Beowulf, possibly the first instance of epic fantasy fiction ever created, is making its debut on movie and video game screens simultaneously later this year. The movie is computer generated, and directed by Robert Zemeckis who brought us Back to the Future, and Forrest Gump. Having a script written by Neil Gaiman, author of Neverwhere and American Gods, makes it likely the movie will be better than average. The game is being created simultaneously by Ubisoft for the PC, X-360, and PS3. Multiplayer is not something included, instead the game is focusing on a status system akin to the one from Civilization, where you influence the loyalty an happiness of your people.

Usally games based on movies suck, but this one may be different. Ubisoft is developing it in parallel with the movie instead of taking all their cues from the finished film. "We were very much inspired by the Norse gods and that kind of stuff from that time. But it's completely independent from the movie or from the poem itself." is how it was described by game manager Adrian Lacey. He went on to describe some fun sounding mechanics that could add up to a very entertaining game.

The quote that stuck with me most was this one. "In the old days Vikings used to take mushrooms and stuff before they went into battle and then they went into this blind rage. Crazy but true. And so we wanted to give that visceral side........The danger of this is that you can also decimate your own men because of this blind rage......So if you're swinging a sword around and one of your guys is next to you you'll take him out quickly." Pretty sick huh? The game awards you either "heroic" points or "carnal" points depending on how you treat your followers and how vicious you are in battle. The way you play will determine your legacy as either a tactical wise king or as a crazed berzerker. It sounds like the game will certainly be worth playing though at least two times to experience both paths of progression.