Viking: Battle for Asgard (PS3)

It's a shame. Sega could have pulled a rabbit out of the bag with this one. At the base it's a solid slash'em'up, but without the delicacy or polish of, say, Heavenly Sword, and like so many other games out there it lacks that sense of an original and new idea.

=== Story ===
Story, what story? You will come to realise that the "story" is really not that important. But anyway. Basically you are Skarin, resurected by ...
...land of Asgard from an evil army of demons and the such like. Oh, and if you were expecting some typical Viking mythology you'll be severly dissapointed, because actually it has nothing to do with it.

=== Gameplay ===
Well with that over maybe we can start enjoying the game, right? Maybe not. Okay, it's not all that bad, we expect a game of this genre to be somewhat repetetive. It's just that it lacks the flair of games like ... more

It's a shame. Sega could have pulled a rabbit out of the bag with this one. At the base it's a solid slash'em'up, but without the delicacy or polish of, say, Heavenly Sword, and like so many other games out there it lacks that sense of an original and new idea.

Story

Story, what story? You will come to realise that the "story" is really not that important. But anyway. Basically you are Skarin, resurected by Freyja, a Norse Goddess, and are charged with saving the land of Asgard from an evil army of demons and the such like. Oh, and if you were expecting some typical Viking mythology you'll be severly dissapointed, because actually it has nothing to do with it.

Gameplay

Well with that over maybe we can start enjoying the game, right? Maybe not. Okay, it's not all that bad, we expect a game of this genre to be somewhat repetetive. It's just that it lacks the flair of games like Dynasty Warriors, and finds it hard to pull the finish off.

You're time playing this game will consist of saving one island and the next from the evil tyranical army that has taken over. By completing the many side-quests, such as rescuing warriors and taking enemy controlled areas you begin to raise an army. The idea is that when you have a big enough army you can attack the enemies' fortress; that's when the proper battles begin. The problem is that reaching these battles is tedious and frustrating work. The islands might be free-raoming, but the side-quests are shallow and repetive. After defeating an enemy fortress all that happens is that you move to the next, even bigger and, more boring, island. This is not neccesarily a bad thing, the islands get a little bit more interesting, but not enough to keep you pinned.

The first big battle you do is actually quite fun. Watching your huge army batter their way through the hordes of demons is quite a sight, and you almost feel immersed in the atmosphere, almost. The fighting consists of hitting a combination of X and Square. The combos make it minorly more interesting but are really just more of the same. The moves are nice to watch though, nevertheless. Decapitating your enemy, or sawing off one of his arms might be grusome work, but it sure looks cool, well at least untill you do it for the 50th time. Then you realise that this game is just one button after another, one combo after another. But isn't that just what games like Dynasty Warriors and Heavenly Sword are? Well maybe they are are the core of the game, but DW provides loads of charcters and stories, and HS has those lovely set-pieces.

To sum it up. The fighting is solid, and the idea had potential. The battles are one of Viking's best parts, but they are effectivly the same thing and getting to them is horribly bland and un-original.

Visuals

The graphics in Viking save it from dropping to the ever-growing list of terrible PS3 games. In fact, they're pretty good. As mentioned, the battles look fantastic, and the island terrains are nicely done. The blood and gore is suitably realistic, and the models are again good. It doesn't match with games like Uncharted or Call of Duty 4, but neither does it put the PS3 to shame. There are just a few little problems. For example, enemies will die before you've finsished your combo move, but you can't stop Skarim from acting out the rest of the combo. It just seems to ruin the atmosphere.

Multiplayer/Online

None. Absolutely none. There doesn't seem to be a place to incorporate it either.

To Norse, or not to Norse

If you're taking advice from me, then don't buy this game. It provides little excitement after the first few plays, with nothing to keep you coming back for more. If you really really need a game to play, and there's nothing you havent done out there, it might be worth a look. The Viking-mad players will be dissapointed with the lack of mythology and story. It really is a shame. It's not that this game lacked time or polish, but it doesn't bring anything to the table. 

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