TL;DR:
An underrated gem from my Xbox 360 days, but a sh!t PC port. Not worth at full price.
Previously played on Xbox 360. Unlike the console release, this port is atrocious AF! So many issue that it really needs to be updated by Hardlight or have modders patching the sh!t out of it.
Summary:
You play as Skarin in the Command of Freya, Goddess of War to stop Hela (NO! Not from F@#K!NG MARVEL, YOU CHILDREN!) from unleashing Ragnarok. Spoiler alert, Skarin ended up being betrayed by Freya because his wish to be in Valhalla was not granted.
Gameplay:
It's an action adventure game and a successor to Creative Assembly Spartan: Total Warrior from the old console. If you played that game, well it's kind of like that. A High-scale epic battle. You need to freed you fellow warriors from being held captive by Hela forces and freed them. Once you freed everyone, the WAR IS ON! Which took your Framerate f@#k!n harder.
Pros:
While a solid game, it features a large open world of Midgard, where you can freely explore it from doing quest to fighting enemies. The moveset is much more brutal and the upgrades are okay.
Cons:
Sheesh! A lot! So much that if you get this game on console, f@#k!n stay there! Don't go to PC. Doesn't matter if you have a high-end RTX 5090 or some sh!t, it's just a f@#k!n mess. Let me break it down a few issues I (and many) have suffered):
- Some traversal area can be confusing to access through. Like, you have to go to this large f@#k!n building just to retrieve an item to call your dragon. The reason why Yellowpaint exist, because it took me memory back that the vines are interactable. F@#k!n hell!
- Skarin moves f@#k!n slow. So, if you wanna get to A-to-B, you need to get used to how he runs. This also one of the things that took me memories back.
- When in an open battle, your framerate tanked so f@#k!n hard, that you can't play the game through sh!t! You'll get 16FPS and that's it! Deal with it!
- In-addition, if you get overwhelmed so much in the Open Battle, the game will crash. It did for me 3 times.
- The PC port is capped at an unstable 30FPS. Which means, your performance means f@#k all! Either use Loseless Scalling or DXVK from doitsujin/DXVK Sarek if your hardware aren't capable.
- There's a slight input delay when using both Keyboard & Wireless controller, so for gamepad, I recommend choose a Wired gamepad instead. Reason why is, while playing with Wireless controller, if your gamepad disconnect on it's own, you need to restart the game! Otherwise, it won't respond.
- Graphical feature is limited in the Config Launcher, so you're just gonna have to deal with it.
- Games has problems running on Windows 11. I have my friend tested this on his PC and there needs to be a few tweaks to get it running. Some find it helpful, others...not so much. This was a careless port from SEGA, which is a shame.
VERDICT:
I'm not saying Viking is a bad game. I enjoyed it on my Xbox 360 days. But good god! This PC port is f@#k!n awful! I only realizes this port exist is from a YouTuber name Camp Xbox. His vid, suddenly refresh my memory. After I saw the game exist on PC, I quickly get it on sale! But to my surprised, this Port...is a f@#k!n mess and I feel like it's not the same game I played from the Xbox 360.
My advice if you REALLY want to get it ON STEAM, Get it on SALE instead. Don't buy it on f@#k!n full price. Start getting used to it. If you're those people that can't stand 30FPS, well...this game is probably not for you, you sick f@#k.
If you still have the game on console, doesn't matter if it's Xbox 360 or PS3, STAY THERE! As for Emulation like RPCS3 (and likely Xenia), it's...not good. Basically, a friend of mine tried it and that the Text are gone and the game constantly froze after reaching the next location. So...not worth it. Play it on the System (if you still have one). Who knows, maybe Xbox Scarlet will re-open the Compatibility bullsh!t in the future.
6.5/10
To Modders:
Guys, we need you! Whoever you are! Sergey P./ThirteenAG/FusionFix, Silent/CookieMonsterPL....SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!
