After rebooting the King's Bounty series in 2008 with King's Bounty: The Legend, Katauri followed it up with King's Bounty: Armored Princess. While the second game got an expansion pack, it wasn't a true sequel. That honor goes to this year's release, King's Bounty: Warriors of the North, which promises to follow up on the story line that started four years ago.

This time around, you play as Olaf, a new hero who is a Viking. This new race brings with it a new area as well as a new school of magic known as Rune magic. The story has Olaf defending the world of Endoria against a relentless attack by the undead armies. Players will get to experience the frozen tundra of the Northern Lands as well as return to the heart of the kingdom, the land of Darion.

Fans of the series will recognize Darion as the location of The Legend. Returning to a familiar location was intentional, as a generation has passed in the timeline of the games. The developers wanted to give players the chance to see how things have changed over the years, but it's not just superficial. The demo team from 1C wouldn't go into a whole lot of detail; however, they did promise that the new story line ties in closely with the characters from the previous games.

The island mechanic from Armored Princess is returning, along with new ships for players to use. One new ship type mentioned during our demo is the longboat. Land travel is done by horse, but if your horse earns enough XP, it can sprout wings and turn into a Pegasus. Using the Pegasus gives you the ability to fly.

In the previous King's Bounty games, Katauri gave players the ability to gain bonuses via companions. The Legend gave players wives and children, while Armored Princess gave players husbands. Warriors of the North is going to give players Valkyries. Five different types of Valkyries are planned for the game. Each one sports a different set of spells, so there is an incentive to collect them all.

Because King's Bounty: Warriors of the North is currently in a pre-alpha state, 1C wouldn't let us go hands on, nor would the demo team offer up many more details. They did say that the final game should provide around 40 to 50 hours of play time, and there are plans for some major boss battles, but that was about it. We're expecting to hear more as the game gets closer to release.