I crept into the stronghold; stealth killed the guard behind the fence and then lay in wait. Slowly I picked off the nearby Legion, using up all my throwing axes and fire pots. When the crowd had thinned I snuck into the shadows and started battling the remaining minions until the Champion spotted me and the real fight began. I was of course victorious, but it was a tough battle as lesser enemies kept running over the bridge and ruining my momentum. After lapping up the health and recuperating myself to a full bar of energy, I was ready to cross the bridge and battle the second champion.

Again the lesser Legion were tripping me up and hitting me from behind as I dodged the wide swings of my larger foe. I fought hard and came away with my life and pride in tact, the beast felled. I blended into the shadows and progressed up the hill towards the glowing red stones. I stealth killed another few men but made an almost fatal error by alerting a horn blower to my presence. Before I knew it the undergrowth was swarming with Legion and I was forced to unleash my elemental power. Electrifying the hoard with my lighting attack, I cleared my path and made it over the wooden bridge to the red ley stones.

However, nothing happened. My gem did not charge as it had before, and the ley stones appeared to be a Legion spawn point giving me a stream of enemies that finally got the better of me and I died, game over. I opted to try again (because quitting is for losers) only to find that the last auto save had been outside the stronghold. Not at a sensible point like right after killing the two champions, or at the crossing of the wooden bridge, oh no. I was faced with killing a while camp of Legion all over again.

Auto save games make me sad.  And I am of course referring to the videogame Viking - Battle for Asgard.

Gone are the good old days of no saves at all (you knew where you stood with that one) or just hitting save whenever you felt like it. Some say this makes games too easy, but at least you don’t have to put up with the sometimes moronic save choices of the game’s developers.  How many times have you played a game that auto saved you too late, or right before a really annoying cut scene that you had to re-watch each time you died?

I demand a rethink of save games. There must be a better way in this next gen age of wonder consoles. Why are we putting up with this lack of freedom?