A hugely entertaining game that has been sadly maligned.

User Rating: 8.6 | Rune PC
By ziegd | Review Date:
Coming on the heels of the Half Life's, SIN's, Quake's and Unreal's of the game world, this choice morsel was quickly dismissed in favor of bigger guns, badder explosions, alien invasions, yada yada yada. And that is truly unfortunate, for this little gem of a game offers up a delightful turn away from the super marine path and takes the player on a mystical journey into Norse mythology. But don't let the word "delightful" mislead you; I use that term because, for me, it sums up the pleasures of leaving high tech weapons and machinery behind at a time when the market was glutted with those elements. Rune is an intriguing diversion, but it is far from light-hearted. Indeed, much of the game is quite dark and foreboding, as the hero (you) sets off on a quest to avert Ragnarok (read, "end of the world"). Your journey will take you from dark caverns, to snow swept mountains, thru green forests, and finally into the Underworld itself. Along the way you'll encounter everything imaginable from the pages of Norse mythology, and then some. Vikings, trolls, goblins, dwarfs, snowbeasts, cave crabs, the undead...even Loki himself will try to bring your quest to an end. Game-play, sound, graphics are all enjoyable, even by today's standards. And those critics who blasted the melee combat mechanics as "simple" obviously never spent any time on one of the multi-player servers, where a small but fiercely loyal community of individuals and clansmen regularly meet for some of the most entertaining on-line play I have ever experienced.

Ordinariliy, I wouldn't bother to write a review for a game this old, but when I saw what a disservice the "expert" critics had done to this jewel, I had to speak up. Granted, it's not everyone's cup of grog, but if you can find a copy, it's easily worth the bargain bin prices I'm sure it retails for today.

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