Playing A Game Viking: Battle for Asgard PC

I remember Viking from back when I got my Xbox 360, and I was looking for budget and/or stupid games to fill my library. It didn't make the cut. So what is this 2008 console game doing, being re-released for PC, four and a half years later? My hunch is that someone at Sega had a standing contract to fulfill. Battle for Asgard has all the mechanical simplicity and lack of polish you'd expect from an early-generation title, but now with enhanced graphics settings (and somewhat ridiculous system requirements for those settings).

In many ways, Viking is - unsurprisingly - quite similar to standard character action games like God of War and Conan (2007). You're a big dude with big weapons, you run into demon enemies and hit them a bunch, there are combos and quick-time events, and you can collect currency items to purchase ability upgrades. Its unique selling point is your viking army, and the associated semi-open world; as you complete minor missions to save viking warriors and liberate encampments, you'll gain abilities and gather allies to storm larger enemy strongholds. During these sieges, you'll actually fight alongside your horde as you storm the enemy gates, which is a cool idea, even though the crowded screen can make it difficult to effectively target and tangle with your foes.

There's also a more-than-adequate share of basic execution problems. The game is missing a number of fundamental tutorial prompts; I didn't know you could climb vines, or jump, until I started mashing on things. You can only buy new items and abilities at certain map locations; there are fast-travel points, but you still need to stop what you're doing, find one, go get your stuff, then go back to the travel point before you can resume whatever activity you're on. And as I alluded to above, for a game that's (basically) from 2008, Viking has an unexpectedly hard time running on a modern PC with high graphics settings.

Oh, and like Binary Domain, basic control and graphics settings can only be changed in a separate configuration app. Keep up the great work, Sega.

Viking is kind of bad, but not completely bad. There is some enjoyment to be had in your gradual takeover of the map, and in the gloriously violent, decapitation-heavy executions -- I'll see how long that fun can hold up.

Progress: Lowered the drawbridge

Rating: Bad