Lovers of Norwegian legends are in for a treat with the release of Rune soon upon us. Armed with weapons of slashing and bashing variety, instead of the typical 3D shooter guns, you are challenged with a new and fresh type of combat style. Personally, I am bored of the standard go-around-and-blow-shit-up type games and a refreshing 3D "shooter" is needed. Rune has answered my prayers.
You take on the role of Ragnar, a young warrior who is sworn in as a protector the Rune Stone, a stone which marks the power of the Viking god Odin. No sooner has the ceremony finish when you and your Viking buddies are called to arms to assist a neighboring village, which is under attack. From here on in things take a turn for the worse (which I won't spoil for you), and you end up the last remaining warrior from your village. You're packin' a full can'o revenge with someone's name on it, better go deliver it in person.
Human Head spent a great deal of time working on the little things, that when added together make the atmosphere incredibly immersive. Plants will sway when you brush past them, pebbles fall as you walk around in the ruins, and there are all kinds of non-harmful creatures throughout the land. Rune has a life that most games seem to miss nowadays. The underground streams are filled with aquatic life and plants, that make you feel like you are truly in an underwater environment. The animations are full of detail and life, which all adds to the atmosphere. Human Head, have used the Unreal engine to its full potential, have created probably the richest ambiance I have ever seen in a game.
Lately the multiplayer action game has been king, and not since Half-Life have we seen a game with such strong single player gameplay, until now, as Rune has gameplay by the bucket load...and then some. There's plenty of NPC interaction and cut-scenes that move the story along nicely.
The creatures that stalk you in the game are lacking in the beginning. Fighting giant beetles and plants is not what I call thrilling, but as with all games, the action hots up the further you get into the game. Later on you will face harder and more ferocious creatures, like the Undead that will not die until their heads are cut off (which isn't as easy as it sounds).
The amount of effort that has been put into the level design/architecture is stunning, and is some of the best I've seen. There are no simple blast-through areas (or in this case, no swing-your-weapons-madly-through-the-levels gameplay). With vines to climb, and walls to scale, and slopes to slide, there is always enough variety to keep you interested. Human Head have certainly put a lot of effort into make Rune an extremely memorable game.
Multiplayer is a treat for those who wish to fight in the way of the Viking. During my time spent playing Deathmatch, I was treated to sword-to-sword combat, something that hasn't really been explored since LucasArt's Jedi Knight with it's "Saber Only" battles. The scoring system is similar to the standard we have all seen before. I wish in the Multiplayer version it would be possible to pick up weapons by just running over them instead of having to pick them, but this gives an extra sense of realism to the gameplay. This allowed a lot of easy kills while people were picking up items to use in battle.
The thing I did not like was the level layout of the Deathmatch maps. They seem to be very standard with the same look and feel that I've played a hundred times before. I was hoping for something a little more like the single player caves, though conversely modem players would not be able to handle the wide open spaces that are used sometimes in these maps. Some maps for low pinging folks would be something that level designers should consider. This would allow for more complicated maps and more interesting battles between players.
The player who likes the challenge of bot AI will be disappointed; no bots were included in the release. It remains to seen, though, if Human Head will do an add-on and include them or if the community itself will develop them.
What you feel while playing Rune is simple: awe. Awe that a game with this caliber of gameplay actually exists. With the 3D community becoming quite multiplayer focused, Rune waves the flag for quality and engrossing single player games. I can't wait to see what Human Head have planned for their next title.
