Human Head Studios, Westlake Interactive and Mercenary Studios today announced plans to publish the Macintosh version of Rune: Halls of Valhalla, the expansion pack for the third person action game Rune. The game will be available for pre-order from Mercenary Studios’ Web site beginning Wednesday, April 10, and will begin shipping on the 22nd. In a departure from most expansion packs, Halls of Valhalla can actually be played as a stand-alone multiplayer game — as well as an expansion to the original Rune.
It was more than a year ago that Gathering of Developers brought Rune to the Macintosh. Developed by Human Head Studios and converted to the Mac by Westlake, Rune is a 3D action game spiced with fantasy based on Viking folklore. Based on the same underpinnings as Unreal Tournament, the inventive game found a home in the hearts of some hardcore Mac gamers. It wasn’t too long before Human Head and Westlake intimated that plans were afoot to bring Halls of Valhalla to Mac users, as well.
Gathering of Developer still exists as an imprint of parent company Take Two Interactive Software, but the publisher’s separate business offices were closed last year and many of its projects were scrapped. Take Two also struck a deal with Infogrames that put Mac versions of some of its titles in the hands of Infogrames subsidiary MacSoft, but Halls of Valhalla went among the missing. Following those events, it seemed entirely unlikely that Mac gamers would ever see the expansion pack make it to their system.
Mercenary Studios is now poised to deliver Halls of Valhalla to Mac gamers once and for all. Mercenary Studios is a content developer headed by Tricia “Kazi Wren” Harris, an avid gamer and director of the official Rune Web site. Mercenary will publish and distribute Halls of Valhalla for the Mac.
Harris said that Mac gamers have actively supported Rune since its creation. “This is the least we can do to show our support for them,” said Harris. “I’m looking forward to locking virtual steel against a few Mac opponents with [Halls of Valhalla].”
Rune: Halls of Valhalla enables Rune users to go online against other players around the world. Halls of Valhalla adds two new modes — Headball and Arena — along with additional maps, new animated creatures, and more. Headball is a team-based sports game where players actually rend the limbs or heads of their enemies and score points by throwing them through a goal. Arena is a one-on-one fragfest as players square off against each other in free-for-all combat.
Rune: Halls of Valhalla will be available for sale online starting on Wednesday for US$24.95. And as with the original game, Halls of Valhalla is for “Classic” Mac OS only — there’s no Mac OS X version.