Next week, Human Head Studios will release Rune, its long-awaited game based on Norse mythology.  A few weeks ago the company invited a group of game journalists to its Madison, Wisconsin office to take a look at the game before it went gold.

Flying out to take a look at Rune was a bit of an undertaking, particularly since the Madison airport is more of a mid-sized commuter airport than one capable of bringing in larger planes.  Madison is a college down filled with countryside.  It's not the place you'd expect to find a developer of a game with such Gothic elements – but then again, rumor has it that much of the population is of Scandinavian descent. 

The Human Head offices are located in the basement level of a small, two-story office complex.  The studios take up the whole lower level and host an open atmosphere despite the fact that the space is intended to be a few small offices occupied by different companies.  A test area for a demo of Rune was set up so the team could show off the near-final version of the game.

Drawing from Norse and Viking mythology, Rune is poised to become both a compelling story to play through and also an addictive deathmatch experience with hand-to-hand combat using a big axe or the broadsword.   In this adventure players assume the role of a character named Ragnar and travel to places around the region including Hel, a section of one of the Viking lands of the dead and Thorstadt, a fortress city of the Dark Vikings that haunt the game.

Painstaking Detail
Rune’s mythical Nordic setting makes great use of the Unreal Tournament engine.  The setting and characters have been well rendered to portray Norse mythology, a result of painstaking research on the part of the development team.  “We used historical source and mythological sources," explained Timothy Gerritsen, Human Head's business manager, "[but] Rune is an action game – it's not the Discovery Channel – so we have to keep it fun and interesting."

Based on what we saw in Gerritsen's demo, the game does get off to a fun and interesting start because it is not bogged down with training levels and puzzles.  While players can learn skills in the village there isn't a group of separate "training center" levels found in far too many of today's games.  Additional features include swimming, climbing and even the ability to hide in mid-size trees to avoid confrontations with enemies.

Throughout the game Ragnar interacts and fights with a variety of characters. Norse gods play heavily into storyline.  Project manager Gerritsen enjoys the interaction with the gods and what they add to the game: “These gods have the same petty foibles that man have, so they are always bickering and fighting and have their own plots and schemes.  You are sort of caught in the middle of it all at the beginning of the game.”

Multiplayer Melee
In addition to the single player component, Rune features multiplayer capabilities that will be enhanced with new maps and multiplayer modes after the game's release.  The current multiplayer mode has a melee-like feel which de-emphasizes projectile weapons in favor of a selection of axes, swords and maces to use against foes.  As one would suspect, mythological rune powers are included as well.  Players can enhance their weapons with powers like a deadly lightening bolt and a vampire power can drain energy from enemies in Ragnar's vicinity. 

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