This game really went under the radar for most pepole thanks to Smash Brothers, but my interest in Vikings and Norse mythology in general lured me in. Developed by Creative Assembly, known for the "Total War" series of games on the PC, and if you've played those games, then you probably know what to expect from this game: lots of full-scale army battles. And there are plenty of those...But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's start from the beginning...
In the opening cutscene, you learn about how Hel (daughter of Loki, king of the underworld) and her Legion have invaded these Norse isles and also wish to take over Midgard (in a nutshell, Norse Heaven)...You see the main character, Skarrin, die, but he's brought back to life by Freya (daughter of Odin, king of the gods)...Your job is to rebuild the Viking army and kick some Legion ass...Simple enough, yes?
The game indeed follows a simple routine...
1) Explore the open overworld (three islands in all) in search of treasure and captured Viking clans
2) Destroy Legion outposts and rescue said captured Viking clans
3) Set siege on a larger outpost with your now-freed Viking buddy army
But the thing is, when I first set foot onto the overworld, I was thinking the combat would be more hack-and-slash like...But it's not...Which is why I got raped in my first battle...Not even 10 minutes into the game... =| But more on that in a bit...
For the first half hour of the game, you only have two attacks, a slow "strong" attack and a faster "weak" attack...You can also block and dodge (which leaves the enemy open)...As you progress through the game, you can purchase new attacks (such as the deadly vital counter-attack) from this ghost Viking from Midgard (What the hell does a dead guy need gold for anyway? Give me the stuff for free, jerk!) and magic runes from the local blacksmith guy...
Oh yeah, the magic runes...Under your life bar is a "power bar" that you can fill up with the life force of your slain enemies (in the form of red orbs)...You can then access one of three spell types that you have purchased (fire, ice, or lightning) and get an added boost to your attack power...What is also nice is that if you utilize a spell in an army battle, any Viking buddies around you will also get the added offensive power!
You can get more of these orbs if you polish off your enemy with one of your patented Viking Finishers, a gory display of flying limbs and heads...After you deal enough damage to your enemy, an nice big "X" button pops up next to him, meaning he won't be any more trouble and you can shame him with some nice new stump arms...You'll then be rewarded with a cute little slow-mo cutscene of Skarrin hacking away...Wait, it's not that cute...At least you know that they won't be walking away from it!
Back into combat, you learn fairly quick early on that running into the middle of a Legion camp IS NOT A GOOD IDEA...In fact, it's A VERY BAD IDEA...
BAD IDEA!
Enemies, even the weakest of the bunch, can take three or four hits to kill, and the others aren't so nice to let you beat one up before trying his hand at you...They also have fairly intelligent AI which makes them surround you...They also can turn your life bar to ribbons in a matter of seconds...Oh wait, every enemy in the game is faster than you, too, so you can't run away...Lovely odds, yes? =)
So stealth actually plays a huge part in the game, where you try to follow stragglers and stealth kill them from behind without the others noticing...You have to be surprisingly patient with this game, quite unusual to see that and "Viking" in the same sentence, yes...
So after you've made your way through the countryside, liberating Viking clans, you'll eventually get the option to storm a larger stronghold...Now this part is pretty cool...Well, it could be better...
Heading into battle, your men will handle themselves and the other little Legion minions while you try and fight your way to "Shamans" that are found on the battlefield...Once you reach them, you have to destroy their barrier (by destroying the planted swords surrounding them)...Once you've killed them all, you move onto the next set...
As you progress further into the game, you'll be granted access to Dragons that can help you on the battlefield...Unfortunately, to use them, you need to get Dragon Runes that are rewarded for killing "midboss" enemies scattered across the battle such as "Legion Champions" and "Ogres"...Killing these guys basically consists of *SLASH SLASH SLASH DODGE SLASH SLASH SLASH DODGE* a bunch of times...They then drop to the ground and you enter a lovely QTE! X Y A MASH A, etc, in time with their appearance...When they fall you are granted your lovely Dragon Runes and can blow away Archers or even those accursed Shaman...
So that's pretty much the game...And now my huge list of complaints! =D
~ First, let's get the technical issues out of the way...Actually, there aren't very many! And that is, obviously, the framerate dips a bit at times during the full-scale battles...Not surprising, and not all that much of a hindrance...The loading isn't bad at all, the draw-distance isn't amazing, per-say, but good, and there is no pop-up to my knowledge...
~ The enemies are ridiculous at times...The fact that they can easily gang up on you and you can't run away is a real pain in the ass...It gets a little better as you progress with better moves (THE COUNTER-STRIKE!), but the weakest enemy shouldn't take three hits to kill (the larger ones taking up to a dozen, not counting if they are blocking!)...There will also be times when you are exploring the countryside and you'll run into a Legion Patrol that is just walking around...Oh...****...If they see you, you're as good as ****ed, sorry...Better hope that a Viking settlement you can hide in is nearby, but there usually isn't...RAPE TIME!
~ When you are rescuing Vikings from their cages or ties, you need to tap B...When you find a warp stone and want to travel somewhere on the map, you need to tap B...When you find a door you need to open, you need to tap B...WHEN YOU WANT TO OPEN A CHEST YOU NEED TO TAP B! Stop it, just stop it! Why can't I just, you know, JUST PRESS B ONCE!? >=|
~ When you walk up to a low-lying fence you automatically jump over it...That might not seem like a problem, but there are times where you don't really want to jump over something...Like when you are ON A ****ING CLIFF...Long story short, I was sneaking my way around a Legion camp on a clifftop when I watched in horror as Skarrin hopped over a fence and plummeted to his doom...So frustrating...
~ Before every army battle, the game makes up a reason for you to sneak into the city you will be invading...This involves nothing but stealth, as there are obviously a crapload of enemies in it...I mean, you'll have a hard time taking out a half-dozen enemies at once, don't even try 20 or 30...Anyways, these parts are stupid...Like one that has you going to get a key to release some of your Viking buddies...Uhhhh...Why can't I just invade the town and then take the key and save them? I think I would rather risk battling with 20 less men than risking my life infiltrating the bloody fortress by myself! >=O
~ Army battles can get mighty frustrating, because, as I said earlier, even the weakest enemies can tear you to shreds...You'll undoubtedly be attacked many times by stray Legion as you make your way through the mass of bodies, and you really can't tell where they are coming from...You'll also be attacked as you try to destroy the stupid Shaman's barrier, which will have you cursing profusely and laughing in a malicious manner once you finally cut the Shaman's limbs off...
~ Also annoying in the battle is some guy shouting "SKARRIN! TAKE OUT THE ENEMY SHAMAN!" or "WE'RE LOSING MEN SKARRIN, GET TO THE ENEMY SHAMAN!" every thirty seconds...IN...EVERY...****ING...BATTLE...JUST SHUT UP MAN, LET ME DO MY JOB, GEEZ, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE! >=O
~ Freya is an annoying bitch, and she gets worse and WORSE over the course of the game...You'll groan when you see the white glow effect the screen goes into right before she starts to speak...
So anyways, as much as I complain, the game is rather fun and addicting...The enemies are fun to kill (mainly because you'll get so frustrated in fighting them that you'll be overjoyed once they are dead) and the combat is actually not as tedious as I thought it would be...The overworld is graphically very beautiful and fun to explore...There really isn't too much music, but what is there is really good...
Overall, if you like adventure games or full-scale war games, or you just like Vikings, this is definitely a game to try out...Just don't be expecting a full-blown hack-n-slash or you'll regret it...Legion rape-style...
Score: 7.5
Topic: Viking: Battle for Asgard (360/PS3) (Read 4583 times)
