp, evocative, and surprisingly funny at times. Characters don’t just feel like generic NPCs; they banter, they hold grudges, and they react to the world.
The presentation backs this up. The cinematics are crisp, the facial animations are surprisingly expressive for a strategy title, and the voice acting is top-tier. When you are in a cutscene or listening to your warband bicker around the campfire, the immersion is 10/10.
The Blood: Combat and Tactics
The core gameplay loop is split between tactical battles and settlement management.
The Combat:
If you have played XCOM or Wartales, you know the drill. It’s turn-based grid combat where positioning is king. You have action points, cover systems, and flanking bonuses.
What NORSE adds to the mix is a focus on melee brutality and physics. There is a “Glima” wrestling system that lets you grapple and throw enemies, which is endlessly satisfying. Shield-bashing a bandit into a rock or kicking a spearman off a cliff never gets old. The “finishers” are hilariously violent, often involving axes to the face in cinematic slow-motion.
The Settlement:
Between raids, you manage your growing village. You assign villagers to jobs, upgrade the smithy, and manage resources. It gives context to the fighting. You aren’t just killing for XP; you are killing because your blacksmith needs iron to make better helmets.
The Glitch in the Matrix
Now, for the bad news. The “Mixed” Steam rating is entirely justified by the game’s technical state at launch.
The Bugs:
- Save Games: Some users are reporting that save files disappear or fail to load. In a 20+ hour RPG, that is a cardinal sin.
- UI Issues: The interface is often a liar. It will tell you a building produces “Fishing +1,” which means absolutely nothing. Stats on the equipment screen sometimes don’t update when you change gear.
- Combat Soft-Locks: Enemy AI occasionally freezes, forcing you to restart the battle. One specific mission, “Iron Will,” has been cited by multiple players as being broken, with NPC allies refusing to act or enemies becoming unkillable.
- Performance: Despite not looking like Cyberpunk 2077, the game struggles on high-end hardware. Frame drops and stuttering are common, even on rigs with RTX 4090s.
The Polish:
There are also just weird lack-of-polish moments. Lootable items sometimes don’t highlight unless you hover directly over them. There are no tutorials for critical village mechanics. You can’t dismiss hirdmen (soldiers) once you recruit them, cluttering your roster. It feels like an Early Access title that forgot to put the “Early Access” tag on the store page.
The Good, The Bad, & The Buggy
| The Good | The Bad | The Ugly |
| Story: Giles Kristian’s writing shines. It’s a compelling revenge saga with great pacing. | Bugs: Soft-locks, broken quests (Iron Will), and disappearing save files are unacceptable. | UI/UX: Vague tooltips (“Fishing +1”?) and confusing equipment stats make management a chore. |
| Visuals: Great character models, detailed environments, and solid motion capture. | Performance: Poor optimization even on high-end PCs. DLSS seems broken for some. | No Steam Deck Support: Currently listed as “Unsupported,” limiting portability. |
| Combat: Crunchy, physical turn-based tactics. The “Glima” throw mechanics are a highlight. | Length: A bit short for an RPG (15-20 hours), though some may appreciate the lack of bloat. | |
| Atmosphere: Nails the Viking aesthetic without leaning on fantasy tropes. | Tutorials: Fails to explain key village mechanics, leaving players to guess. |
Should You Buy It?
Yes, if: You loved Expeditions: Viking or The Banner Saga and are desperate for a new historical tactics game, and you have the patience to deal with technical hiccups.
No, if: You want a polished, bug-free experience or if you primarily play on Steam Deck.
Recommended for fans of: Expeditions: Viking, XCOM 2, Wartales, The Banner Saga.
NORSE: Oath of Blood: NORSE: Oath of Blood is a frustrating experience because the core game is so good. The story hooks you immediately, the characters are lovable dirtbags, and the tactical combat is deep and rewarding when it works. If you are a fan of the genre and can tolerate some jank—or if you are willing to save-scum your way around bugs—it is worth playing right now for the narrative alone. But for everyone else? It might be wise to wait for Patch 1.1 or 1.2. – Obsidian