Tribes of Midgard Season 3 review: A tale of fire and brimstone
The Inferno Saga debuted in Tribes of Midgard a couple of days ago, and it has all the right ingredients to become the most exciting addition to the survival video game yet. With the Season 3 update, Norsfell Games continues to take elements from Norse mythology to weave its narrative.
Season 1 saw players face Fenrir, the monstrous wolf of Norse mythos and son of Loki and Angrboda. Season 2 saw the World Serpent, or Jormungandr, another offspring of Loki and Angrboda, arrive in Tribes of Midgard for players to defeat.
In the Inferno Saga, Einherjar, the player character, will come across Surtr. In Norse mythology, Surtr is a fire giant who is the guardian of Muspelheim and later wages war against the Norse gods. He will bring up flames that will engulf Earth and give rise to a new world. But what else does the Inferno Saga offer?
Inferno Saga in Tribes of Midgard is a breath of fresh air
There are plenty of changes that Norsfell Games brings with Season 3, and they show that the developers do listen to their player base while deciding on what to include in newer updates. There is a boat load of cosmetics, new additions, and gameplay changes for players to enjoy. One of the best changes for me personally is how equipped pets can now auto loot nearby materials and sources.
I don't have to worry about pressing the key and picking up everything as my futuristic drone will do it for me; for my adventures, my choice of pet has been a drone. Of course, there are multiple other pet options available in-game for players to choose from.
Another alteration that is sure to leave players delighted is that we can now fish in Tribes of Midgard. What even is a video game that doesn't present the option to fish? If you see any mysterious ripples appearing in the water, use your fishing rod — provided you have crafted it — to get Fishable loot.
Now coming to the more important bits of Season 3.
Inferno Saga: A New Ancient and a new biome
Surtr is launching an all-out invasion from his lair at the peak of the Volcanic Spire. The Volcanic Spire is the new biome that players will encounter. One thing that I have absolutely enjoyed about Tribes of Midgard, both in my review of Season 2 and here, is how beautiful the world looks and feels.
The new biome looks visually stunning and has a new set of immersive musical scores. However, it is filled with unique creatures that will make short work of any unprepared player. On top of that, players will be met with extreme heat, so heat-resistant potions will come in handy.
To reach Volcanic Spire, players will have to find the Gateway that will teleport them to the new biome. This gate has certain requirements that can be met by gathering specific resources found in Volcanic Outposts, which are new additions to Tribes of Midgard.
Once players are out exploring the world, they will come across charred grounds and encampments that house Surtr's forces. These are the Volcanic Outposts. One type of enemy found inside is Lavaettirs, and in my opinion, they are one of the most annoying new threats that the developers have brought with the new update.
Not only do these molten flame-oozing fiery elementals do a chunk of damage, but they will also split into smaller forms, which explode when players deal the final blow. During my first encounter with these beings, the explosion upon killing them and the damage I took came as an unpleasant surprise.
In Volcanic Spire, players will have to kill various specified creatures, like Muspelorms and witches, to complete each step of the quest to finally reach the entrance to Surtr's lair and access it. Once inside, players will have to blow on the Horn of Muspel to finally see the fire giant arrive.
The Herald of Ragnarok and the ruler of Muspelheim looks terrifying, and players will have a hard time taking him down. The largest Ancient in the world of Tribes of Midgard will not go down easy, often trapping players in his fiery vortexes.
A new survival mode, a new weapon, and more
The Inferno Saga brings a completely revamped version of the survival mode in the form of Survival 2.0, which has been built from the ground up. It is set in a time long before the Village surrounding the Seed of Yggdrasil existed.
Players will be relying on their skills to survive the treacherous and harsh environment of Midgard, aided by Eira Foot-Crushed and the magical Allforge. The latter, after being placed, allows you to repair equipment and build things.
The best thing for me in Survival 2.0 is that there is no Village that I need to rush back to defend every night. Helthing does spawn from time to time at night, but they never go and attack the Seed of Yggdrasil. In my opinion, this makes for a much more relaxed experience for players of Tribes of Midgard.
This allows me to set my own pace for a particular session and not be rushed into making any decisions regarding dealing with threats. Furthermore, the days in this mode will last 20 minutes each, and the developers have also reworked the save mechanism.
In conclusion
The issue with how difficult the game feels when playing solo or duo still remains. I mentioned this back during my Season 2 review, and I still feel it persists. Playing with a greater number of players is a completely different experience than stepping into the world of Tribes of Midgard solo or duo.
During my playthroughs in a duo session, we wondered if changes to available village reinforcements, resource spawning, or such tweaking would better the experience apart from a general rework of the player difficulty scaling. This could be more of a subjective opinion, for I am sure there are plenty of others who excel at rampaging through this treacherous environment.
But apart from this general comment, I think Norsfell Games absolutely nailed their Season 3 update in terms of what they had envisioned their survival title to be and what they had promised their fans. It builds on the existing Norse-inspired world and further draws from its mythos.
With Inferno Saga, Norsfell Games not only adds a new Saga quest and an Ancient to contend with but also revitalizes how the game is played, especially with Survival 2.0. Apologies to the ruler of Muspelheim, but more than Surtr, for me, the revamped survival mode is the crown jewel of Season 3.
Review Code - Provided by Gearbox Publishing
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Soumyadyuti Ghosh