Bad North

 Switch
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. NintendoWorldReport
    Aug 23, 2018
    70
    Bad North is, broadly speaking, a hard game to recommend even if I came out the other side enjoying it. The style and thoughtful minimalist reworking of the real-time strategy game is exemplary, but the unrelenting back half of the roguelike adventure can sour a good time. I can wholeheartedly recommend Bad North if you fall into either of these camps: someone who’s into a novel RTS twist on the good old-fashioned hard-as-hell roguelike or someone who can chill out to a brutal yet serene RTS that has some rough edges.
  2. Cubed3
    Sep 6, 2018
    60
    Endearingly minimalistic and simple enough without compromising potential depth, Bad North works surprisingly well with its premise, but is ultimately held back by from reaching the greatness it easily could have attained. A roguelike RTT is an interesting concept, but the title does suffer from a lack of traditional level design once the difficulty curve begins to spike. On top of that, freezing can occur when returning to the world map after a mission. Autosave ensures progress is never lost, but it's nonetheless frustrating. Bad North is not a bad RTS by any means, offering a fairly strong first half, but a lack of cohesion between difficulty and level design makes its back half less palatable.
  3. Destructoid
    Aug 30, 2018
    55
    By taking a genre that thrives on its deep mechanics and attempting to streamline it into something anyone can pick up and play, we’re left with an experience that doesn’t wholly appeal to anybody.
  5. TheSixthAxis
    Aug 23, 2018
    50
    Bad North has a lot of potential, but it wastes most of that by doubling down on simplicity over depth. In many rogue-lite games starting a new run is an exciting prospect, as you know your newly acquired player skill will carry you through, but the slower pace here makes it feel a lot more like having to do the hoovering again because someone ate a pastry with no regard for your nice clean carpet.
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  1. Eurogamer
    Aug 23, 2018
    A streamlined real-time defence game with a wonderful knack for dread. [Recommended]

Awards & Rankings

75
#75 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 46
  3. Negative: 9 out of 46
  1. TheSeahorse
    Aug 23, 2018
    5
    Why this game had to be a rougelite I will never understand. It would work perfectly fine as a game you play with levels that you can redo andWhy this game had to be a rougelite I will never understand. It would work perfectly fine as a game you play with levels that you can redo and then a hardmode with permadeath but no, they had to make both difficulties permadeath.

    It adds nothing to the game, just frustration. You don’t get any rewards per run or anything like it. It’s the worst kind of rougelite.

    It’s so frustrating when you’ve played for three hours (easy three hours too) and then a new enemy you’ve never seen before comes in and whoops your ass since you didn’t know his attacks. Now you gotta do it all over again.

    It sucks because the game is super good and fun.

    Make it possible to retry levels on normal and it’s a 8/10, but now... it gets the boot.    … Full Review »
  2. EnduroDoug
    Aug 28, 2018
    6
    I really like the visuals, the controls, and the music and sound effects. I don't even mind the scaled down gameplay. But what really irks meI really like the visuals, the controls, and the music and sound effects. I don't even mind the scaled down gameplay. But what really irks me is how difficult the game gets all of a sudden toward the late stages and, to be honest, after three runs of 2+ hours, I don't know if I care enough to try again. I really want to complete the game, but another 2-3 hours of play, just so I can suddenly get wiped out with nothing to show for it doesn't really interest me. If I could have even resurrected one Commander for the following play-through, it would have made it much more enjoyable. And MUCH more replayable.… Full Review »
  3. SSCheetah
    Sep 6, 2018
    6
    Kinda cool but unfortunately not quite worth the money.

    The visuals are good (aside from the character art, ugh) but I dislike the    Kinda cool but unfortunately not quite worth the money.

    The visuals are good (aside from the character art, ugh) but I dislike the inconsistency between beautiful 3D maps and cheap-looking sprites for soldiers.

    Sounds are pretty good, a bit clunky at times but simple and very fitting for the game.

    Gameplay-wise the core concept is amazing. Aside from slightly awkward camera controls the gameplay is brilliant: you control four units with three types to select from each with their own uses and tactically defend your island. It's a lovely idea and the the way you control your troops is quite fluid, not perfect but pretty good.

    Where this game falls apart is the insane difficulty level toward the end. As other users have said already there is no sense of reward when you put hours into a long and difficult campaign to just lose in the third last island, and then that's it. Game over, start again; no rewards or unlockables to make your next playthrough different. A "tactical rogue-lite" is how it's advertised so maybe I should've known better because I struggle with the idea behind rogue-likes... But the permadeath simply makes no sense in a game like this and after one play through with nearly unbeatable odds at the end you really don't feel like trying again. This game might be great for people who are happy to practise over and over again to do a no deaths speedrun in Celeste, or who love rogue-likes. But for the average gamer who wants to retry a level after losing, it's really frustrating and off-putting. I guess putting yourself in the mindset of an arcade game or an endless runner, where you are just lasting as long as you can until you fail, might help a little bit, but it's weird because there actually is a final island and a game could last a couple hours (you can save and continue though). Basically IMO it'd be so much more fun if the permadeath was optional or the difficulty was toned down even just on the final 3 or 4 levels. Definitely worth a go though if you are content with the mindset that it's like Tetris or something and you're just seeing how far you get, not actually thinking about "winning."

    On the plus side, there were a few game-breaking bugs that the developer promptly patched. The game is still being worked on by its developers and that's really encouraging to see.    … Full Review »
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