Amazon.com Review
Combine the
Unreal Tournament 3-D engine with hard-nosed Viking melee combat and what do you get? You get
Rune, an epic third-person action game from Human Head Studios. You take on the role of Ragnar, a young warrior spared from death by Odin but who must fight his own way up from the underworld to defend his village and exact revenge upon the dark Vikings who killed his father.
Set in grim, exceptionally well-designed environments ranging from ancient crypts full of undead warriors to a towering mechanical Dwarven city, Rune mixes typical first-person shooter gameplay with the rigors of close-quarter melee combat. Instead of the shotguns and rocket launchers you've mastered in other games, you will find yourself armed only with an array of swords, hammers, and axes in Rune. Combat with these weapons is very different--and very challenging, particularly in the game's latter levels and against multiple opponents.
The graphics in Rune are excellent, with an exceptional attention to detail on just about every level. The lighting is very well done and so are the sound effects used throughout the game. The music is suitably heroic, though it plays too infrequently and loops too quickly. Overall, the game does a marvelous job of setting the mood for head-smashing Viking combat. There are even some nifty gameplay twists that keep you in the proper frame of mind. When you're wounded, for example, you can drink mead, scarf down a leg of mutton, or grab and eat a lizard off any nearby wall to gain some health back. And when Ragnar is done drinking his mead, he smashes the cup on the floor. He deals with crates, barrels, and many doors in his path the same way.
While the single-player game is outstanding--and features one of the flat-out coolest game-won reward sequences ever--the multiplayer action is where you can really test your sword-fighting skills. Although the game includes 43 single-player levels and only seven multiplayer maps, Rune has proven to be quite popular online, with up to 16 players going at it in wild melee combat.
The only disappointment in Rune may be the fact that it does not offer any computer-controlled bots for solo deathmatch play. Even without the bots, Rune is easily one of the year's top games in any genre and an intense epic that no action fan should be without. --Michael Ryan
Pros:
- Intense melee action using the Unreal Tournament engine
- Epic story line set in the land of Vikings and Nordic mythology
- Excellent level design, with impressive attention to detail
- Great graphics, sound, and music
Cons: - An occasional AI flaw will halt action on some levels
- No bots for multiplayer mode
Product Description
This third-person action/adventure game is steeped in Norse mythology. Players assume the role of Ragnar the Viking, mightiest warrior of a bygone age. In an age when might makes right, it is Ragnar who doles out justice on the blade of his massive battle-axe. Players explore beautiful settings both above and below the mountains of the far north as Ragnar fights his way through several stunning and unique kingdoms to an ultimate confrontation with the Sark Amen, the shadowy warrior-masters of the netherworld.
Rune is a third-person perspective game of intense action and adventure steeped in a blend of Norse mythology and high fantasy. Players have to use their brains as well as their massive brawn to survive as they explore the fully 3D game world fighting off fantastic creatures from both Norse legend and the fertile minds of the Human Head staff with their array of swords, axes and magical devices.
The game focused on equal parts melee combat and exploration, with levels ranging from a Viking town to the caverns of the Dwarves to a city in the mountains. Players have access to a array of melee weapons based both in fact and fantasy as Ragnar delves deeper into the realms of myth and further from his old reality.
Rune included a full single-player game as well as several specially designed multiplayer levels that allow players to cooperate or compete as Ragnar or another Viking warrior. The multiplayer game also included special handicap and team modes to widen the multiplayer experience.
System Requirements: (MAC only)
- MAC OS 8.1
- PCI PowerMac (including IMac 2nd generation machine)
- Hardware Accelerated 3D video card (supporting OpenGL) - 6MB or better
- RAM: 64MB
- CD-ROM; 4x
- Disk Space: 400MB
- Supports Internet Connection (TCP/IP - 28.8Kbp)