Spigot
01-25-2009, 06:50 PM
As January winds to a close, so too does this look back at the overlooked or underappreciated games of 2008.
This week, we take a look at the game that came out on the Xbox 360 (and PS3) that had great potential but was terribly marketed and overlooked by most gamers.
Get ready to get your pillaging on!
Viking: Battle For Asgard
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/3227713446_32d2cc9e9f.jpg?v=0
Platform: 360/PS3
Year: 2008
Rating: Hel Yeah!
# of Players: 1
Viking: Battle For Asgard hacked and slashed its way onto the 360 and PS3 back in March of 2008. While it is multiplatform, I consider it a 360 if only because there are elements of the game that only make sense on the 360 in the form of items to search out that exist only for achievements. These items are on the PS3 version of the game but as there are no trophies associated with their procurement, they don't really have any reason to be there.
So now that that's out of the way, let's dig into the meat of the game.
Viking: Battle For Asgard puts you in the fur-lined boots of Skarin, a viking warrior so scary that viking moms tell their little vikinglets stories about him to scare them at night. The best description I've heard of Skarin is that he's essentially a ninja viking.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/3227713438_2f2006d060.jpg?v=0
That's you on the left.
You spend a large part of Viking: Battle For Asgard doing rudimentary stealth missions in your quest to reclaim enemy territories and free your fellow viking warriors. These missions are rather varied, as you might be tasked with killing an enemy commander in one area to leading a small squad of rescued vikings into a skirmish against an enemy fort.
As you progress through each of the 3 island 'levels' of the game, you gain new abilities and tools which will open new paths through the world as well as aiding you in your ultimate goal of taking down the enemy strongholds.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/3227713450_05e1093725.jpg?v=0
One of the smaller sieges in the game.
Sieges and massive battles are the high point of the game as they can involve hundreds of units slugging it out on a massive battlefield. During these epic battles, Skarin can call down dragons to rain death and destruction on the battlefield, hunt down the shamans who summon enemy units and once all of that is over, he will wade into the fray and go toe-to-toe with enemy champions and giants. There is a rudimentary morale system at play during these seiges and every time you pull off a crippling blow against the enemy forces, your troops will gain a bonus. Skarin can also cast spells which give your troops an added elemental attack to their weapons, such as lightning or fire.
Given that Creative Assembly is responsible for the Total War games on PC, it's not surprising that they were able to get such a large number of units to work on screen with minimal slowdown.
Viking: Battle For Asgard is also a fairly gory game, as you will be decapitating and dismembering a fair number of the enemy troops as you try to stave off Ragnarok and reclaim the land from the forces of Hel and the evil Legion.
The biggest complaint against the game is that it does get repetitive by the time you're on the third island. While the open world aspect of the game does give you freedom to choose which objectives to complete as you liberate the islands, there isn't nearly enough variety in these tasks. That said, the visceral combat tends to alleviate any sense of boredom from setting in.
Here are a couple of videos to get your battlelust up!
32492
32067
You can find Viking: Battle For Asgard new for about $15-20 in most stores and online and used for even less.
This week, we take a look at the game that came out on the Xbox 360 (and PS3) that had great potential but was terribly marketed and overlooked by most gamers.
Get ready to get your pillaging on!
Viking: Battle For Asgard
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/3227713446_32d2cc9e9f.jpg?v=0
Platform: 360/PS3
Year: 2008
Rating: Hel Yeah!
# of Players: 1
Viking: Battle For Asgard hacked and slashed its way onto the 360 and PS3 back in March of 2008. While it is multiplatform, I consider it a 360 if only because there are elements of the game that only make sense on the 360 in the form of items to search out that exist only for achievements. These items are on the PS3 version of the game but as there are no trophies associated with their procurement, they don't really have any reason to be there.
So now that that's out of the way, let's dig into the meat of the game.
Viking: Battle For Asgard puts you in the fur-lined boots of Skarin, a viking warrior so scary that viking moms tell their little vikinglets stories about him to scare them at night. The best description I've heard of Skarin is that he's essentially a ninja viking.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/3227713438_2f2006d060.jpg?v=0
That's you on the left.
You spend a large part of Viking: Battle For Asgard doing rudimentary stealth missions in your quest to reclaim enemy territories and free your fellow viking warriors. These missions are rather varied, as you might be tasked with killing an enemy commander in one area to leading a small squad of rescued vikings into a skirmish against an enemy fort.
As you progress through each of the 3 island 'levels' of the game, you gain new abilities and tools which will open new paths through the world as well as aiding you in your ultimate goal of taking down the enemy strongholds.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/3227713450_05e1093725.jpg?v=0
One of the smaller sieges in the game.
Sieges and massive battles are the high point of the game as they can involve hundreds of units slugging it out on a massive battlefield. During these epic battles, Skarin can call down dragons to rain death and destruction on the battlefield, hunt down the shamans who summon enemy units and once all of that is over, he will wade into the fray and go toe-to-toe with enemy champions and giants. There is a rudimentary morale system at play during these seiges and every time you pull off a crippling blow against the enemy forces, your troops will gain a bonus. Skarin can also cast spells which give your troops an added elemental attack to their weapons, such as lightning or fire.
Given that Creative Assembly is responsible for the Total War games on PC, it's not surprising that they were able to get such a large number of units to work on screen with minimal slowdown.
Viking: Battle For Asgard is also a fairly gory game, as you will be decapitating and dismembering a fair number of the enemy troops as you try to stave off Ragnarok and reclaim the land from the forces of Hel and the evil Legion.
The biggest complaint against the game is that it does get repetitive by the time you're on the third island. While the open world aspect of the game does give you freedom to choose which objectives to complete as you liberate the islands, there isn't nearly enough variety in these tasks. That said, the visceral combat tends to alleviate any sense of boredom from setting in.
Here are a couple of videos to get your battlelust up!
32492
32067
You can find Viking: Battle For Asgard new for about $15-20 in most stores and online and used for even less.