Viking: Battle for Asgard Just Shy of Seaworthy (REVIEW)

Posted by Gary Hodges at 10:33 AM Apr 10, 2008

What? No helmets with horns? ZERO OUT OF TEN!

It’s nice when a game comes along that pleasantly surprises you. I admit, I judged Viking: Battle for Asgard by the screenshots, writing it off as yet another one of those grimy, violent games so plentiful that they’re almost their own category: the “Bloodletting in Brown Clothes on a Cloudy Day” genre.

That was unfair of me; Viking is a little more than that. Not purely a rip-off of God of War nor a copycat of adventure role-playing games like Fable, it is its own beast, and good fun for a while. (Actually, if Viking resembles any game in terms of structure it's probably Crackdown, since its “flow” involves reclaiming enemy-occupied areas bit by bit until you’ve made the world safe again.)

Players take the role of the Viking Skarin, a personality black hole (not one word of dialogue in the whole game from our hero) and – clean-shaven and helmet-free – disappointingly un-Vikinglike.

(Yes, yes: Historically speaking, Vikings didn’t actually wear helmets with horns. But being that the game pits you against an army of zombies, it’s not exactly a history lesson; a nice Nordic thug stereotype complete with a huge Wagnerian horned helmet and a beard so long it’s tucked into his belt could've been fun.)

The game initially plays out like a Scandinavian remix of God of War: on the brink of defeat, Skarin is visited by a seemingly benevolent deity (Freya this time) and given a second chance. And like God of War, the terms of the deal end up making Skarin feel he might’ve been bamboozled.

Viking’s combat, though, isn’t much like God of War’s at all. The pace is slower, the enemies aren’t especially hardy, and though there are a bunch of attacks available, players can coast through the game with just a couple of easy-to-repeat techniques. At first this makes for a somewhat dull game, especially the one-on-one encounters. But the method to this madness is revealed as you get a bit farther in and start bumping into 5 or 10 enemies at a time, and then hundreds; in those settings, simple combat that allows single enemies to be eliminated quickly not only makes sense, it creates some really interesting encounters.

An example: When performing a “fatality move,” other enemies stop and politely allow you to finish murdering their friend before resuming their attacks. This becomes a sort of battlefield eye of the storm smart players can exploit when vastly outnumbered; pulled off correctly, a player can strategically move from enemy to enemy with carefully “executed” execution moves, laying waste to entire crowds unscathed.

Another surprise is the game’s world. Not only is it totally open (à la Grand Theft Auto), but it streams flawlessly with hardly a load time – even when you die and reappear at your home base or teleport to a new area. It’s especially impressive given the detail of the maps, rife with crumbling ruins, forests, rivers, and mountain caves, not to mention some sweet-looking ocean views.

But none of these high points really solve the problem of Viking’s fundamentally repetitive game play. The pattern of the game (talk to townspeople, liberate key settlements, raise your army, fight large battle) becomes too familiar too quickly – and then, before you know it, it’s over. But worse, there isn't any real depth here, nothing to wander off the beaten path for, and no reason to go back to the game once you're done - no hidden secrets await, indeed you can't even return to the areas you've liberated.

So while Viking turned out to be a nice surprise, it’s only because expectations were a little low.

Viking: Battle for Asgard
Publisher: Sega
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Price: $59.99
ESRB Rating: M (for Mature)
Score: 6 (out of 10)

Gary's Exclusive Joystick Division Game On Director's Cut BONUS MATERIALZ!

Viking uses a "gameplay" mechanic that has greatly overstayed its welcome: the "jam-button-as-fast-as-you-can-to-make-something-happen" maneuver. Just after finishing Viking I was inspired to write about this awful trend HERE.