There’s something to be stated about a gaming franchise that influences other creators that they would hope to take said series into another medium of entertainment. Originally a tabletop game released in 1992 as a part of the “World of Darkness” franchise, “Werewolf: The Apocalypse” initially gained modest praise from reviewers while cultivating a strong fan base including game developers that hoped to turn the works of literary fiction into digitized action. Unfortunately for the “Werewolf” franchise it was unable to crossover into the video game realm though multiple companies attempted to bring that adaptation to a variety of consoles including the original Playstation and the Sega Saturn. After two decades of trying to make a “Werewolf” video game, developer Cyanide finally achieved a goal seemingly impossible as they forged a 3D adventure set in an alternate reality where werewolves, vampires & other creatures bump in the day & night. Though I wasn’t knowledgeable about the “Werewolf” franchise, I was intrigued by the gameplay trailers that had me wondering if Cyanide could meld the worlds together and deliver an early video game favorite for 2021.
Did I Complete “Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood”?
In the lore of “Werewolf: The Apocalypse” the various tribes featuring a plethora of werewolves are responsible for keeping the world in order as the Wyrm is terrorizing the mental stability of creatures large, small & supernatural alike. Cahal is one of those werewolves/garou living in the Pacific Northwest alongside his wife, daughter & tribesmen with the intent of stopping the environmental-debilitating corporation Endron. Through a series of sixteen missions ranging from infiltrating a factory to infiltrating another factory in the Nevada desert, Cahal blows things up, finds himself conflicted about the direction of his tribe, and tries to do his best to sound as gruff as possible. In this third-person action-adventure experience, Cahal can sneak through enemy-laden areas to execute takedowns, disable security cameras & turrets, and electrifying doors where backup adversaries arrive.
When the player is going through each mission area they can discover a plethora of collectibles that can either be identified by coming close to it in the case of notes or seeing said collectible with Cahal’s “Penumbra Vision” that is just like “Detective Mode” from every other modern & past gen game mimicking “Batman: Arkham Asylum”. The latter collectibles known as “Spirits” gives Cahal experience skill points that, when full, can unlock the mostly underwhelming abilities in the skill tree – skill points are also earned via specific story completion moments, but not for successful battles. In an effort to attain the platinum trophy the player must gather all the “Spirit” collectibles (136 “Spirits” without any in-game checklist to assist) as well as pulling off certain combat-only moments like killing three enemies at one time with a jumping stomp. With no ability to manually save or being able to utilize a chapter select, I had to restart the game after completing a few missions to retrieve the collectibles I missed, complete the game’s few side missions, accomplish all the combat trophies, and see both endings by using a cloud save to attain the platinum trophy after a little under fifteen hours.
Did “Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood” Live Up to the Hype?
While “Earthblood” immediately introduces the unique universe the player is about to take part in where three deities try to maintain a certain balance in how the world operates – the Wyld, the Weaver, and the Wyrm – the game itself is rooted in the ordinary. As Cahal the player is given the ability to move throughout semi-open world environments to complete mission after mission that usually involves going into a restricted Endron factory or talking to his fellow environmentalists about what to do next. The combat itself is very similar to other games in the genre including “Infamous” and “Prototype”. Usually before every fight is the opportunity for the player to sneak through an area as either the human version of Cahal or his faster wolf variation and overcome a majority, if not all the nearby enemies with stealthy takedowns.
Cahal also has a crossbow with very limited ammo that can both disable enemies and cameras. Stealth works well enough, but some of the AI enemies have terrible positioning to force the exposure of Cahal’s presence. But if Cahal’s cover is blown the game automatically transforms the protagonist into his werewolf form (though the player can avoid the sneaking portion of any map and immediately have Cahal go werewolf). It’s during the combat where gamers will recognize how familiar this experience is as Cahal can mix light & heavy strikes while jumping around to either stomp grounded enemies or propel adversaries for air combos. Cahal also has two attack stances: “Agile” where he can strike fast & dash/dodge, but can be knocked back or hurt easier; and “Heavy” where Cahal can’t dash, but hits stronger & has more defense. Switching between stances is actually quite intuitive (by hitting the right trigger on a console controller), as is using special attacks (in the case of the PS4/PS5 by holding down the left trigger and pressing one of the face buttons).
