PlayStation 2

Rune

There is little reason for fans of Rune to check out Rune: Viking Warlord, except for the chance to battle their friends in the four-player split-screen modes. PlayStation 2 owners on the look out for an intense action adventure should definitely be entertained with the game for a while, though. Rune: Viking Warlord is a long, epic adventure that has a few problems here and there, but still stays entertaining.

Along with the explicit gore, which even goes so far as to allow you to decapitate a foe then use the head as a weapon, Rune’s graphical appeal is dark and decrepit, yet beautiful. Even though it doesn’t live up to expectations, Rune has a bewitching charm to it. Action fans will surely get into it, but as a whole, Rune truly is the personification of mediocrity.

If you are looking for a fun action game without a whole lot of story to get in the way of the bloodshed, Viking Warlord definitely delivers. If you are looking for a little more brains with your brawn, there are better alternatives. Personally, I would rent this game and play until I got bored.

A game that looks like it could have been put out on the PlayStation, with poor controls, zero character development and below par graphics, Rune is a hollow shell of what could have been a sleeper hit. Yes, it does have some redeeming qualities, but they pale in comparison to its major faults. If you must play this game, rent it first. But, I can’t really recommend that either.

Erkunde mit Deinem Protagonisten riesigen Welten und kämpfe gegen das Böse. Hm... hört sich nach nichts neuem an, aber dieser Held hats schon dick hinter den Ohren. Waffen sammeln, metzeln und aufpowern sind die Devise... irgend wann wird man selbst sogar zu einem Monster. Die Story wird mit der Zeit schon recht duster, und das Gefühl ein Wikinger zu sein kommt gut rüber. Auch die blutigen Kämpfe sind schon recht extrem... aber etwas störendes hat dieses Spiel. So ist es teilweise sehr schwierig, sich in den unübersichtlichen Welten zurecht zu finden. Richtig happig wirds, sobald man auf Tauchgang gehen muß. Etwas unspektakulär ist auch die Grafik... sehr eckig und schlicht, aber das ist Ansichtssache.

A solid game offering a twisting on the “Doom” genre of random destruction, but without the depth of “Halflife” or the intensity of “Quake”.

Un titre qui souffre d'une réalisation catastrophique et qui multiplie les éléments désagréables. On attend clairement mieux d'un jeu PS2, cette adaptation sur la console Sony n'est pas franchement à l'avantage d'un titre qui avait pourtant fait ses preuves sur PC.

By now, if you're too stupid to notice, this review is telling you to stay the hell away from Rune. It's one videogame that should've been cancelled, and Human Head needs to seriously get their act together if they want to survive in the console world. Featuring some of the blandest PS2 visuals, and a story that's about as boring as it could possibly be, Rune: Viking Warlord is one of those games, we'll all pretend never happened. It's a debacle from start to finish, even though I couldn't stand playing the game for more than 20 minutes. It just reeks of pre-first generation, and a rushed cash-in attempt, although I really don't see how a low-key PC title can really cash-in in the console world. I'm not the one to be saying this, but it needs to be said. A word of advice to Take-Two/Rockstar: try to stick with what you've got, successful formulas such as Midnight Club, Smuggler's Run and Grand Theft Auto. Let's not ruin a great image with flops such as City Crisis and Rune.

Rune: Viking Warlord is a big disappointment, a shoddy port that suffers due to both the limitations of its new platform and its technical pitfalls. We haven't seen too many PC-to-console ports lately, though with the upcoming release of the Xbox it's bound to happen. By Odin's blood, let's hope developers learn a lesson or two from Rune's mistakes.