Viking: Battle for Asgard Preview

Words like 'Asgard' take me back to the good old days of Thor comics. Deeply rooted in Norse mythology, the tales, characters and rich lore, are still etched in my mind.

Of course, stories and legends tied to characters like Thor, Loki, Odin and others have inspired many authors over the years. Recently, we've learned that Sega and Creative Assembly are about to offer their own take on this particular mythology and they're calling it Viking: Battle for Asgard, a game currently in development for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.

Our story begins when Odin (who's sort of The-Big-Man-Upstairs for Vikings) banished Hel to the world of Niflheim. Seeking retribution, Hel musters an army of undead Vikings known as the Legion. Leading her lethal armies, the enraged goddess starts spreading chaos in the hope of bringing about the apocalyptic battle of Ragnarok, which, according to Norse mythology, led to the destruction of the world (and its subsequent rebirth). Another mighty goddess named Freya instructs Skarin, a fearless warrior, to deal with Hel and her minions. Being a valiant goody-goody Viking, Skarin accepts the task and so he begins his great journey.

What else do you need to know about Skarin? Well, mainly that he's a strong and resilient fighter, able to handle sword and axe with ease and precision. Dual-wielding is one of his fortes, so you can expect plenty of that in game. Skarin skillfully slices his way through hordes of undead foes. With a range of light attacks, he can take on numerous enemy grunts at once. He chains light attacks to gain momentum and deliver deadlier blows to stronger enemies.

But despite of what you might think, Viking: Battle for Asgard goes a beyond the standard hack'n'slash action seen in most action games today. Skarin's task will be to assemble an army by rescuing and helping folk such as farmers and quarry workers. As soon as you've liberated them, you can be sure they'll join your cause. That's where the fun begins. Apart from getting into hand-to-hand combat himself, Skarin is going to lead his followers into battle against Hel's forces. Intense real-time battles take place on different islands within the game world. Each island is big and you'll frequently gonna want to use portal stones to move around faster. For now, we're not sure as to how much the developers plan to emphasize exploration, but given the inclusion of portals, it's safe to assume there will be plenty of locations.

Heading into an epic battle with hundreds and hundreds of soldiers promises to be the defining moment in this game. As mentioned, Skarin will attempt to save potential members of his army, but he may also choose how to approach each rescue. Aggressive tactics are one possibility, in which case Skarin immediately takes on patrolling soldiers and fights his way towards the goal. Another solution is to take things more slowly and stealthily, thus freeing workers without any of the foes noticing.

The ambiance has a sort of God of War feel to it with aggressive combat, boss fights and fast-paced battles. According to the developers, Viking: Battle for Asgard features its fair share of gore and violence, depicted through the game's various Matrix-style camera techniques, with slow-mo replays of Skarin dismembering enemies and delivering all sorts of deadly blows. There's a powerful lighting attack he can use to bring on even more damage. Overall, during battle, Skarin's role is vital. Aside from being able to handle multiple foes simultaneously, his presence also inspires nearby friendly troops, which, normally, poses a key advantage in battle.

Creative Assembly didn't hesitate to underline the tactical aspect of combat as well. Players will be allowed to bring about a powerful dragon strike during battles, provided they've collected enough tokens. These tokens are accumulated after killing various types of enemies. Tougher foes bring the most tokens, particularly assassins, giants, berserkers and such.

At times you'll have to resort to different strategies during battle in order to draw out bigger enemies and confronting them is where the real challenge lies. Taking down other types of enemies can deliver a crucial blow to the opposing army. Shamans, for instance, will continue to heal and respawn enemy troops unless you eliminate them. Again, there are diverse ways to do this. If you've collected enough tokens you may summon a dragon strike to dispatch the shaman easily. Then again, if don't have sufficient tokens to perform the strike, you'll have to fight your way up the enemy battlements to reach the shaman, which is no easy task. Through all this, Skarin must keep an eye on his own shaman who heals allied ranks.

For the moment, the developers haven't disclosed any further information on the game. We're in touch with the people at Sega and are expecting additional info and media on Viking: Battle for Asgard in the coming days.

In any event, the game shows promise even at this early stage. PS3 and 360 versions are underway and slated for a Q2 2008 release, but alas a potential PC edition wasn't mentioned, (yet).