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The atmosphere is what makes this game stand out. If you're used to Marvel's take on Norse mythology, you're going to be very disappointed. The universe presented here is nasty, creepy, and unforgiving. This is probably the first piece of media to portray dwarves as evil, disgusting, troll-like creatures, as opposed to the more common LOTR approach.
The gameplay is simple and responsive. Traversing levels never felt like a chore. Even though the levels are large and almost maze-like in their design, I never got lost, unlike in similar games from that era.
My biggest gripe would be with the combat and some of the enemies in the later stages of the game. Unlike traversal, combat can feel really clunky. It doesn't help that special abilities don't recharge and can only be replenished with scarce special runes. I actually didn't get a chance to try some of the abilities in the game because I was strapped for rune energy.
The sound design deserves a special mention. Just keep in mind that sound mixing is kind of broken on the PC. Be sure to download the OpenAL Soft patch for Rune classic for proper surround sound implementation.
I'd recommend this game to anyone interested in Norse mythology or just atmospheric games in general.
As always, if you're playing on the PC, be sure to check out the PCGamingWiki for important fixes.
The gameplay is simple and responsive. Traversing levels never felt like a chore. Even though the levels are large and almost maze-like in their design, I never got lost, unlike in similar games from that era.
My biggest gripe would be with the combat and some of the enemies in the later stages of the game. Unlike traversal, combat can feel really clunky. It doesn't help that special abilities don't recharge and can only be replenished with scarce special runes. I actually didn't get a chance to try some of the abilities in the game because I was strapped for rune energy.
The sound design deserves a special mention. Just keep in mind that sound mixing is kind of broken on the PC. Be sure to download the OpenAL Soft patch for Rune classic for proper surround sound implementation.
I'd recommend this game to anyone interested in Norse mythology or just atmospheric games in general.
As always, if you're playing on the PC, be sure to check out the PCGamingWiki for important fixes.
I went into this one completely blind and was not disappointed.
In most media Norse mythology is done fairly boring, but in Rune it definitely feels different. It felt like it managed to capture the grit and atmosphere of the mythos very well. Having played this, I wish the new God of War games would've dared to go more into the same direction, both in regards to the narrative and overall atmosphere.
The gameplay is solid and very responsive with each fight feeling visceral and intense. It also blew me away that a game from early 2000s had such solid platforming and swimming mechanics.
A few things that bothered me:
Many of the levels were too dark. This made finding the way to progress unnecessarily difficult. Also I would have preferred that the energy used for special abilities would've refilled overtime, rather than having to find runes in the world.
Really worth checking this one out, it still holds up very well!
In most media Norse mythology is done fairly boring, but in Rune it definitely feels different. It felt like it managed to capture the grit and atmosphere of the mythos very well. Having played this, I wish the new God of War games would've dared to go more into the same direction, both in regards to the narrative and overall atmosphere.
The gameplay is solid and very responsive with each fight feeling visceral and intense. It also blew me away that a game from early 2000s had such solid platforming and swimming mechanics.
A few things that bothered me:
Many of the levels were too dark. This made finding the way to progress unnecessarily difficult. Also I would have preferred that the energy used for special abilities would've refilled overtime, rather than having to find runes in the world.
Really worth checking this one out, it still holds up very well!