Fatshark’s Executive Producer, Gordon Van Dyke, and Grogheads’ Jim Zabek just wrapped up an interview about War of the Vikings, the follow-up title to the smash hit melee game, War of the Roses.

OK, so aside from the obvious “cool factor” why did you choose to go with Vikings?

That was my answer! The Vikings came to England a few hundred years earlier than the Wars of the Roses, they even founded what is now known as the city of York, so we took that setting and ran with it.

What lessons did you learn from the success of War of the Roses that you’ve incorporated to improve War of the Vikings?

We took a lot of community feedback into account and have added throwing weapons, a dodge mechanic, and special attacks. The time period for WotV is set earlier than WotR, meaning the technology was crude by comparison armor wasn’t as effective because plate armor didn’t exist yet. Because of this, the matches in WotV are faster-paced as sending an axe through someone was much easier during the time of the Vikings.

Just like WotR, we’re also implementing a level of customization not seen in most games. This time around, players will be able to even customize the beards of their character! It’s a Viking a game, how could we not do that?

The “Pitched Arena” sounds especially hardcore. What’s that all about?

It’s basically a one life only mode, the same as Pitched Battle in War of the Roses, except that the arenas are much smaller and you can see your opponents at all time.

How will squad-based perks work?

We don’t have much to say about this at the moment.

Can you tell us about the levels and maps you’re designing and what players can look forward to?

We’re not giving out too much info yet, but you can expect to see the same level of detail as the maps from WotR.

A new era means new weapons and armor. What kinds of changes are in the works and how will these affect players accustomed to playing War of the Roses?

As mentioned before, the biggest difference is in the armor of the era. Full suits of plate armor weren’t available during the time of the Vikings, so these have been replaced with armor more appropriate for Vikings and Saxons.

Cavalry is also non-existent in WotV, which means a lot of the combat will be close quarters and the weapons available to players reflect this. Shorter swords, axes, throwing knives, and more items in general are what players can look forward to. As the game continues to flourish, we’ll add in even more just as we did for WotR.

Are there any plans to allow players to host their own servers?

Players will be able to rent servers from Multiplay.

How about player mods/customization? Will there be any support for things like map editors or the like?

It’s on a wish list of ours but we’re not sure if we’ll be able to implement this upon release.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Only that we’ll see you in Valhalla!

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