I didn't expect much from Viking and I am happy to say I wasn't disappointed. I have said it before and allow me to reiterate that I will try most games where you can dismember people. Unfortunately for Viking: Battle for Asgard all the decapitated heads in the world can't help this game.

Viking: Battle for Asgard follows Skarin; a mute Viking who sets out on a quest to free his land from Hel's (yes that is how they spell it) Legion. There however isn't much of a story here to speak of. You simply go from area to area retaking your home land from the Legion. The story could have been interesting but I was unable to look past the horrible voice actors and overall pathetic telling of the story.

Viking has some nice ideas that have been implemented into the game. Easily my favorite thing about it is the large scale battle sequences. Probably the most impressive thing about these battles is that the frame rate stays pretty consistent. From time to time you get some drop off but I was impressed by how the game ran with so many things going on at once. I also liked the selection of upgrades that Skarin could purchase. Although they weren't anything special the developers kept it relatively simple. I didn't have to choose between 30 different combos in battle; there were a decent selection of combos and then some combos could be upgraded. I didn't have access to more combos then I would ever use, which gave Viking some variety without over complicating the game.

For everything it attempts to do Viking: Battle for Asgard falls flat on its face. To begin with the game features what I feel are the most egregious of violations; hiccups that should have been resolved during testing. I'm sorry but there is no excuse for poor hit detection and floating or disappearing bodies. These types of problems make me feel like the developers just don't care at all. To call this game repetitive would not be a strong enough condemnation. Even the most repetitive hack and slash games feature some kind of variety in the gameplay, but not Viking: Battle for Asgard. Skarin has about 2 or 3 finishing moves and none of them are really very impressive. Even finishing moves on "bosses" (I use the term lightly) are so basic that it is nothing more than associating that type of boss with a certain button combination. If I am fighting a giant I know exactly what combination I need to do when I finally stop bludgeoning him with my one or two button combat. Even the large scale battles suffer from too much repetition. Once you have played through the first island you have experienced everything the game has to offer. Turning it off after the first island will also save you the frustration of trying to use the poorly structured map. The map clearly states where you are supposed to go but you will be hard pressed to figure out to get there. Viking also features virtually no strategy and absolutely no challenge. Take the large scale battles for instance; all you have to do is hack and slash your way to your objective. If you die, you just respawn and resume your hacking and slashing. The only real challenge in Viking: Battle for Asgard is to finish the game.

The potential is there, but when you play Viking: Battle for Asgard you feel like the game is unfinished. I honestly can't recommend this for anything more than a rental at best. If you’re really curious I would say there might be $8.00 worth of value you here, but by no means should anyone actually plunk down $60.00 for this one.