Seldom do I get a game for review that I really enjoy right from the start, Viking: Battle for Asgard is one of those games. The opening cinematic sets the tone for the entire game and I was immediately drawn into the world of the Vikings and was set for an adventure.
Hel, goddess of death, orders her merciless army of undead soldiers to enslave mankind and destroy Asgard, the realm of the gods. As Skarin, last hope of the Vikings, control every vicious blow of your sword and axe and drench the battlefield with the blood of your foes.
Viking: Battle for Asgard is a single player only action adventure game that is set in the time of, you guessed it, the Vikings. It carries an 18 age restriction due to the strong bloody violence.
Initial impressions of the game aside, I got the hang of the game quite quickly although there are no starting tutorials or guides to help you. By wandering around you just happen to see characters with a question mark above their heads and when you approach it turns into the B button which initiates a dialog with the character in question. The subtitles system during in-game character dialogs is a bit clumsy as the voice over isn’t synchronised with the subtitles and requires the user to press the A button all the time. I suppose one good thing about that is when you prefer to read fast and skip ahead. Although this is not always the case, as pressing A during the cinematic characters dialogs results in skipping of the dialog. Never fear, all important dialogs are preserved in your journal which is accessible by hitting the Back key and navigating using the LB and RB buttons.
The graphics in the game are surreal and lively however I am not too excited about the 3rd person camera which tends to stay where you left it, which can be a good thing, but can also be an irritation during combat scenes. Thankfully the camera is easily adjusted with the right stick.
If you enjoyed playing Overlord as much as I did, then I’m pretty sure you’ll like Viking: Battle for Asgard. Its available for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. A quick price shop reveals the following online pricing:
- R527.00 @ ZAPS
- R560.00 @ AnimeWorX
- R563.00 @ Take2
- R565.00 @ BT Games
- R574.95 @ kalahari.net
- R599.99 @ Look & Listen
[tags]Viking,Xbox 360,review[/tags]
I absolutely loved this game! It was a ton of fun! Best hack and slasher I’ve played in years!