Nearly two decades after the original release of Rune a sequel was finally inflicted upon the world. Rune II was considered a blight upon humanity, however, something that was so universally reviled it was deemed an insult to its ancient predecessor. The legends surrounding Rune II state that development was so nightmarish the original development abandoned and sabotaged its release, bringing the allegedly awful shell of a game into the world in 2019. The details of such claims have been lost to antiquity, and like many legends the truth surrounding them is debatable. But after that a new team took development, to right this terrible wrong. The new team rebuilt and retweaked many aspects in an effort to forge a new game from what existed before as Rune II: Decapitation Edition.

The phrase polishing a turd is rarely used in my journalism, but from reading some of the reviews of the 2019 release of Rune II, that's what Studio 369 was tasked with when they took on this project. For full disclosure, I never actually played the 2019 Rune II. I do know it was universally panned by consumers and critics alike, but I don't have the baseline experience to comment on how good a job was done in rebuilding the game. So in this case the game is being judged on its own merits and experience in playing Decapitation Edition, with the knowledge that whatever existed before was objectively worse from all other accounts.

Rune II: Decapitation Edition begins with Heimdall calling forth a Viking warrior (aka the player) to stop Loki, because it's always Loki who is up to no good. Loki's current nefarious plot is to create a never-ending cycle of Ragnarok on Midgard that only the player can prevent. The player creation aspect of things is nothing too complex, but the streamlined approach does fit the action-oriented nature of the title. The character stats are the basic strength, dexterity, wisdom and constitution and of course the player needs to style the Viking hair and beard.

One of the major complaints about the original launch of Rune II is there wasn't much of a narrative to speak of. Decapitation Edition introduces a new storyline that includes new characters, quests and a completely new ending sequence to properly send this saga to Valhalla. The campaign includes new dungeons of Midgard and a skill tree based on four different paths based on different gods. The player will need to serve a god to serve, either Odin, Hel, Thor or to remain a godless Heathen. The campaign can be played in co-op mode, which is the best way to experience this title, and it's filled with a village system with destructible events. Also, fair warning that it's possible to kill yourself or your friends by having a felled tree land on them.

The world of Rune II: Decapitation Edition is one that's asking the player to freely explore. There are interesting treasures and rewards to be found when deviating from the beaten path. The NPC cast is fully voice acted, which is a mixed blessing as this is not one of the better examples of video game spoken dialogue. The quests do help guide the player to the eventually undoing of Loki and his evil plan, but most of these quests aren't fleshed out, mainly providing context to guide the player to a certain point to kill something or acquire something.

The gameplay of Rune II: Decapitation Edition is the Viking lifestyle in its purest form: killing and looting. Sure, there are different skills that are associated with each of the different god alignments, but in reality the reason to play Rune II: Decapitation Edition is to loot and kill. Playing by yourself isn't too exciting but with a friend pillaging the Scandinavian landscape can be a good time. The combat animations pull no punches when it comes to showing off how visceral combat can be with limb amputations and decapitations. It's a bloodbath but a fun one. Also, while I'm told it started out as a glitch but remained in the game because it amused the developers, cutting down a tree for the purpose of killing your ally is one of the single most fun and terrible things to do in this game. If the story of how it was included is true it really is a happy accident.

Technically Rune II: Decapitation Edition gets mixed reviews. Visually I personally enjoyed how it looks, combining the retro feel of the early 2000s game with modern enhancements. The graphics aren't triple A quality, but given what Studio 369 had to work with they did make a game that was aesthetically pleasing. The voice acting is of inconsistent quality, with some being decent and other parts being terrible, but this isn't a game where dialogue is the main focus. Players have the option to play with mouse and keyboard or gamepad, and even though this is the type of game where a gamepad feels more natural, the mouse and keyboard seem better optimized for it. There quite a few bugs like surface textures glitching out or hit detection not working out right. Jump controls in particular leave something to be desired, but hopefully these are also user complaints that the dev team takes note of and can fix with future patches.

Closing Comments:

I wish I was able to play the original Rune II to see how bad it truly was and get a better sense of how much Rune II: Decapitation Edition improved it. At its core it's a fun Viking hack and slash looter, like a third-person Borderlands set in the Viking age. It doesn't achieve true greatness as it stands, with the technical issues not helping matters. But those aside, Rune II: Decapitation Edition is a fun, accessible game that's better with friends, with potential to improve with future patching. The degree Studio 369 has improved the game isn't something that can be personally ascertained, but it can faithfully be said that they did turn it into a game that's not without its issues, but one where a good time can be found.