Are you in the mood to plunder and pillage in an open world environment that allows you to step into the shoes of a resurrected battle weary Viking? You now have the opportunity to do so because Viking: Battle For Asgard from Creative Assembly and SEGA has finally hit stores for the PS3 and Xbox 360.We have been bombarding you with information on the game for months now, but just in case you missed it, here is some background information for you:

Viking: Battle For Asgard thrusts players into a mythological world overrun with demonic warriors unleashed by Hel, the Norse goddess of the underworld. As Skarin, a rage-fueled Viking hero, players will wage all-out war to free mankind from the grip of evil and ultimate annihilation. Players can command dragons and wield fire, ice, and lightning, laying waste to enemies in either small skirmishes or epic battles featuring hundreds of warriors. 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.

Woo Whoo! Hopefully this will be a fun and bloody action game for to drive away the Winter chills. For more information on the game along with tons of screenshots and trailers look no further than our previous posts.

Via: Press Release

I am all for releasing plenty of screenshots and other assets when it comes to games. While I do not like trailers that ruin surprises, I do like for them to show me what the game will play like. Granted, you cannot tell how well the controls work, if it sputters, or is filled with AI that is more artificial than intelligent – trailers give you an idea of what to expect at least. Screenshots on the other hand, are nothing more than visual stimuli designed to draw you in like an engrossing Van Gogh painting at the museum. The problem with screenshots, is that they tend to get you overly excited about something that will most likely not live up to your expectations.

Take the new screens for Viking: Battle for Asgard as an example. Yes, the trailers have shown us that it looks like it will be a cool title, but the screens make us think that it is going to be a visually stunning masterpiece when in reality it may turn out to look worse than the time you painted the walls with your butt prints in a drunken stupor. That is the bad thing about screenshots, they are pretty to look at, but when the time comes to play the game, it may look totally different.

It is also worrisome when a company such as SEGA overly-bombards you with screens for an upcoming game. It reminds me of a movie trailer where they show you all the good parts because the rest of it is heinous – they do this to trick you into going to see it so that they could salvage what funds they tanked into a less than stellar project. I am sincerely hoping that this is not the case with Battle for Asgard, because gamers really need a cool Viking game where your axe is your only true friend in the world. Yet, at the same time, the amount of media that is constantly being sent to us makes me a little bit paranoid.

Viking: Battle for Asgard is expect to hit retail stores on March 28th and will be available for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. For more information you can look over our previous posts here.

MORE SCREENS

More baseball action is now available on the PlayStation Store, as a demo of MLB 2K8 has been released. With the demo of it and MLB 08, you should be able to make an informed decision about which baseball game is right for you. (I think I’ll be going with 08, myself.) The free Dropkick Murphys DLC pack I wrote about here is also available to download for any Guitar Hero III players who are interested.

If you’re feeling like a sucker, then there’s something for you, too: two new PAIN characters are available for $0.99 each. Somehow I doubt the privilege of being able to launch Nurse Ginger and Muffy the Cheerleader around the city in PAIN is really worth a buck.

Other things you’ll find when you log onto the PlayStation Store today: Rock Band DLC (read about it here), an expansion pack for Toy Home ($6.99) and various themes and videos.

The full list of content can be found after the break. Read the full article

Personally, when I hear the question, “Why vikings?” my automatic response is, “Well, why not?” Still, with this new developer diary form the makers of Viking: Battle for Asgard, the people behind the game answer that very question, while also explaining the core design of the gameplay. Essentially, they chose vikings as the main culture for their game because they have an often unexplored mythology behind them. Plus, from a design perspective, it allowed them to craft the intricate styls of viking weapons and armor. If you want to see the developer diary though, you’ll have to go through and age gate (probably due to some gore-filled gameplay footage). You can check out the video here.

