If you can overlook the rather uninspiring terrain and forgive the occasionally quirky artificial intelligence, there's plenty here to hold your interest - at least until AOE 2 arrives later this year. And if you get bored of the campaign mode then you can always design your own levels using the easy-to-use map creator, or indulge in a little multiplayer action via a LAN.

With 60 different clans to fight and conquer, numerous alliances to forge and an expansive game world, there's plenty in the way of game play. The facility to zoom in on the action is a nice feature, as are the changing seasons, the implication of the Viking code of honour, and use of magic although some may find the interface a little complicated compared to that employed in AOE, which is simplicity itself. That said, there are heaps of characters to play with, including Vikings, dwarves, elves and trolls, and an abundance of detailed buildings to construct. Graphically it's not up to the standard of Microsoft's classic, and at times the 'modern' Celtic music is just plain comical. Set in the days when men wore skirts, grew lengthy beards and were judged by the size of their horns (on their helmets), SAGA: Rage Of The Vikings is a moderately entertaining if somewhat uninspired real-time strategy game that should appeal to fans of Age Of Empires, Warcraft II and Civilization. There are many different clans that you can deal with and fight so there is a fair bit of strategy at play, but the menu system in the game is a tad clunky. When you look at the reviews from when this game first came out that was the case then too. That is not to say it is bad, but it is just ok. The combat here is fun, but it plays it very safe and it is not all that exciting.

Fight!Īs this is a real time strategy game, most of what you will be doing is fighting. Still to be fair, Saga: Rage of the Vikings has a decent enough look and I liked how they allow you to zoom in and out of the action so you can get a better or worse look at the action. While the game has a “fantasy” element to it I never feel that they go all-in with this. As such, the origins of Denmark’s culture are tied in with the rest of Scandinavia with their unique Viking tradition in contrast to the rest of. Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe for trade, plundered, colonised the North Atlantic and established settlements. Ok is a major theme that is going to be part of every aspect I talk about when it comes to this game by the way! You have an isometric top down viewpoint and it works well enough. The Viking Age was a period embedded in the history of Denmark and Scandinavia. When it comes to the presentation of the game it is, let’s just say it is ok.

Vikings age of empires 2