Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this game is extremely violent and bloody. It is the goriest game so far in 2008. Players can quite literally chop off limbs, slice off an enemy's head, and purchase new stealth moves to do it all up-close and in slow-motion. You can slice a baddie in half and watch as his entrails seep out. Blood and guts are very much a part of taking an enemy's life.
Families can talk about whether this level is violence makes the game more appealing or does it hurt its appeal, and thus, potential? What's more, how do you think the game's writer, Rhianna Pratchett (Heavenly Sword, Overlord), daughter of renowned fantasy author Terry Pratchett, feels about this gratuitous violence and gore? Does it make the story an afterthought because players are preoccupied with a more visceral thrill?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Marc Saltzman
Fantasy adventure meets large-scale warfare in Sega's VIKING: BATTLE FOR ASGARD, a gory Norse mythology tale crafted by The Creative Assembly of Total War fame. Gamers play as Skarin, a deadly Viking hero who wages war against evil to save mankind from total annihilation.
How does this beefy brute go about it, you ask? Naturally, by beheading and dismembering baddies with a battle axe, summoning dragons or commanding large-scale skirmishes featuring hundreds of fighters on a battlefield (something The Creative Assembly is usually very good at). Skarin will be joined by other Vikings he rescues across the countryside.
While easy on the eyes and ears, the game-play itself is a mixed bag, rendering this disc as a decent weekend rental for mature players and nothing more. The mission-based objectives are enjoyable, such as figuring out a way to enter an enemy camp, but the huge battleground scenes have their share of problems. Specifically, when you've got hundreds of Vikings facing off against hundreds of these blue-skinned enemies and some giants and dragons, too, the action can slow down to a crawl, which hurts that all-important of suspension of disbelief. There's also the lost feeling of control since the outcome of this big messy fight appears to be out of your hands.
Be forewarned Viking is the goriest game of the year thus far. You can literally chop a baddie in half and see entrails seep out. If you upgrade your skills by using gold to purchase new moves from a Viking spirit, you can add even more gory attacks to your arsenal. Beheading and dismembering is common fare in this game, even in slow-motion for dramatic effect. Needless-to-say, keep this one away from kids, tweens, and younger teens.
Other recommended fantasy action/adventure titles for mature players include World of Warcraft, Devil May Cry 4, God of War: Chains of Olympus. For teen players turn to Heavenly Sword and Okami.
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ViolenceExtremely graphic, players can dismember, behead, and slice their enemies in two; blood and guts can be seen. Plus, players can purchase stealth moves that let them do the killing up-close and in slow-motion. When you gut an enemy, his entrails seep out. |
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Social BehaviorYou play as a deadly Viking hero who wages very violent war against evil to save mankind. |
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