Viking: Battle for Asgard
Developer: Creative Assembly
Publisher: SEGA
Price: $59.99
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Category: Action/Adventure
ESRB: “M” for Mature
Release Date: March 25, 2008

I have always been enthralled with Nordic legends, and anything Viking related. Far be it to call myself a Nordiphile, I am hardly that – I just like mythology of all sorts. I have also thought that Vikings were too often ignored in video games, and I have never understood why they have been largely shunned by the industry, This is why I was so excited about Beowulf until it was announced that it would be a movie tie-in – and in my opinion, both sucked equally.

When Viking: Battle for Asgard was announced a few moths after Beowulf, my love of Nordic mythology took a back seat to the wariness in my brain. I decided it would be rented instead of purchased and while the waiting list for the game was long at my local Blockbuster – I am glad I waited. Whether Viking: Battle for Asgard was worth the wait or not is open to interpretation. On the one hand, I liked the visuals and some of the executions you could pull off, but the game had so many things wrong with it. It was repetitive, contained shallow swordplay, choppy framerates galore and so many other things wrong with it that by the time I was a quarter of the way finished with the game, I wanted my rental fee back. Of course, Blockbuster does not give refunds for unsatisfactory rental purchases.

In Viking: Battle for Asgard, you are Skarin – a warrior on the edge of death who is brought back from the brink by the Goddess Freya. In exchange for this life saving turn of events, you must do her bidding – and no, there are no sexual undertones to this despite the fact that she is a hottie. Her desire for you is only for you to prevent Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld from taking over Midgard. The plotline gives you the impression that the game would be full of hack and slash potential, and that is indeed true. The game was oozing with potential, and when playing I kept waiting for the goods to come to fruition but, alas, they never surfaced – probably because none were present to being with.

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Sometimes, I find some really interesting lots for sale on eBay. Doing a little searching today, I came across a lot of 400 video games for $3,199.99 + Shipping (US $250, Canada $400). That works out to about $8.62 per game if you have it shipped to the United States. Keep in mind that a majority of the games are for the PS2 and original Xbox. I’m not sure what a collection like this would cost you at a store like GameStop for example, but I think the price would actually be pretty close. I wouldn’t classify this as a great deal, but it would be sweet to have all these games in your collection. If the price were closer to say $2,000 for all 400, I’d consider buying it myself.

Auction Link

The exact games included follow the break:
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A Sword of fire and an axe of cold
Vision of the sibyl has foretold
Armies gather on the battle-plain
All will fall and earth will die in flame

Vikings are cool, very cool, and if like me you have been burned by games promising to give you a true taste of really cool Nordic action in the past *cough Beowulf cough*, then Viking: Battle for Asgard might just be the answer to our prayers. Today, SEGA sent us the official box art for the game, and it is pretty tasty.

Ok, so the screens for the game look great, the trailers look cool and the box art is pretty sexy – hopefully all of this plus some really engrossing gameplay will make Viking: Battle for Asgard everything Beowulf wasn’t for those of us obsessed with Norse mythology and the great bloody battles fought in the name of Odin. We have been feeding you details on this game for a few months now, but just in case you have been asleep or otherwise unavailable, I will give you a bit of a background.

As Skarin, a rage-fueled Viking hero, players will wage all-out war to free mankind from the grip of evil and ultimate annihilation. Enemies will suffer graphic dismemberment with disturbing realism from an array of Skarin’s melee, range and magic attacks. Upgradable combat skills and Skarin’s otherworldly abilities create an ever-changing landscape of epic violence and heroic victory.

Viking: Battle for Asgard is rated M for Mature and will be available on the PS3 and Xbox 360 this March. For more information on this promising title, check out our previous posts which delve deeper into Skarin’s tale and have links to all kinds of cool assets for the game. The PS3 box art is posted after the break.

Via: Press Release

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Play Digital has a scathing video review of the Beowulf game up. After the dreadful intro, the graphics of the game look pretty good, leading the player to hope they were wrong about Beowulf, but then “it pretty much turns to s—” as Katherine your video host says. From button mashing boss combat to rhythm games where the video and the audio don’t quite mesh, the Beowulf game misses the mark of a good action game. At least the video review is entertaining.

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