Griefhelm is a stylish Nidhogg inspired duelling game with a Mount & Blade-esque combat system, which allows you to attack and parry from three different directions.
Playable in single player against AI or with up to four people in multiplayer, Griefhelm takes Nidhogg’s tug-of-war duelling and adds a more realistic melee-focused combat system. You can perform three different types of attack by holding a direction on the right control stick and pressing the attack button. Holding up while attacking will cause you to do an overhead slash, holding forward will do a mid slash and holding down will do a thrusting attack. Likewise, you can defend against these attacks by holding your sword in the corresponding position using the right analogue stick.
The main game mode in Griefhelm is Tug-of-War, which plays similarly to Nidhogg, but in one large rolling level rather than being split up into stages. You face off against each other and each time you slay your opponent you’re able to travel towards their side of the level, with you winning by reaching the far side of the level. There’s also a Skirmish mode which sees you fighting to the death, with each player able to take three hits before losing.
Griefhelm is still very early in development and is far from feature complete, but the visual design is excellent and the core gameplay is already great fun. The combat feels nice and weighty, with each encounter being a tactical fight to the death where timing is everything – if you miss an attack you may not live to regret it!
Check Out a Gameplay Video Here
Download The Griefhelm Alpha Here (Windows)