GameTap: Viking: Battle for Asgard Review

GameTap writes: "There are two reasons why Viking: Battle for Asgard should be renamed Lord of the Rings: Now With Vikings, and you might be surprised to know that they aren't negative. The first is that this would probably be the only way for the game to get the attention it deserves and prevent it from falling into inevitable obscurity. The second is that the enemies, settings, and the massive hack-and-slash battles found in the game look as though they were stripped straight from Peter Jackson's portrayal of Middle-earth--or at least parts of Mordor and Edoras--and manipulated to fit Norse mythology, which is the foundation of Viking's overall story arc.

Some might view this as a lack of originality on the part of Creative Assembly--the development team behind the game--and if any aspect of this game was far below average in terms of quality, I'd be inclined to agree. But Viking does a better job of capturing some of the more memorable elements from these films, perhaps unintentionally, than most of the games that legitimately carry the Lord of the Rings name. And that was enough to for me to enjoy it from the beginning, and almost to the end."

Pros: Impressive battles; visceral combat; good voice acting.

Cons: Framerate has trouble in massive battles; ending sequence is most tedious part of the game; extra items and skills have little to no use.