Valiant warrior without fear and without reproach, Skarin will nevertheless succumb on the battlefield against the army of the goddess Hel, determined to reduce the Scandinavian countries to ashes. Faced with such injustice, Freya, the daughter of the God Odin, will then personally get involved and restore life to Skarin so that he can accomplish his design, namely that of saving his people and the kingdom of Asgard from the demonic influence of this perfidious goddess. So here is a summary of the pitch of Viking: Battle of Asgard, the first action game on consoles from the imagination of the thinking heads of The Creative Assembly, a studio renowned for their know-how in strategy games on PC. . After several conclusive tests with in particular Rome: Total War or the recent Medieval II: Total War, the firm has therefore decided to vary their skills and to tackle a genre whose game mechanics have hardly evolved in the last ten years. . But with Viking: Battle of Asgard, The Creative Assembly has the firm intention of giving a good kick in the anthill, just to change things. The intention is more than commendable, but the result must still follow behind...
Liberty city
If, at first glance, Viking: Battle of Asgard is in line with its peers with an agreed background, the title of Sega and The Creative Assembly is unique in that it stands out from the other titles of its category with a fairly original approach to gameplay. Indeed, contrary to popular belief, it is not a question of advancing stupidly by following the route and beheading as many enemies as possible along the way. No, you'll have to show a little more finesse, even savvy (not too much anyway) to achieve your goals. A bit like all GTA-like games, Viking: Battle of Asgard allows the player to directly access a fairly large playing field, insofar as it is possible to wander wherever we want on the map. . Obviously, over the course of the adventure, new lands become accessible and the proposed universe increasingly vast. This is one of the basic points of Viking: Battle of Asgard, but above all one of its great particularities. The country of Asgard being particularly immense and the means of transport being limited to very few things, it is with his feet that Skarin will have to travel these lands. Fortunately, in his time, the magic and the will of the Gods will allow him to save his strength thanks to teletransport menhirs. Each time one of these huge stones is discovered, Skarin can save the place he last visited. This will allow him to move from one place to another on the map by simply pressing the corresponding button repeatedly. But by evolving in the adventure, very quickly, this freedom of movement is immediately lacking. The world being vast and vehicles did not yet exist at the time, crossing entire regions before arriving at a precise point is often painful. Worse, the objectives in the game are for the most part to go to a specific place to perform a separate task, and this for the duration of the game. Painful.
The world being vast and vehicles did not yet exist at the time, crossing entire regions before arriving at a precise point is often painful.
Exploration is therefore a major element of Viking: Battle of Asgard and other aspects of the game support our point. The fact, for example, of having to buy certain skills (items, health and other magic spells) from the local innkeeper proves that money is undoubtedly the sinews of war. Relegated to the rank of an archaic method, barter has therefore given way to the exchange of gold coins that Skarin will find on his journey. If the purses and other chests are scattered all over Asgard, the player can, if he wishes, acquire a magic card allowing him to locate these essential currencies of exchange to evolve his character, and thus be able to advance in the game. Because casually, Viking: Battle of Asgard is also full of action sequences. It's a bit of the game's goodwill, which has based all its notoriety on the imposing muscles of our hero from the North. For who knows what reason (probably for problems of time and ease), Skarin is a mute character. Whether in the middle of the game during improvised meetings in the villages or during cutscenes, Skarin remains a character without a voice and also without expression. The lack of dialogue for our hero greatly spoils the fun, especially since the soundscape of the game frankly leaves something to be desired. Worse, during confrontations with enemies, most of them numerous, we sometimes hear the sound of the wind blowing in the trees or even the sound of the grass folding in the wind, so much the fighting are lifeless. At times, we will be able to hear a little moan but as for the cries of war, of pain but also of joy, we will have to listen as much as possible, often in vain. Viking: Battle of Asgard then loses personality, making it a game where speech is a rare commodity.
Welcome to the Ch'tis !
You will not be surprised if we tell you that Viking: Battle of Asgard is far from lace, quite the contrary. Always carrying a sword and a very sharp axe, Skarin is waiting for only one thing: to cut into rings all those who would have the misfortune to pass in his bosom. If the attacks are made with the buttons of the controller, it will also happen to call on magic, thanks to certain elementals such as fire, ice and electricity. When accompanied by soldiers, our barbarian can very well assimilate each of these natural elements to the rest of the team ready to die in battle. In the event of a glitch and if the gauge allows it, Skarin will be able to enter an anger mode where he is allowed to use forbidden techniques. Better, some attacks can end with a finish move that should not leave the fiercest players unmoved. Of course, these powerful blows allow you to get rid of annoying creatures in an effective way. Practice now widespread in any good self-respecting action game, especially since the coronation in 2005 of Kratos, Viking: Battle of Asgard also offers a whole series of Quick Time Events where you have to press the right button at the right time to that the animated sequence on the screen is carried out without the slightest hitch. The shots are meticulously chosen so as to energize the action and show in close shots the spurts of blood that will make lovers of visual butchery enjoy.
...Skarin remains a character without voice and also without expression. The absence of dialogue for our Nordic hero greatly spoils the pleasure, especially since the sound environment of the game frankly leaves something to be desired.
Another particularity of Viking: Battle of Asgard and being part of the selling points of the game, the massive assaults are ultimately only battlefields where chaos and cacophony reign. The army accompanying us rushing headlong into the bacon, it becomes difficult to dissociate these men from the enemies, so that we hit the crowd hoping to hit a man of the goddess Hel. Fortunately, the friendly hit has been removed from the game, this avoids many mistakes. It is also in these moments of struggle by the dozens that the game delivers its limits and that the frame-rate is in free fall. Some even say that Viking: Battle of Asgard has eyes bigger than it can stomach. Not false. A good way to sum up a game that tried the card of nerve to the detriment of a seal of quality that some would have preferred to find. Viking: Battle of Asgard is still a nice game, but nothing more.
