Rune - PC

Diary of Ragnar Jarlson20th of June, 1312: Passed my manhood trials today. Had to fight the best warrior in the villiage, who's a pushover. Didin't even break out a sweat. Then that nasty guy Conrack attacked our longboat and sank it. Everyone's dead...except for me. After swimming through lots and lots of underwater caverns, i'm now fighting my way past snake things, goblins, and crabs. This doesn't feel right. I'm a viking. Shouldn't I be fighting...uh...other vikings? Running around caverns killing snake things doesn't really fit into the job description of "Viking." Oh well, I shouldn't complain. I'ts easy to do all the stuff a viking can do, like run, jump, swim, and attack wtih my weapons. Need to get bigger swords.22nd of June, 1312: Spent my second day in Hel today, fighting zombies! Man, these buggers are everywhere! And there are still more crab things to fight. At least I keep getting bigger and better weapons. Hel itself is an interesting place to vist, but i'm not sure I want to live here. Lots of lava, huge caverns, and that creepy chick Hel talks to me occasionally in that creepy voice of hers. No wonder Odin banished her down here. There were a few tricky traps as well. I have to watch out everywhere, to make sure I don't get burned to a crisp, or worse. Right now i'm in a room that has a lot of stone platforms lying on the ground, and the floor is made out of steel grills. Hmm...maybe that switch will do something...23rd of June, 1312: Note to self: Do not pull every switch you see in Hel. I'm lucky to have escaped with burned feet, and those rooms filled with spinning sharp insturments wasn't too pleasant either. But i've gotten bigger weapons! I was lucky to get out of this mountain range, but damn it's cold out here in the snow. Wish I had a shirt. Guess it's into that fortress in the distance for me...24th of June, 1312 At last, i'm fighting actual vikings! Too bad there are a lot of them, and they have very sharp curvey axes. The good thing is, i've got one of those axes in my hands, already stained with the blood of many dark vikings. Hehe. Good thing my foes are pretty stupid. I can just walk backwards, let em' come forward, and then slash once. Rinse and repeat until they die. Works every time. I do admit, the food here is quite tasty. If I take a drink of mead (or as other people call it, beer), my health suddenly goes up, and it's fun to smash the mug afterwards. Sure beats eating lizards all the time. And I keep getting bigger weapons!26th of June, 1312: Finished going through some rather big mountains. Keep getting bigger weapons, keep killing goblins, and fighting giant snow beasts. No places to stay around here, but the scenery sure is pretty. But a thought about my weapons. Why did Odin, in his infiniate wisdom, let the rune powers I aquire last less then thirty seconds? I risk my life to fill up my power bar, and most of my weapons deplete over half of it when I use the rune magic. In my opinion, using power for only thirty seconds when you risk your life for it, is not really worth it. But I have to admit, freezing enemies is quite cool.27th of June, 1312: I'm finally out of the dwarf city. Those little punks were a pain in the butt. They sure are ugly, they have riddiculously huge feet, and they sound funny. But at least I picked up some bigger weapons along the way! This huge, blood-stained hammer sure is mighty satisfying to carry and swing around. And I got this nifty suit of viking armor as well. I've started to notice at this point that all I do nowadays is fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, pull a switch, fight, fight, jump, jump, fight, and fight. But at least the scenery changes a lot, so I never get bored exploring the enviornment. And I still get to fight zombies!28th of June, 1312: I think this will be my last entry. That punk Conrack is down here somewhere...I can feel it. And it helped that Odin appeared and told me that. I have to hunt him down, and take him out. But...it's creepy down here. There are lots of zombies, but they're changing. Getting bigger...stronger...more demonic. And that laughter...I'm not sure what lies before me. I've gotten all the weapons that i'll find on my quest. And the last ones have been huge. That dwarf battle axe, in paticular, is so large I can barely lift it, let alone swing it. Overall, it's been a fun, hack and slash quest. I'm so glad I haven't had to push any boxes, just have to flip switches and jump a lot. If Odin gave me the chance, i'd gladly go on this quest again. It's a lot of fun. But my destiny calls me. I must continue onwards. The laughter is getting louder, and my heart is beating faster with fear. I must press on...

oh boy. another game of killing monsters and finding levers. why was this game even made? did they think the world needed a few more sewer levels? a few more lava jumping puzzles?i really fail to see how killing giant crabs and oompa loompas can be considered any kind of plotline. oh, you're on a quest to stop the villain! what game isn't about that? there is no plot manifestation (of what little story exists) during the gameplay at all. every level is the exact same thing, and it NEVER ENDS. oh look, another cave! i sure hope it has some zombies and levers... you know, for a change.if you like long, repetitive, and completely linear, secretless, plotless games with just levers and stupid AI, then buy this game. judging from the other reviews here, you'll probably think it was the most wonderful and creative game ever made, anyway. i might've enjoyed it if i were five years old and this was the first game i'd ever played, but after game upon game of the same damned thing, there's no way i could ever give this a better score.

i am NOT impressed by gathering of developers, ....storyline & graphics are cool, and all the keyboard controls are not too bad when you get used to them or adjust them - there are a lot- but it seems like a deadend. You walk into a corner of the village and have to back-track. Wish he could jump over some of the stuff. Pretty narrow constraints. You get stuck in a cave after you are brought back from death and there is a neat waterfall too high to jump to and nota clue what to do or where to go, so you wonder around in circles til you give up. Sad. Tha's level 1. This is another game that is impossible to play without many free days to figure out 1 puzzle, or it is in need of a game walkhru to get past level 1. Tragic. Though it may be a lot of great fun [with a walk-thru / or some kind of cheatsbook/guidebook, full of pointers/ tips & directions to assist you]. ...Nice music score and viking theme, weapons, combat, and cutscenes though. Graphics are nice too. I wish someone would tell me what i am supposed to do & how to do it.