Post by thebluefabbit on Mar 20, 2009 23:09:39 GMT -5
Okie doke. I am redoing my post for Viking now because I have played alot further into the game and seen a few more neuances of this fairly decent title so here goes.
Story:
The Story is alright, you take on the role of Skarin, a norse viking who was frowned upon by other clansmen because of your dibilitating seizures. The Goddess Freya knows why you have the seizures however and she approaches you to become her Harbinger, to help gather her people to turn back the evil corruption of her precious Midgard, that was overrun by the temptress Hel and her legion. Hel was jealous of Freyas paradise and wanted to bring ragnarok by freeing the spirit Fenrir....long story short you stop her.
Gameplay:
The game starts off in an open world...its not very expansive but still decently large, with focused pockets of resistance. You take control of skarin and run around camp, you grab a report of the area and you go liberate some of your viking comrades. As you liberate them you expand your numbers in your army, and gain more under your belt for battles which I will explain in a bit. You also liberate lumber mills and farms that help you make and buy upgraded items. As you fight along, you become more prepared for battles, battles are essentially you taking over a capital that is overrun by enemy legion. When a battle starts, you are in a field surrounded by all the people you rescued in the wilderness, carrying all the items you needed for the battle ahead if you bought them. You are then given a task of sorts, in which you have to do something to progress the battle, like kill the shaman of the enemy who can summon more enemy units to the battlefield. These battles are large, and last for upwards of 20 minutes a piece if you are slow to progress. Later on you earn the power to send a dragon to attack areas that are out of your reach, but they wont do it for free, you have to impress them enough that they will help you, you can do this by killing a legion general, or slaughtering a Giant. After doing so you will be able to call down the breath of dragons upon your foes.
Controls:
Here is where the game hits a rough patch, Skarin, being a giant hulking musclemass that he is, controls very sluggishly and brutishly but he can unleash some fierce combos that you can learn later in the game from arenas. If you pull off combos and do the dodge mechanics well, you can feel totally badass, this is not a game where you can get by with mashing the A button and hoping for the best as you are often attacked from all sides. I didnt like the combat at first as when you dont have Combos and dont learn to dodge, its kinda tedious, but later I made ample use of the left trigger and now I feel like a GOD when I am on the battlefield. Most of the big enemys though, like Giants and Generals are fairly difficult to bring down, because you have to kinda stick and move, until you weaken them enough that you can deliver a brutal finishing move (via a QTE) and bring them down. There are some stealth sequences which are kinda difficult if you arent careful, where you have to sneak through an enemy occupied territory without making too many mad at you, and if you are discovered by a horn blower you might as well hang it up.
Graphics:
This game looks amazing to me, but also kinda bland, the environments are pretty nice but are kinda boring and dont look all that different. Though sneaking through a snow covered mountain top behind a legion and jumping him when you are close and splattering his blood across the cold white is pretty nice.
Summary:
This game is alot more fun than I expected before, it just took some getting into to really enjoy the gameplay. If you can find this game on discount, then by all means get it but its a bit quirky so dont expect a diamond in the rough. Maybe a piece of Rose Quartz in the sand....
Graphics 7/10
Story 8/10
Gameplay 7/10
Controls 5/10
Story:
The Story is alright, you take on the role of Skarin, a norse viking who was frowned upon by other clansmen because of your dibilitating seizures. The Goddess Freya knows why you have the seizures however and she approaches you to become her Harbinger, to help gather her people to turn back the evil corruption of her precious Midgard, that was overrun by the temptress Hel and her legion. Hel was jealous of Freyas paradise and wanted to bring ragnarok by freeing the spirit Fenrir....long story short you stop her.
Gameplay:
The game starts off in an open world...its not very expansive but still decently large, with focused pockets of resistance. You take control of skarin and run around camp, you grab a report of the area and you go liberate some of your viking comrades. As you liberate them you expand your numbers in your army, and gain more under your belt for battles which I will explain in a bit. You also liberate lumber mills and farms that help you make and buy upgraded items. As you fight along, you become more prepared for battles, battles are essentially you taking over a capital that is overrun by enemy legion. When a battle starts, you are in a field surrounded by all the people you rescued in the wilderness, carrying all the items you needed for the battle ahead if you bought them. You are then given a task of sorts, in which you have to do something to progress the battle, like kill the shaman of the enemy who can summon more enemy units to the battlefield. These battles are large, and last for upwards of 20 minutes a piece if you are slow to progress. Later on you earn the power to send a dragon to attack areas that are out of your reach, but they wont do it for free, you have to impress them enough that they will help you, you can do this by killing a legion general, or slaughtering a Giant. After doing so you will be able to call down the breath of dragons upon your foes.
Controls:
Here is where the game hits a rough patch, Skarin, being a giant hulking musclemass that he is, controls very sluggishly and brutishly but he can unleash some fierce combos that you can learn later in the game from arenas. If you pull off combos and do the dodge mechanics well, you can feel totally badass, this is not a game where you can get by with mashing the A button and hoping for the best as you are often attacked from all sides. I didnt like the combat at first as when you dont have Combos and dont learn to dodge, its kinda tedious, but later I made ample use of the left trigger and now I feel like a GOD when I am on the battlefield. Most of the big enemys though, like Giants and Generals are fairly difficult to bring down, because you have to kinda stick and move, until you weaken them enough that you can deliver a brutal finishing move (via a QTE) and bring them down. There are some stealth sequences which are kinda difficult if you arent careful, where you have to sneak through an enemy occupied territory without making too many mad at you, and if you are discovered by a horn blower you might as well hang it up.
Graphics:
This game looks amazing to me, but also kinda bland, the environments are pretty nice but are kinda boring and dont look all that different. Though sneaking through a snow covered mountain top behind a legion and jumping him when you are close and splattering his blood across the cold white is pretty nice.
Summary:
This game is alot more fun than I expected before, it just took some getting into to really enjoy the gameplay. If you can find this game on discount, then by all means get it but its a bit quirky so dont expect a diamond in the rough. Maybe a piece of Rose Quartz in the sand....
Graphics 7/10
Story 8/10
Gameplay 7/10
Controls 5/10
