Rune II Reviews
Rune II: Decapitation Edition is an entirely new game rather than just an update of last year's release. It may look like it's competing with Assassin's Creed: Valhalla for your Viking gaming time but it is a very different experience. At its best in co-operative multiplayer, Rune II is a throwback to the chaotic and brutal combat of early third person ARPGs and offers a blood-soaked alternative to the clinical and focus-grouped approach of many games. So gather a band of your most loyal friends and prepare to set sail – this Ragnarok isn't going to end itself.
Rune II lacks the imagination, experimentation and fleshed out mechanics that would have made stomping through the Viking end times a fun experience.
19 years in the making, Rune II comes as a massive disappointment to fans of the original.
The bland monotony of Rune II removes the majority of fun from an otherwise exciting premise. There is a slim chance that problems can be fixed and more can be added, but don't hold your breath.
Rune 2 is an impressive game that has a lot to offer casual and RPG fans. With its simplistic inventory and crafting system, it's easy for players to grasp. It often feels like a bunch of stories and ideas packed together to attempt to make a cohesive story. Along with the bugs and glitches, it was hard to get a consistent feeling of where the game wanted to go. Maybe with a few updates the game will offer a more consistent experience.
Very bad farewell from Human Head Studios and massive disappointment for Rune fans.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Calling this game unpolished would be an understatement (in many ways, it’s outright broken), but the story is filled with enough absurd turns to work as a semi-comedic adventure, and the mechanics blend several genres together into something enjoyably old-school. Rune II: Decapitation Edition took its lemons and made lemonade.
Without having played the original RUNE II at launch last year, I lack the understanding of the state that game was in. RUNE II: Decapitation Edition appears to be an improvement in just about every aspect. This game suffers from standard open-world problems like repetitive quest design, uneven visuals, and stiff dialogue; some of these things I suspect can’t be helped or fixed. For what issues remain, they don’t detract from the fact that I’m constantly booting up RUNE II: Decapitation Edition to begin the next quest. It can be a bit mindless, but it’s not aimless. I think it’s safe to say that RUNE II: Decapitation Edition has been saved from its own destruction by some passionate developers, and it delivers an enjoyable open-world RPG that has some rough edges, and should be given another chance at life.
RUNE II lacks the wow factor to be a serious contender in most Game of the Year lists, but that does not mean it should be overlooked. The game is solid and dependable, its faults never quite enough to sink it. Moreover, Human Head should be celebrated for daring to take a different approach to its open world. Where many games try to drive engagement through more quests, more distractions, more collectibles, more everything, RUNE II pares that drive back to its bare essentials. The result is a game that successfully walks the tightrope between appealing to the linearity-loving traditionalists, fans of sprawling RPGS, and the adherents of Minecraft’s make-your-own-adventure style of play.