First 50:
51. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PC)(FPS)
52. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (PC)(FPS)53. 9:05 (PC)(Text Adventure)54. Mercenary Kings (PC)(Run and Gun)55. Super Pinball: Behind the Mask (SNES)(Pinball)56. Pinocchio (SNES)(Platformer)57. Iron Brigade (PC)(Tower Defense/TPS)
58. Iron Brigade: Rise of the Martian Bear (PC)(Tower Defense/TPS)59. Anachronox (PC)(RPG)60. Banished (PC)(Strategy)61. Rune (PC)(Action)Tonight I dine in Valhalla.
Rune is a third-person action game released by Human Head Studios in 2000 which combines a view of Norse mythology, hack-and-slash inspired combat, 3D platforming, and excessive violence in a modified version of the Unreal Engine. The player takes on the role of Ragnar, the last of the Odinsblade, after his fellow villagers are slaughtered and their longboat sunk by the treacherous Conrack using the power of Loki. Odin keeps Ragnar alive and has him swim to safety in an underwater cave, ordering him to make it back to the surface to confront Conrack. What follows is a surprisingly extensive journey where Ragnar faces hordes of goblins, the undead, dwarves, Conrack's soldiers, and eventually Loki's mutated army of dishonored souls. The levels fly by though, and they work to form one long continuous trip through the underworld, caves, snowy mountains, hidden fortresses, and eventually to the chamber that holds Loki and the last of Odin's runestones keeping Loki prisoner.
Really though, if you're interested in this game, it's less because of the platforming and more for the combat. And there is a lot of combat. A LOT OF COMBAT. It's the real meat of the game, much more so than the puzzles and platforming aspects. To fight, you have to wield a weapon, which you will most likely gather off of a fallen enemy. There are three weapon classes: sword, axe, and mace. Each weapon class has five weapons contained in it, the first three of which are one-handed while the last two are two-handed, meaning you cannot also carry a shield that you have pried from the cold, dead hands of your enemies. Each weapon has variable speed and power, usually ranging from lighter weapons doing less damage to heavier, slower weapons which take a wind up but then easily fell an enemy. A few weapons change your stance, resulting in your shield position changing. Weapons also vary in sizes, changing your effective range. While generally speaking I found bigger to be better for my playstyle, I cannot deny that nearly every weapon in your repertoire remains useful and balanced.
Weapons also have magical abilities associated with them, which are powered through runes. Each weapon's ability is unique to that weapon, so the lightweight Roman Sword does something very different from the Viking Sword which might necessitate its use in certain player's combat styles. Typically I did my best to not rely on rune powers to win, but that is how I preferred to play the game; your mileage may vary, but all weapons are worth experimenting with to get a feel for whether you like it. We're still not done yet either, as every weapon in the game can be thrown at your opponent to do damage from afar, quickly shatter a shield, or possibly slow the enemies in their tracks. A thrown weapon is dropped from your inventory, but you can easily pick it back up or replace it with another weapon of the same type further down the line.
If you want more defensive options, shields can be grabbed off the ground, off the walls, off weapon racks or looted from corpses, but these can only be used alongside certain weapon classes, and they vary in durability and size. Shields offer a nice passive defense on whichever side it is found on, but look out, that durability wears out! Once your shield breaks, it's gone, and you have to go find a new one to replace it, which might be tough because you can just as easily break an opponent's shield too.
In combat your weapons typically only have a handful of attacks, but some attacks can be linked in combos, and different weapons may offer different attacks depending on how you are moving. Running side to side with a sword will cause you to swing side to side; this became my bread and butter, as I would dash past opponents to get in a quick slice and dance out of range or occasionally decapitate an enemy. Yes, you can decapitate and dismember enemies. Even better, you can think pick up their severed limbs or heads to use as crude weapons. A dwarf pissing you off? Lob off his buddy's head and chuck it at him. If you really don't like someone, you can also rip the torches off the walls and light people on fire or trick them into wandering into the myriad of traps and pits. Hey, the world is your oyster, and it tastes of saltwater and sweet, sweet murder.
How does it compare to the likes of
Die by the Sword? Well, it doesn't have nearly the amount of options for weapon strikes, but Rune gets things incredibly right. Once you have your style down, you have it, and woe be to anything standing in your way. That's not to say the enemies are slouches however, and they will often through curve balls to keep you on your toes or attack en masse. Some of them are terrifyingly mobile or do massive amounts of damage, and even a single goblin can do damage to an unwary player. But you're not unwary, are you? No, you're playing this so you can bathe in blood and entrails.
Overall I enjoyed Rune. I enjoyed Rune a lot. Once you get the hang of things, it feels really good to play. It kicked my butt for a while, but I learned and soon gave as good as I got to the roving hordes of men and monsters. To add a tiny bit of replayability, you can even make a choice in the very last level to aid either Odin or Loki, though the Loki end is most definitely the bad end. Do you want to walk the rainbow road into Valhalla or be crucified next to the mad god in his earthly prison?
Seriously, I liked it so much, my girlfriend demanded I stop making decapitation jokes. I told her that was no way to get ahead in life. She refused to talk to me for an hour afterward.