Song of Iron

I’d love to say that Song of Iron was a great game made by one developer, with no qualifiers. I think where Song of Iron has some issues has less to do with it being a solo effort than perhaps the impracticality of the extreme minimalist approach as a concept, coupled with some consistent mechanical frustrations with movement and combat. Still, I love that Song of Iron is not weighted down by feature bloat. It’s a spare, beautiful-looking, engrossing iteration of a genre that always needs fresh ideas and bold, singular visions.

Song of Iron offers us a fascinating and cinematic world, capable of effectively evoking the world of the Vikings and their mythology, but it counter-balances this with some technical issues and a bit too rough combat system, making the experience inconsistent and frustrating at times. I would however still recommend it, primarily to enthusiasts of Norse culture.

Made in Unreal Engine by a single man, Song of Iron is a product that thrives on light and shadow, a certainly remarkable accomplishment that however failed to fully satisfy us on the playful front. Fans of adventures steeped in Norse mythology and out-of-the-box twists would do well to give it a chance - especially if at a discount - but those who expected a more complex and refined experience in terms of platforming and combat system would do well to weigh with attention to the critical issues of the game. Having said that, we hope that Joe Winter and his Resting Relic can follow up on Song of Iron and this time with some extra help, so as to fully exploit the potential of the ideas behind the progenitor.