I read books you know. No, not the ones with lift-up flaps or more pictures than words, but full-blown I’m-a-big-boy-now books. I’m sure on the whole this isn’t that much of an anomaly in our industry. Playing games all day can leave you with a fierce need to unplug. Even us “Ninja” types.

One setting that always draws a grin is that of the ‘big feast’. A lot of fantasy settings will feature this at one point or another – the group goes out to, oh I don’t know, kill, maim, debauch (not a word you can bring up in conversation easily) and then all head back for a slap-up meal at some local castle or other. I think in general it’s that simplicity of life, the ability to put everything into a neat little box, that appeals – they go out, they fight, they come back and eat and drink until they pass-out and then do it all again the next day. Great.

Of course, for the Vikings they had the idea of Valhalla on their side, a better place to go after death to eternally feast their way towards a big fight in the sky on the side of the Gods. So, I imagine with that in mind, most Vikings would eagerly rush into battle to die for honour and reserve their spot to share in the Heavenly food-fight and big women extravaganza. All you can eat.

Our story starts, although doesn’t progress much beyond, a war being raged in Asgard, the realms of the Norse Gods. The battle has been getting worse and spilling over to the mortal world of Midgard. Freya, Goddess of war chooses our hero called Skarin to help defend Midgard from an ever-increasing population of ex-cast extras from Lord of the Rings sent to mix things up by hereditary mischief maker Hel, daughter of Loki.

Hel hopes to unleash Fenrir, the wolf-god in attempt to kick off Ragnarok, the Vikings fabled apocalyptic battle that will wipe out Asgard and most of the universe with it. As you can no doubt appreciate, you hope to stop this unbelievably selfish act and kick some ass Viking-style.

Viking: Battle for Asgard is a 3rd-Person hack-and-slash adventure with a splash of RPG elements. Not, in saying that, in your usual levelling up way, but more the bits and bobs you can buy and how you make your way around Midgard. The game allows you to roam around 3 separate islands as you progress. The main aim is to help your fellow Vikings as they find themselves in all sorts of bother from one town to the next. After you’ve amassed a big enough army, even getting the option to add a dragon or 2 to the throng, you’ll end it all in what is one of the biggest features of the game – an epic battle of epic proportions. That’s right ladies and gentlemen - watch as your framerate cries as hundreds of enemies kick it out to the death. Some nice animations on both sides mind you and a smidgen of strategy involved as you get to call down your dragons to rain fiery death. Woo!

As Skarin roams around the villages, liberating Vikings on the way through stealth or courage, more and more of the map will become Viking controlled. As this happens, and more facilities become available to him, the map becomes easier to not only traverse without complication, but additionally by way of teleportation Leystones dotted around the isle. These upgrades and additions can also help turn the tide of the showdown you’ll face at the end of the map. Skarin can also upgrade his magical abilities and health through the village shop. Which is nice. When you use magic you’re effectively imbuing your blade with fire, ice or electricity. This however, felt a little tacked on to the main combat system and while you’re roaming around the lands swatting orcs and such, it’s not really as useful as during the big battles you can pass this ability to all of your allies within a radius.

Here ends the RPG element of the game as such. You move from one village or facility, liberating as you go, turning the map into your control and having a big fight at the end. So, what of the combat system? Well, it’s pretty basic in an arcade kind of way. You have a light attack and a heavy attack which you can use to perform a few limited combos, more of which can be added by going to an arena and talking to a ghost (never said the guy was sane did I?). The moves you can learn range from ones you can do while sneaking around to perform and instant kill, or heavy duty moves for smashing an enemies shield to bits. One of the main combat features is when the health of your enemy drops low enough, your Viking chum will usually sever a limb from his foe upon which you’ll get to perform a finishing move. Doing this, although repeatative as hell with limited animations, will award you more than the usual magic orbs to collect.

The guys at Creative Assembly have done a nice job with the environment, although I imagine the game was designed to be played at it’s best on the 360 rather than PS3 by the way it looks and the effects used. Still, it runs rather well even when there are a bajillion enemies on the screen at the same time. In fact it’s probably only the large end of map battles that slow it down at all. Hell, maybe it’s all down to the sheer amount of limbs you can hack off in this game. Seriously, it’s crazy the number of games that go for the whole God of War approach to gore and combat.

Another point to go over is the whole free-roaming bit. These days we’ve got used to free-roaming meaning a bit more. That being able to wander around a map, ambling over terrain, can be much more interactive. Viking doesn’t do that bad a job of letting you approach a target in more than one way, but that’s tied to specific locations you can jump onto or climb up. This can lead to confusion later on as you try and make your way through a town, or even into one, and see something you think you can hop over and can’t. Not to mention that most of what you think should be optional missions are mandatory, and the option is not if you do them but when you do them. By the 3rd map you’ll just run in killing everything, particularly if you’ve learnt the counter by this point, as that’ll pretty much kill anything in one hit.

This game could get its tackle out and proudly hang around in the arcade with it’s other simple-to-play friends and no one would bat an eyelid. That’s certainly one thing that has brought me back to play it passed the 3 crashes I experienced (while saving. People. Please. Do you know how nerve racking that is?), falling through the environment twice and a few graphical glitches for good measures. Yeah, this game has more bugs than a KGB conference, but it’s still pretty enjoyable when it’s up and running.

Viking’s dropped some serious points for the fact I kept breaking it. However, if you can look past these issues and get to grips with the game you should find something to enjoy, even with a lack of multiplayer to hack-and-slash with your mates. Oh well.