Between the release of God of War 2 and Chains of Olympus there was a smaller adventure for the warrior Kratos in 2007 that explains how he had lost his godly status after he killed Ares in the first game and sets the stage for GoW2. A 2D adventure for the Mobile Phone, compared to most games available for cell phones this game is incredible in graphics and game play, does it stand up to a full blown 2D console release? Of course not but it feels like playing an entirely new God of War on an old 16-bit console.

The graphics are very nicely done for the small screen they are displayed on, with a very nice selection of colors and minute details. The backgrounds however get rather repetitive in design with a change of backdrop between 2-3 levels. Their are about 6 types of enemies and 2 distinct boss characters: Hera’s beast: Argos and Ceryx, the son of Hermes (the final boss). Theirs plenty of the red stuff you’d expect for a God of War game as well.

The sound is well.. what you’d expect for a mobile game. It does feature the God of War theme at the menu but that is the only music featured in this game. The sound effects are few and muffled but this is a mobile game were talking about.

The gameplay is solid though depending on your handset the controls can seem cumbersome, you have direction buttons and one attack button which you can use to attack with a combo. To use the few weapons and magic spells you get in the game, one of the phones soft keys is used. The biggest problem with the controls I noticed is it doesn’t read simultaneous button presses so that at times can cause problems in the heat of battle. The game’s difficulty seemed imbalanced for the first several levels up to the last 3 the enemies were pretty easy but then they seemed to get very hard to kill. As with the games big brothers, when an enemy like the minatour or a boss character has low health you can initiate a “mini-game’ to kill them in a gory fashion via a prompted button press.

Overall this is a very nice mobile game compared to the other poor offerings you find. It definitely lives up to it’s name and if you are a fan of the series or just want a decent mobile action game, I would recommend checking this one out.

Viking upon first glance is a hack and slash game with a Norse mythological theme, and it does it well. But, is this just another attempt at a God of War clone? In a way yes and no.. does it detract from the game? In that regard I can certainly say no. However, is it a killer app? Unfortunately I wish I could say yes but it has some flaws that definitely keep it from being up there.

Graphics: 85/100
Viking certainly has some breathtaking visuals but they are far from perfect. The game uses the now common place normal mapping technique to give objects in the game the illusion of light and dark and dynamic textures that reflect light in a somewhat realistic fashion. We first saw this technique in games such as Doom 3 and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay which back then were visually stunning. The technique has come a long way since then but in Viking it still has that glazed over look thats not all that realistic but it doesn’t mean the eye candy isn’t still good. Though you will notice a lot of textural glitches and hiccups now and again, while they can be rather noticeable they don’t detract too much from the overall experience. The character models are nicely rendered with a somewhat authentic period dress for the plethora of viking warriors and the undead legions of Hel, however the animation of the character models suffer from hiccups here and there, you’ll notice a jarring of your character as the sometimes jumpy camera tries to keep up. Now, the water in this game is the least appealing aspect of this game’s graphics.. now we’ve seen some pretty nice water in BioShock (hell.. we havn’t seen water that great since BioShock..) however, at least in other games it looked like water, in this game it looks more like a undulating fog with no defined edge as it rolls around and onto the shore, they could have put a little more work into the design.

Sound: 75/100
The sound in this game is pretty good however it’s nothing special: clangs, slashes and typical sounds associated with this genre, the sounds from the gore are pretty entertaining though. The music is great, it fits with the epic nature of this game however the developers decided to only have the music cue in at certain times and certain situations so most of the time you’ll be traversing the wilderness in silence but when the music does kick in it does really convey the mood very nicely. The dialogue is pretty good, with accents that somewhat fit the theme (however.. I don’t get why some speak in a Scottish accent while others have a Norwegian accent).

Gameplay: 77/100
I was really hoping this game would have a diverse fighting system, which it does to some degree but however, it does feel like it’s lacking at times. You start out with a Fast attack and a Slow attack which vary in speed and most importantly the amount of damage they do. These can be chained into combos which you learn from the spirit of a soldier in the Battle Arena for a nominal fee of course. This adds to the experience as you can upgrade your character as you progress and what is also nice is once you have purchased a new move the soldier will fight you to show you how to use the new move which makes learning them a snap. In addition to the usual hack and slash moves you have thrown weapons including an Axe and a Napalm like Fire Pot weapon, you are also armed with Runes that give you elemental powers that enchant your sword and enchant the swords of your comrades in your vicinity. These runes require energy which you can only get from slain enemies which is a pain in the ass as whenever you die you lose all the energy you’ve accumulated and the amount of energy you get from an enemy is determined by the way in which you dispatched them.. either by normal attack or a special finishing move which are a very nice touch. My major gripe however is the lack of diversity in weaponry because you don’t get any other weapons besides the sword and axe you start the game with, it’s not really a big deal I guess but it does get a little boring to use the same weapons over and over again, however the combat is fast and intense so that is forgiving. One of the best features in this game is the final battles in the several areas you must liberate from the Goddess Hel. They are huge epic battles with hundreds upon hundreds of enemies and ally warriors, however these scenes will at times cut the frame rate to a crawl but it’s not so bad that you can’t play the game. But these parts are one of the really redeeming qualities to some of the less then stellar aspects of this game.

Replay: 67/100
This game doesn’t have much going for it in the replay department, pretty much once you’ve liberated a large portion of the area in which you are in next to no random legion show up. There are hidden skulls in the major areas to find for some achievements but pretty much thats about all there is to do after you’ve beaten the game on all the difficulty settings. The game is fun but it can only hold up for so long when you’ve beaten it.

Overall I have to say the game is a fun departure from the usual hack and slash games that have been on the market as the Norse Mythos hasn’t been visited in many games in recent years with the PS2 game Rune being the only other one that comes to mind. While the game tries pretty hard to be like God of War it doesn’t quite match up but it is unique in it’s own respects. I would suggest renting it first to see if you like it, otherwise wait for the price to go down before embarking on this quest.

Those of you who manage to stop by Contraptica in the past few months have no doubt wondered why we so abruptly stopped posting regularly. The answer is simple: World of Warcraft has completely sucked away just about all of my active interest in console gaming.

Ok maybe not all of it. I still will pop onto some Gears of War or Halo periodically, and I still keep my DS with me at all times, but the truth of the matter is, World of Warcraft is the most epic and consuming computer game I’ve ever encountered. The sheer scale of it is jaw dropping, the community aspect has allowed me to become closer to some friends and family who play the game (the teamwork, communication and planning that are required to succeed foster this sense of community), and the breathtaking lore form it into an experience that is second to none.

I had never really played an MMO for any real length of time, apart from a brief stint with Star Wars Galaxies, but knew the mechanics well enough from growing up on MUDs, Final Fantasy and DnD. But nothing prepared me for the experience gained from an epic raid on an opposing city, nor the thrill of taking down a tough boss with the help of your real life friends, even if you’re separated by a great distance.

It remains important to keep up your life outside of the game though. An incredible MMO can easily encompass your social life, and taking the time to just get out and do something different is very important. I now think I can understand how difficult these games can be to a person’s work and social life if they allow it to take over. Playing along with my girlfriend and other real life friends makes the experience even more special though, and it has almost become a communication tool along the lines of AIM, with just a slightly more engrossing interface.

Contraptica is here to stay though, and we’ll see if we can get it back in business as a nice comentary on gaming and technology, even while I turn into an MMO head.