Viking: Battle for Asgard

Overview

Viking: Battle for Asgard is a third-person action game in the vein of Conan or God of War. The main goal of players is to liberate the imprisoned Viking forces across three different islands. Once players have liberated the forces from the evil Hel's clutches they can take on that island's main fortress, and get closer to Hel's city as they go. The action of Viking is fun, fast paced, and bloody. Players can learn a variety of new combos that keep the combat fresh and interesting. The games stealth segments though feel extremely half-baked though, and can be frustratingly difficult, so most players will want to start out on the normal difficulty.

Gameplay

Combat in Viking: Battle for Asgard is best described as "cautiously button-mashy". The majority of the combat involves tapping the "light attack" button until the enemies are dead. However, there is a chargeable "heavy attack" that can be used, though its viability is questionable at best. When you cause enough damage to cause one of your opponents to lose a limb, you will receive a button prompt for a finisher move, which will automatically kill the enemy in a gruesome fashion. Special attacks (which expend Rage) and new combos can be learned throughout the game at "arenas" if the player is willing to fork over the gold. Dodging, countering, stealth kills, and jump attacks can be learned in this way. Throwing axes and firebombs can also be purchased through the course of the game. While the game likes to showcase the offensive combat, defense is just as important. The player will become increasingly familiar with the block button and the "defensive bash" technique (which temporarily imbalances or stuns enemies) as the game progresses and it will become apparent that the player is not capable of simply slicing through a large numbers of enemies on his own, unlike in many other hack 'n' slash games.

The Rage system appears in the game when the player learns a move that requires Rage in order to execute. Rage is shown in the form of 5 emblems near the player's health bar. Each Rage move costs 1-3 units of Rage in order to execute. Rage is regained by landing normal blows on enemies.

Game Structure

Viking: Battle for Asgard is divided into three distinct, open-world islands (it may be important to note that one can not travel between these islands at will). While the islands offer slightly different surroundings and enemies, the same basic tasks must be performed on each island in order to progress.

Warrior Liberation

Throughout the island, the player will find fellow warriors held captive by enemies. The player need only kill the enemies in the immediate area and untie/free the captive warriors (though, it is not necessary for the tasks to be done in this order. If one successfully frees the warriors before all enemies are dead, the warriors will track down the stragglers and take care of them themselves). As soon as the warriors are freed and the enemies in the area are dead, the weather will turn from dark and rainy to bright and sunny. The game requires a certain number of liberations to occur before it allows you to progress.

Landmark/Resource Reclamation

This is very similar to Warrior Liberation, only a new weapon/resource will usually become available upon completion.

Dragon Summons

Some of your biggest allies in the end-of-island battles will be your dragons. The player will summon one dragon per island and, once the player summons them, they will be available for assistance for the rest of the game (Though only in Stronghold Battles). Dragons can be summoned at "Summon Stones" (Landmarks that look very similar to the game's Arenas) once the player has collected the Dragon's emblem, which is usually located in a chest in an enemy camp or stronghold. When in Stronghold Battles, the Dragons can be summoned to destroy certain targets at the cost of Dragon Orbs. Dragon Orbs can be earned through killing certain targets on your own, and one can hold at most 3.

Stealth

The game forces the player to sneak through enemy Strongholds in order to either destroy a certain building or reclaim a piece of a Dragon emblem.

Stronghold Battles

Stronghold Battles are the climax of each island. They are massive conflicts with the player's army vs. the Legion army. The typical goals for progression in these battles are the elimination of certain targets, usually enemy Shaman, who will continually spawn enemies. Elimination of Shaman can either be done manually or through the use of Dragons. Once the player kills (usually) 2 Shaman (usually) 3-4 times, the player needs to capture a certain waypoint, then they get to face the Stronghold Champion in a one-on-one battle. Once the Stronghold Champion is defeated, the Stronghold is cleared, and (usually) so is the island. The progression to the next island is automatic once all Strongholds on the current island are captured.

Orbs

Fighting enemies gains Skaren three different orb types.

1. Reb Orbs: these fill Skaren's power bar, which can be used to activate his rune magic (ice, lightning, and fire). Rune magic operates as an AOE buff for all surrounding allies. Skaren may also directly attack an enemy while this is active, but with the trade off that the Power Bar is depleted much quicker. Killing enemies while Skaren's rune magic is activated will result in more red orbs and stem its depletion. Rune magic may not be turned off once it is activated.
2. White Orbs: these can be exchanged for use of Rage Mode attacks.
3. Green Orbs: these heal Skaren.

Achievements

Viking: Battle for Asgard is fairly generous with its achievement structure. If the player chooses to play through on the Hard difficulty, all 1000 GS points can be earned in approximately 10 hours. The only miss-able achievements are the Skullbagger achievements, where the player is required to find 4-6 skulls in each Stronghold while sneaking through.

PC System Requirements

Minimum

• OS:Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7
• Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 3800 or better
• Memory:2 GB RAM
• Graphics:GeForce 8600 GS, Radeon 3400 or better
• DirectX®:9.0c
• Hard Drive:6 GB HD space
• Sound:Direct X 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers
• Additional:Keyboard, mouse, optional controller

Recommended

• OS:Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7
• Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 or better
• Memory:4 GB RAM
• Graphics:GeForce 9400 GT, Radeon 4350 or better
• DirectX®:9.0c
• Hard Drive:6 GB HD space
• Sound:Direct X 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers
• Additional:Keyboard, mouse, optional controller