Nidhogg 2 starts duelling on August 15th

Nidhogg 2 [official site], the duelling sequel to one of the very finest local multiplayer games, is almost upon us. Developers Messhof today announced a release date of August 15th. Let us rend our foes, win glory, and charge gleefully into the waiting maw of the all-devouring serpent Níðhöggr. It's certainly a more exciting victory celebration than dabbing, though the Football Association probably frown on pitch invasions by mythical beasts.

Nidhogg is a two-player duelling game. Players start in the middle of the level then attempt to reach the far end of their opponents side. This will involve an amount of violence. Nidhogg has such wonderful violence. Players can carefully deflect their opponents' blows, leap around, fling their weapons, and slide, leading to fights which are often both high skilled and deeply foolish. I had a problem in the first game of trying to showboat with moves like tossing my sword, only to have my opponent dodge it and leave me frantically trying to grab a weapon while dodging slashes.

While the first Nidhogg only had rapiers (and fists, for disarmed fools like me), the sequel introduces new weapons including daggers and arrows. It also adds a character creator, with loads of bits to build warriors from:

Oh, and I suppose it has a new art style. I wasn't sure about the new look in screenshots but it does look nice in motion:

Messhof co-founder Mark Essen gabs a bit about the new look in a PlayStation Blog post coming alongside today's announcement.

The game will boast local multiplayer, an AI to scrap with on your tod, online matchmaking and private games, and 8-player tournaments.

Nidhogg 2 is coming to Windows and Mac via Steam on August 15th.