Viking: Battle for Asgard

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $18.07
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I held off on getting this game because I saw all of the reviews that suggested this was a very middle of the road game. And for sixty bucks, it is very middle of the road, maybe even terrible.

But for THIRTY bucks now....

Storyline fair to slightly above average. You go through different islands and clear different areas based on what you learn along the way. You collect gold to get upgrades on everything from maps to weapons. I'm a fan of the viking period in history, so I found myself more interested in the story than I probably should have been. It does get rather repetitive. It does get rather repetitive.

Difficulty game is easy to learn and to play. Maybe too easy. You run around and use combo's to slay enemies. And I do mean slay them.

Graphics not too bad. Kills are VERY gory. Probably the only reason for the "M" rating is the quantity of blood and limbs that are thrown around with finishing moves. The AI is not very good, if you run out of eyesight of enemies, they forget you exist most of the time. I didn't care very much for the cutscenes between major battles.

Overall I'm glad I bought and played it. I'm probably not going to finish the game, and I've put about 12 to 15 hours into it, but am very rapidly losing interest. At thirty bucks I feel like I got my money's worth.

Hope you found my review helpful!

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As I understand it, Viking: Battle for Asgard was something of a dud when it was first released. I first picked up a used copy at Gamestop for 15 bucks... and proceeded to play it so many times that it developed stress fractures around the center of the disc from me taking it in and out of the case so many times.

I picked up a second copy for $9. I can't say how many times I've played it, but it has become just about my favorite out of all the games I have ever played. I understand it is not for everyone, as one reviewer said there is a lot of just running around, but for me it is ideal, because it captures exactly what I want in a video game experience.

Unlike say, The Force Unleashed, this game is not a nonstop barrage of mindless action. If you want action, you can always venture out and chop some Legion to pieces. But if you want to search for treasure to upgrade your weapons, or set free some Viking prisoners, or just explore a beautifully realized world, you can do that too. Although the graphics look primitive now, (i.e. the characters' lips don't move when they talk) the landscapes and views still hold up well.

If I get off of a stressful day at work, I can turn on my PS3 and escape in the Viking world. If I want to smash some heads and work out my frustration, I can seek out some Legion and chop them to pieces. If I want to relax and explore a beautiful landscape, I can do that too. The story is engaging, and has some amazing, epic battles involving armies of thousands, and you are right there fighting in the middle of it. I didn't find the battles too difficult. To me they were challenging, but not impossible.

Since it wasn't a fantastic success, I guess there will never be a sequel, which is a shame to me. I would love to see the game taken to a new level.

Buy Viking: Battle for Asgard Now

I don't like most RPG, but this one is very good.

PROS:

1. Good medieval graphics

2. Many strategic solutions

3. Good learning system.

4. Incredible graphics with armies.

CONS:

5. Too slow in running.

Good game if you like the ones with blades, axes, shields, mistery and medieval magic.

Read Best Reviews of Viking: Battle for Asgard Here

Wow! I really thought this game would have been a lot more fun. I couldn't wait to get down to some serious hack-n-slash action. I didn't know my character was going to have to run a marathon to do it though. Seriously...running all over that map is very boring. I know they have their goofy leystones, but you still end up jogging all over the joint. Plus...when you do get somewhere close to some action, it's either pointlessly boring or impossibly difficult.

GOOD: The gore factor is turned up to ten on this one. LOVE the finishing sequences! The game is sufficiently brutal...loved repeatedly stabbing that Legion Champion in the face over and over.

BAD: Unfortunately, the brutality of some of the sequences doesn't make up for all of the boring in-between stuff. The ending of the fight with the Legion Champion was probably so gratifying because it was so frustratingly boring getting to that point. Fighting on inclines or declines is ridiculous. You end up missing your enemy half of the time. The multiple enemy combat is pointlesss. Get surrounded by 5 enemies...you die almost all of the time. I thought this guy was supposed to be the Ultimate Viking Warrior!!!

In the end...I was expecting a Viking version of God of War...instead, I got a slow, boring version of Dynasty Warriors without the ability to actually lay waste to multiple foes during a battle. The developers don't seem to know if they wanted to make this game tactical or arcade style. They got themselves stuck in between with some end product that just isn't fun at all. I could go on and on about how many of this games interactive aspects are so unbelievably flawed...but I really don't feel like wasting any more of my time on this one.

Want Viking: Battle for Asgard Discount?

Okay folks this is yet another boring, middle-of-the-road Playstation 3 game. Amazon has given us a game description, I'll offer my thoughts on them.

[High-impact, brutal combat. Dismember enemies and experience high-impact melee combat unlike any game you've played.]

(My reply) Well, the combat is brutal, I will give you that. Dismemberments, decapitations, they are here, and they are plentiful. However, this combat style isn't unique, I've played several games like this. You'll use two buttons most of the time: One button for strong (but slow) attacks, and another button for weak (but fast) attacks. Been there, done that, bought the CD. Some of the fights with mini-bosses requires a "key in the correct sequence" of buttons to finish an enemy. Sorry, this was already done in God of War and God of War 2.

[Mythical powers. Tame dragons and command them to rain fire upon your enemies. Power up your weapons with elemental abilities and lay waste to your adversaries.]

(my reply) While raining fire on enemies with dragons is very cool, it does get old after a bit. The elemental power-ups for the weapons give us an edge in combat, but we've already seen this before. Freezing enemies and shattering them? That's old school, Mortal Kombat stuff. Catching enemies on fire? That's PSI-OPS Mindgate Conspiracy battle tactics. Using lightning to take out our enemies? Again, Mortal Kombat. With the upgrades, Viking is a little more interesting than the average hack 'n' slash game. However, the fighting engine has a collision error: it only works on level ground. If the distance between the character and his enemies is altered because of a hill/mountain, all those well-placed combos can miss, opening the player up for a crushing counterattack.

[Three open-world environments. Explore, uncover and fight your way across huge Norse worlds full of combat and exploration.]

(my reply) Yes, there are 3 worlds to explore, but the exploration isn't as open as you'd think. You move through one world at a time, and it isn't like Grand Theft Auto III or Oblivion, where you have tons of side quests to keep you entertained: Viking is a very linear game. Typical quests are freeing Vikings to join your cause by beating the snot out of enemy forces, finding artifacts, or opening enemy gates. I was surprised a court jester didn't pop out from behind a tree saying I could harness the power of the atom by bringing him the keys to the Wizard's sock drawer. Some of the quests are that lame.

[Climactic, epic battles. Lay the foundations for huge battles featuring hundreds of warriors at once. Subtly influence the battle through targeted assassination and sabotage, or wade in to save stricken allies.]

(my reply) Okay, this is where the game let me down big time. I was expecting to see battles akin to Braveheart, but instead I get a Dynasty Warriors rip-off type battle which is only possible after I complete a laundry list of quests first (gather more Vikings, open bridges, relinquish the keys to the Wizard's sock drawer, you get the point). The 'saving stricken allies' means you go up to a group of three guys tied to a tree and untie a rope to free them. That's it.

On the plus side, the in-game cutscenes between chapters are a huge plus they are reminicent of a Frank Miller comic, and it's sad there aren't more of them.

Viking is not a terrible game, but it's also nothing extraordinary. It has incorporated Mortal Kombat and Psi-Ops fighting elements, Tenchu's stealth tactics, Dynasty Warriors' battle mode and God of War's mini-games and chest opening sequences. On the whole, this Frankenstein combination doesn't deliver a lasting, engrossing game for me. I can't honestly see a reason for someone to own this game; especially since you'll probably never play it again after completing it. This game can be finished in about a week, hardly worth its high price tag.