I'll be honest; it's been a long time since I last played an action RPG, despite the recent flurry that have been hitting the retail shelves. It seems that developers still aren't quite done with the hack 'n' slash formula made popular by Blizzard's Diablo series all those years ago - and it's still as hard as ever not to draw clichéd comparisons.

This brings us to the latest such offering - Loki - which is being developed by an independent French studio that goes by the name of Cyanide (perhaps best known for its fantasy sports title Chaos League in 2004.) Loki allows the player to enter a fantasy world as one of four heroes, each drawn from a different mythological background, which although not overly original, does fit well within the style and feel of the game. They come in the form of a Norse fighter, a Greek warrior, an Egyptian magician and an Aztec shaman.

Binding these heroes is the game's main story, where Seth (the Egyptian god of darkness and evil for those who didn't know...) has returned from the kingdom of the dead, setting his newly amassed army the not-so-modest task of world domination. Yes, you guessed it - that's where we come in! You are probably thinking how generic the plot sounds - and quite frankly you aren't wrong. It can be said however that the proof is in the pudding when it comes to action RPGs; although a good deal of effort has been put into the story (multiple endings depending on the order you play the heroes for example) it's how the game actually plays that will prevent it from fading into mediocrity like some of its recent brethren.

On that note, my first impressions of Loki were quite mixed. Faced with a well presented and eye catching menu and character creation screen, I eagerly named my newfound Norse fighter and jumped straight into the single player game. There are three different difficulty settings to choose from; mortal, hero and deity, only one of which (the lowest) is available from the onset. The fighter class starts in a stereotypically Norse setting, comprising of a small coastal village bordering a forest. One of the first things that struck me was the graphics, which are a little on the disappointing side. Simply put, they are reminiscent of the detail and graphical clout of titles released maybe one or two years ago. On top of that, the action bar and user interface all seem a little clunky and unimaginative by today's standards. I did however find the sound effects to be pretty good; my fighter's 'war cry' still sounds every bit as potent and fierce as when I first heard it. The music doesn't really stand out in the same way, but is certainly suitable and of a decent quality.

Not to be put off by my initial aesthetic impressions, I got stuck into my first quest - let the head bashing commence! The combat felt understandably dull at first, limited only to a single attack. That was soon to change however; as my Norse fighter gained experience and levels, I was soon using my new 'Bull's Charge' ability to bolt across the battlefield. Coupled with a newly acquired two-handed mace and the "Thor's Strike" ability (which adds a significant amount of damage), I was soon cleaving enemies left, right and centre with ease. The enemies themselves are akin to what you might expect in such a wilderness - and through the first few quests I found myself slaughtering more wolves than I'd care to admit. These were soon joined by a fair range of other mobs, from the elephant-riding elves of Myrkwood Forest to the towering fire giants in the depths of the Citadel. Each area is randomly generated (no prizes for guessing where that idea came from) ensuring that upon playing through the game in harder difficulty settings, there remains some degree of variety.

On the subject of abilities, there is certainly one aspect of the game that needs some explanation. Each hero has three gods, corresponding to their particular mythology. In the case of my sturdy Norse fighter, he has the choice of Thor, Tyr or Odin. As a hero, you can choose to 'donate' a percentage (25%) of your experience points towards one of these gods - and in return you get points to spend in their ability tree. On paper, each tree has its own distinct direction in which to take your character. The Thor tree focuses on all out offence and aggression, with two-handed weapons and various lightning based attacks. Tyr is an odd mix of dual wielding and defensive buffs (personal and/or group auras), which is a nice idea and could result in an interesting twist on the fighter class. Odin's tree favours two-handed spears, the use of ice-based attacks and even some summoning abilities. Overall, although not hugely original, the trees do shape up quite nicely to give you plenty of choices as to where you take your character's abilities.

Amongst the already substantial amount of collectable items (fifteen different classes of weapons and armour respectively) is the game's crafting system. Upon visiting a blacksmith, you can re-forge a given weapon or piece of armour to endow it with new attributes. You can also take a weapon and upgrade its quality (from iron to gold for example), keeping its bonuses but increasing its raw damage. This all adds up to a huge amount of item customisation to help keep things fresh. In addition, there's a pretty huge array of weapon models; nearly every weapon has its own specific look. This should prove to be an ever-popular aspect of the game in the multiplayer component, which is planned to ship with the retail version in August (because let's face it, no one likes looking like everyone else!)

Loki is shaping up to be a relatively promising addition to the action RPG genre. There are no surprises here for veterans, with easy to learn controls, a basic but functional interface and essentially a substantial amount of rehashed game play mechanics with a fresh lick of paint. If you are long since bored of the conventional bash, loot and repeat gameplay then you probably won't find much to sustain your interest here. However, if you don't mind the absence of flashy graphics as well a few minor niggles and you do want to stray back into the ways of the hack 'n' slash then Loki might just be for you - check back soon to find out in our full review!

Previewed by Martin Oddy for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).