Refine search for Gaming

  Leave a comment      Email this to a friend TrustedReviews Newsletters

It's a big step on from the linear, set-piece driven approach of Spartan, and this was a conscious decision that the team took during development. "There was a lot of emphasis at the time on Crysis and Crackdown and the like" says Senior Games Designer Col Rogers, "moving to a more freeform style of game so that the player had an experience of a story." The team also wanted to address what they saw as the key problem with Spartan: its rather fearsome difficulty level and the fact that - initially - it was hard to get to grips with. "One of the identified problems of Spartan was that it was very linear. Here, if you come up against something that's too tough for you at any one time, you've got a chance to go away and do something different" Rogers explains.

As a result, we've got a game where exploration and tactical play is key to the action. Sure, you can see a group of Hel's undead goons and plough straight into combat, but you'll experience a much steeper difficulty curve. "It's not just a dive-in and hack-and-slash game" says Rogers. "Even early on in the game you'll find that if you approach things and just dive in, you're very quickly going to be outnumbered. What you need to do is skirt around the outside, take off the stragglers and develop a strategy to free your men."

All the same, the game does ease you in gently. The first island is only lightly patrolled by Hel's forces and there's plenty of help around in your local village. Friendly faces will provide you with new clues and info, and Freyja herself can hand out her share of tips. A main map keeps you clued in to available missions and activities, and you can mark destinations from there to the onscreen minimap to help you navigate. To cut down on boring backtracking, each island has a network of ‘ley-stones' that act as teleporters, meaning you can get from one side to the other without having to trudge through a mass of enemy-infested territory.

In much of the game, it's also a case of making best use of the forces to hand. Once freed, your Viking troops will use their own AI nouse; while they'll generally head for home in preparation for battles to come, they'll be happy to mop up any undead troops they find along the way. The environment is your friend as well, giving you cover to hide behind and alternate routes that give you a better chance to surprise your foes. Viking doesn't exactly stretch into Tomb Raider territory, but it certainly doesn't leave you glued to the ground. Climbing cliffs and tumbling ruins might net you a few surprises, after all.

Add your comment