I've always had a soft spot for slaying monsters with a controller in hand and a friend by my side. From Wizards of Wor on the Atari, to the original Gauntlet in arcades, to the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series on PlayStation 2, I've grown from simple hack-and-slash adventures to deep action-RPGs with extensive customization and juggling multiple combat skills.

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“ A rune system can alter your equipment's status like Final Fantasy VII's Materia.

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And now, Vikings – Wolves of Midgard enters the fray. It puts you in the sturdy boots of a viking (either the stronger male warrior or the faster female shieldmaiden) entrusted with defending the world against a race of ice demons who have been plunging the world into a deep freeze. Along the way, you'll rescue survivors to slowly repopulate a safe haven village with blacksmiths and merchants. It's just enough to capture your attention, but easy enough to tune out as you joke around and spout Lord of the Rings dialogue with an online partner.I was able to get a bit more of a grasp on the variety of combat in Vikings during a second run-through of this tundra with a giant two-handed sword. The shieldmaiden's attacks were slower, but enemies that took several swipes from the standard sword could be slain with just a single slice of the bigger blade. However, certain skills varied as I unlocked a new batch for the two-handed sword, as the dashing attack was replaced with a melee kick due to the lumbering weapon. As I concluded the demo I knew I was only scratching the icy surface when switching weapons as a trip through the hub world showed multiple options for armor and weaponry (like bows, magic staffs, and multiple blades), along with a rune system that can alter your equipment's status like Final Fantasy VII's Materia.I've long been searching for a dungeon crawler that mixes the fun multiplayer action of old-school Gauntlet while adding more modern action-RPG elements, and Vikings – Wolves of Midgard has a good chance at conquering my heart. If the online co-op can deliver the same thrills as early couch/arcade adventures and the combat variety can keep up after hours of time in battle, this could free us from the current ice age of hack-and-slash RPGs.

Dave Rudden talks about '80s and '90s pop culture on the Laser Time podcast. Tweet to him at @daverudden