Great Legends - Vikings

It’s not everyday you can be a God, particularly a mythical one of era’s gone by, but fortunately for us gamers we can become Odin in Great Legends – Vikings.

Well alright, no doubt a few of us are wondering who or what is/was Odin? Well basically he’s the head of the Viking Gods (and yes, he’s bigger than Thor, the God of Thunder).

In this 2-D beat-em-up in the style of old-school classic Double Dragon, you have to follow the story of Odin who turns himself into a human to rid the earth of various hideous goblins, orcs, giants, skeletons and many more with a selection of bosses of mythical proportion. The end of level bosses are pretty tough and will offer you a definite challenge, however most of these bad guys will only do one trick and it boils down to you ducking out of the way from their blows and getting close enough at the right time (when they’re open to attack) and give them a taste of your axe!

As you progress through the levels the monsters get tougher and more difficult to beat. For example, goblins pose little match but skeletons have a ranged attack (a colourful poisonous burp!) Other monsters are equipped with other attributes, like a shield to protect them from your blows and others have a powerful charging attack which you must try and dodge.

Your movements are pretty standard (up, down, left and right and action), as you progress you will be shown other fighting tactics and special moves which will assist you in your mission i.e. you can kick shielded monsters by double tapping the down button and headbutt other beasts by double tapping the up button. Other moves are spinning attack (which hits everyone if you’re surrounded), charge (double tap towards a monster) and grab (action and towards the opponent). Please note that you can only grab and hold only some monsters.

As you go along your way, you’ll find barrels which are worth smashing to see what treats are in store. You find gold which add to your overall score, steaks which replenishes some of your health and potion bottles which adds to your special powers. To trigger a special attack, simply hold down the action button and everyone on the screen (apart from you) gets hurt (and often killed).

This is a pretty entertaining game and if you like the classic style games in this genre then you’ll be in for a treat. If you’re after a little more skill and challenge then you have the option of changing the game to the higher levels of difficulty (there are three to choose from).

Not being a killjoy but I wondered why a God would bother go through all the disadvantages of being human when he could zap the bad guys and be done with it. But hey, mythical stories are always full of fallible creatures.

Rating 76%

Positives

Very retro and enjoyable

Quite challenging even on easier levels

Pretty good graphics and plot

Negatives

Controls aren’t as slick as I’d hope for but are simple

Fairly repetitive and no real diversity in the game

Your thumb could well fall off due to the excessive action presses to fight your enemy