Review: Viking - Battle for Asgard [Xbox 360]

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.