The first Viking: Battle For Asgard Dev Diary video is out. Sega Viking developers talk about why Norse mythology with the iconic Vikings were chosen for this game. Players can really get a better idea of the scope of the game, and a good feel for the frenetic pace of battlefield action. Watch the the video for the graphics and visceral combat, and come away with a better understanding of what sets this game apart from the rest.

via FileFront

Normally when a gaming company sends us a trailer with an age gate, I have a tendency to scoff at the silliness of it. This is because the majority of trailers for games, even ones labeled “M” for Mature, rarely show enough content that one would deem inappropriate for the age demographic that graces our hallowed pages. However, in the new Viking: Battle for Asgard trailer, I have to say that the age gate is indeed an evil necessity. Reason being, we really do not want thirteen year old kids, or ones even younger for that matter who happen to stumble across our pages to watch a trailer showing decapitations. No matter how much adults love the idea of hacking the head off of a raging monster or an evil foe, we really don’t want our younger generation exposed to such content until they are mentally capable of processing it. That being said, here is a link to the trailer, and if you are underage and view it anyway, your parents need a good spanking.

Regarding the other subject of this post, the Viking: Battle for Asgard website is now live. Creative Assembly and SEGA have done a bang up job on it and it includes some extra info on the game along with trailers, screens, bios and new content is coming soon. All of these new goodies should give gamers itching to play the game something to chew on until it hits the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the Spring.

For more information on the game, you can look over our previous posts here.

We have been throwing screenshots at you left and right for Viking: Battle for Asgard since August, and while they do indeed look pretty darn cool, the ones they sent us today seem a bit repetitive. At first glance that is. On the surface, they look like more of the same – blurry blood-soaked battle images featuring a hoard of men and creatures hacking at each other in an endless gore fest. While this is always a good thing, the screens do not reveal much else about the game more than what we already know. Granted, we get an up-close and personal view of a horrid looking monster who looks as though he could smash you into the dirt leaving nothing but a greasy spot on his foot and a shot showing a flying menace swooping through the air that appears to be either a dragon or a dragon teradactyl hybrid. Yet, nothing else that would give us an idea of gameplay mechanics, weapon usage, or an broader idea of what the storyline entails.

The one thing the new screens do reveal is a female who will be making an appearance in the game. We do not know if she will be a protagonist who fights along side of Skarin, the Viking Goddesses Freya or Hel incarnate, or some sort of antagonistic Lolita out to destroy our hero. Whoever she is, she is in the game, and they sent us some artwork depicting her along with a blurry screen of her standing in a blaze.

Viking: Battle for Asgard is expected to hit retail shelves in March for the PS3 and Xbox 360. In the meantime, be sure and check back with us often as more info on Creative Assembly and SEGA’s latest hack and slash is sure to head our way as it gets closer to release. You can view more of the new screens here.

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

Read the full article

Skarin, the viking hero of Creative Assembly and SEGA’s latest venture Viking: Battle for Asgard, is one foreboding, hulking, blond guy who would as soon rip your arm off as smile at you. When I first looked at these screens, I thought to myself that if Uwe Boll ever make a movie of this, Dolph Lundgren should play him. Well, maybe if it was made in the 80’s he could pull it off. At any rate, I have no idea why the Dolphster crossed my mind, but now I cannot get him out of it and now I am annoyed to no end …….. anyway, ignore my incoherent babble and just enjoy the new screenshots.

Freya always gets what she wants, and if that means bringing a Viking back from the dead to avenge the hordes who have destroyed her followers, so be it. The newest tailer from SEGA’s Viking: Battle for Asgard is pretty interesting, especially for gamers out there who enjoy nothing more than taking a broadsword to an enemy and cutting him in half. Ah, nothing could be sweeter in my book – a fun, blood soaked hack and slash action/adventure game with a taste for vengeance. If that is not enough, the graphics look pretty decent and the monsters formidable.

Look for Viking: Battle for Asgard to hit stores in the Spring for the PS3 and Xbox 360.