Viking: Battle for Asgard

"Creative Assembly's second attempt at a hack and slash is a bit closer to target."

The sequel to Spartan: Total Warrior in spirit, if not in name, improves substantially on it's predecessor's formula of gigantic battles with hundreds of foes in the field at once, and a nightmarishly powerful hero who cleaves through enemy forces like wheat. Unfortunately, it is still has substantial room for improvement, and some of the new features spawn a whole load of new problems.

Graphics: 10/10

No complaints here. The characters are very detailed and the animations are fluid and believable, even if Skarin does run a little funny. The environment is beautifully detailed, with individual grass strands swaying the breeze, and the lighting is positively gorgeous, especially the way the light of Skarin's glowing amulet spreads light through otherwise pitch black areas in a remarkable fashion.

Sound: 8/10

The music is great and the sound for the most part is well done. Voices are crisp and clear, and the acting a sight better than most games of this type, but there aren't enough. The undead monsters you'll hack up throughout the game are utterly silent except for growls when you hit and kill them. And this isn't limited to their voices, as their footsteps are silent as well. This feels out of place for the most part, and will result in cheap shots when they leap at you from off screen for a surprise attack that will frustrate you.

Story: 5/10

Easily the game's weakest point, the story is told primarily through narration coupled with still screens that look like concept art, and very few in-game cut scenes. The story is actually very good for a typical hack and slash, but it loses a large number of points for extremely bland presentation. The ending, though I won't spoil it, could have been one of the coolest cut scenes in recent gaming history from the narrator's description, but due to the static art and lack of even color to the art, is pretty dull. The basic concept of the story is that the hero, Skarin, is chosen by the gods to lead the forces of Midgard against the evil goddess, Hel, whose minions, punnishly dubbed "Helspawn," are overrunning the earth. Skarin possessed superhuman strength and endurance, much like the Spartan of Total Warrior, but for different reasons.

Gameplay: 7/10

A mix of great action and minor hiccups. The game has you fighting. A lot. It won't be love before you're cutting through undead like crazy, but one has to understand that Skarin's fighting style is completely different from most hack and slash heroes. His basic attacks can only strike one enemy at a time, instead of magically hitting everything in front of him. In fact, very few of his moves can hit more than one opponent at a time, but he does possess many powerful blows that can shatter shields, and even blast enemies to pieces, and the shower of body parts will damage nearby enemies. His magic also functions differently. Instead of huge area-of-effect spells that wipe out swarms of opponents, he will charge his weapon with one of three elements, and receive bonuses to damage as well as other effects. Using ice, for example, will cause his strike to freeze his victim solid, and a second blow will shatter them to pieces. In addition, when fighting will allies, all nearby allies will receive a boost when he uses one of these powers. But, due to the ease with which Skarin will become surrounded, and the fact that unlike most other hack and slash games, enemies to not patiently wait their turn but attack quickly and repeatedly, guarding is a vital part of staying alive, and you'll be deflecting blows as often as you'll be dealing them out.

The game also features some mild platforming elements, that are simply there, and not really worth commenting on. They work, but they're certainly nothing special. Then there is the stealth feature. If you can get the drop on an enemy, you can land an instant kill, and move in on another. Now, this stealth is very simple line-of-sight stuff. Skarin automatically enters a half-crouch when enemies are nearby, and when he is spotted, he stand us and draws his weapons. You can always fight your way out if your attempt at stealth fails, though there are several objectives that are much easier to accomplish if you remain hidden. More than once you have to sneak into an enemy encampment to accomplish a goal, and if you are spotted, you can fight your way out, but you'll have close to three hundred enemies rushing you, and that's never fun.

Of course, all the fighting you can get into on your own is nothing but a school-yard slap fight compared to the major battles of the game. With hundreds upon hundreds of characters on both sides, you wade into massive bloodbaths and carry the battle entirely upon your shoulders, because you are the only one who can reach and kill the enemy Shaman, who will continue to summon Helspawn onto the field until he is killed. You will also be able to call upon your dragon allies for strategic air strikes on the enemy, and remove an annoying wall of archers or strike at a Shaman presently beyond your reach, in great fiery cinematic mayhem. And the further you get into the game, the bigger the battles get.

The game's biggest hiccup is the traveling feature. You are not penalized for dying, and it returns you to the main Viking camp. There are times when simply killing yourself is much faster than going anywhere on foot. This causes players to often be tempted to throw themselves from a cliff instead of bothering with the teleport stones spaced across the islands.

Overall: 7/10

Viking improves over Spartan in many ways, and loses ground in the story. For Creative Assembly's second foray into the hack and slash genre, however, it shows they are learning from their mistakes. For a team whose area of expertise is centered on the RTS genre with Total War, they showed great ambition that fell short with Spartan, and now show great potential with Viking that falls on its face in the story. Sega, you've got to give them one more chance at this. I truly believe that in this case, third time really will be the charm.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/09/08

Game Release: Viking: Battle for Asgard (US, 03/25/08)