9
The beginning of the game starts at a great point. Rune starts out a little slow

Again, here's some real gamers telling developers what they want: lots of great, slow moments.  Why does Rune get only a 9 out of 10?  Not slow enough, I guess!

Probably the most important feature in a game is gameplay. Gameplay is what makes a game fun and entertaining to play. Rune's gameplay simply rocks!

I don't know how many times I try to tell Erik that gameplay is even more important than slowness.  Does he listen?  No.  It's all pixels and bytes, firing arcs and fields of view.  Erik: it's the gameplay, or as the Germans call it - "gameplay",  that counts!  Let me add something to the reviewer's last sentence, something that I am sure he included but that some snooty editor took out:   'nuff said.  I bet this reviewer ended the review right after that sentence with  "'nuff said", but then they made him keep writing.   Fucking bastards - he had a fun game to get back to and no time to say anything more than "THIS ROCKS!" (which I'd like to point out was my whole problem with KISS - not enough rocking.)   Let me just say, Mr. Reviewer Man, I like the trim of your jibs.  You and I are woven from the same Viking fabric - the skin of the womenfolk of our enemies.  Huzzah!

Throughout the demo, I noticed that Ragnar had more brains then he did muscle. Getting into another room or attaining another level isn't as easy as you think. Pulling levers, jumping on boxes, flicking switches and slashing your weapon is what you will need to do to survive.

Ha! Ha! and more Ha!  There you go Erik.  I know it's a gay thing to say, but checkmate.  You dismiss jumping on boxes, pulling levers, flicking switches and slashing your weapon as mindless action, but you're wrong.  Human Head has heavily modified the Unreal Engine to insure that the switch flipping is more about brains than action or even muscle!  Since I didn't play Rune, and the Intelgamer reviewer doesn't spoil even one of the intricate switch puzzles by describing it, I can only imagine what kind of devious Rubik's Cube each of these Rune levers must be. 

Since the game is based on Viking mythology and
folklore it had to be as realistic as possible. 

Exactly.  Thank you.  Rune is what it is, and that's all it can be.  Not because - as Erik would have you believe - of any conscious design choices, but because of reality.  While he's at it, maybe Erik should fault the Hoover dam for not being contructed from bits of colorful tissue paper.  Viking mythology is the world's most realistic mythology.  Therefore, games based on Viking mythology have no choice but to be realistic.  If that means the entire game must involve fighting skeletons in Dwarven aqueducts, then maybe you should lodge your complaint with Miss Sólveig Pétursdóttir, Minister of Justice for Iceland, and leave Tim Gerritsen alone.