Chop ‘em into chunks...
Now as hack and slashers go, the venerable Severance: Blade of Darkness still rules as my all time fave gore-fest. Yes, it was linear and yes it was PC based but it was superb. Gifted with three different classes to play, each with a large number of weapons and loads of moves to learn it was a sadly overlooked gem. Since then, in my not so humble opinion, hack and slash games have taken a dumbing down and thought the move to consoles is a good one (as joypads with a multitude of buttons make combo-moves far easier), we’ve still yet to see anything with the depth of Severance.But perhaps Viking: Battle for Asgard is about to change all that as SEGA’s Nordic based hack and slasher strides onto the Xbox 360 cloaked in wolf pelts, its oiled pecs glistening in the firelight with a bloodied sword strapped to its back.
Click for larger imageThe basic storyline of Viking: Battle for Asgard is a simple one. You play the role of Skarin, a warrior brought back from the brink of death by a goddess to fight the forces of the evil goddess, Hel, (no, I haven’t missed an ‘L’, her name is Hel…) who has ravaged the land with her forces of demons. It’ up to you to free each island settlement by settlement, raising an army as you go for the final show-down in each island’s stronghold.
Along the way you’ll be fighting an awful lot, sneaking around a fair bit, learning new moves, collecting gold and upgrading your weapons as you drive Hel’s forces from the land. You’ll challenge champions, face off against evil demons and lead an army of hundreds into all out assaults. You’ll even be able to call in the heavy artillery of the day in the form of dragons which, happily for you, can be used to target key locations in the battle and provide some much needed covering fire.
Click for larger imageWhich all sounds very cool, does it not? Well, I have a few thoughts on this… read on to found out more.