'Rune: Ragnarok' gameplay news: Trailer released for upcoming Norse mythology game

Promotional art for "Rune: Ragnarok"Rune: Ragnarok

"Rune: Ragnarok" is getting ready to take players to Valhalla, as the upcoming Norse mythology role-playing game (RPG) has just had its alpha version released, along with a trailer.

Human Head Studios, the developer of "Rune: Ragnarok" is proud to present their belated sequel to the year 2000's "Rune" game. For those unfamiliar, the predecessor was about a malevolent Loki who sought to unleash Ragnarok (Norse apocalypse) and his foster father and chief Norse god Odin seeking to stop him. Apparently, 17 years later, Loki has succeeded, prompting the players to work for one of the Norse gods to stop him.

As such, players will be able to pledge their allegiance to a Norse god of their choice, including Odin, Thor, Heimdall, Freyr, Tyr, and many others, perhaps excluding Loki since he is the antagonist despite being a Norse god. Moreover, in "Rune: Ragnarok," gods, humans, beasts, and other odd Norse creatures will band together to stave off or stop the apocalypse and defeat Loki.

Those who are fans of the recent Marvel movies might find the setting quite familiar since Thor and Loki from Marvel was based on the same gods from the Norse mythology. That said, it seems the game will follow the source material more closely than Marvel since it involves Vikings and a more accurate time period.

The game has then entered its alpha version, meaning it is now ripe for testing and may soon proceed gradually to the beta phase which will welcome more players for gameplay, stability and performance tests. No gameplay videos have been made available yet, so players will have to wait for developer progress to see what the game looks like in action.

With that said, the game's successor, "Rune" was primarily a third-person action game, meaning "Ragnarok" might follow suit and also feature a similar combat mechanic and perspective.