Unfortunately the attack patterns available to the player at the beginning of the game is not much different from how Cahal will play in the final mission. The only thing that helps expand Cahal’s fighting repertoire are his unlockable skills. But the amount of new maneuvers Cahal can attain are very limited including a roar attack to knockdown nearby opponents when in “Agile” stance and a series of cross slashes where the player can’t control the direction of Cahal’s movement when in “Heavy” mode. Players can’t spam special attacks as a segmented meter underneath Cahal’s health bar dictates when he can do something such as the aforementioned roar or heal himself during battle.
The special meter fills up when Cahal slaughters opponents including having the ability to grab smaller enemies & ripping them in half. And then there’s the “Fury” meter – a purple bar that just fills up during a fight and can be activated to put Cahal in his “Frenzy” form where he has the speed of “Agile” stance, the power of “Heavy” stance, and the inability to use healing or special moves. “Frenzy” form can also be upgraded including nullifying the fear of losing health as one of the upgrades actually restores health with each kill performed when in “Frenzy”; making it the perfect way to avoid death when tackling a large group of enemies during the game’s last few missions.
Why in the last few missions would one have to worry about enemies? It’s only during the game’s closing hours does it stack the numbers against Cahal by producing the biggest & baddest regular enemies the game has to offer including exo-suited flamethrowers, snipers with silver bullets, and a Jason Voorhees-inspired machete user. Even though the latter enemies can be more difficult than the ones taken on in the game’s first two-thirds, they barely register as tough; usually succumbing to death pretty easily after two “Heavy” stance cross slashes. The bosses leave a lot to be desired as well with the game featuring very few in number and in presentation – ninety percent of the boss fights are against other werewolves similar to the first boss battle experienced in the game’s initial twenty minutes.
Ironically enough the first twenty minutes gives way to the most interesting portions of the story before collapsing under the weight of a paint-by-the-numbers narrative where Cahal’s actions and choices have no bearing on the spiritual power struggle presented in “Earthblood’s” opening sequence. In the first mission everything planned by Cahal & his tribe goes awry, leading to the protagonist exiling himself from his people & his daughter after his rage overwhelms him. Instead of showcasing Cahal’s battle to subdue his pain & anger without giving into his bloodthirsty nature, the game’s story progresses five years after the first mission’s events and sees Cahal reuniting with his tribe to stop their growing war with Endron. Cahal’s return leads to a series of moments that usually boils down to him destroying an Endron facility or returning to his home base to prepare for the next infiltration mission; rarely adding to or exploring the mythology & lore the source material has to offer other than Endron is poisoning the environment that is so important to everyone including the werewolves. From the second mission on the game presents a series of character interactions featuring the most mundane & lackadaisical voice actors. Many times a conversation between the faceless grunts Cahal is about to slaughter will sound more believable & enthused than when Cahal & his cohorts converse. To top it off is the cartoonish villains of Endron who have little to no development and are simply avatars needed to give Cahal someone to hate. The mouth & body animations makes the vocal presentation that much worse. There are some dialogue choices, but most of the time said choices are just good for gathering more information or exposition.
Technically the game is a mixed bag. Though the voice acting is mostly terrible, the music that plays during battles or even in the main menu is pretty great and perfect for a crazy fight featuring a werewolf. The graphics no matter what you’re playing on appears similar to something from two generations prior and would’ve looked immaculate on the PS3 or Xbox 360. Other than enemies getting stuck in the floor or wall after being ripped apart, there weren’t any grand glitches or game-breaking bugs during a playthrough. The game’s biggest issue has to be the lack of a manual save option. Though “Earthblood” features auto-saves via a checkpoint system, there’s only one save at a time available if the player doesn’t want to start a new game. This lack of manual saves and no chapter/mission select in the main menu forces completionists to start from scratch if they end up missing a collectible and progresses into the next mission.
In a world where games like “Marvel’s Spider-Man”, the 2018 version of “God of War”, and even “Infamous: Second Son” exist, “Earthblood” is the perfect example of an underwhelming licensed game focusing on gameplay stuck in the past instead of being a digital representation of its source material that could potentially garner new fans to the franchise (similar to what Telltale Games did for “The Walking Dead”).
Should You Play “Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood”?
“Earthblood” isn’t a bad game, just a mundane experience stuck in the past that would’ve been heavily praised if it was a launch title on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 by presenting some impressive visuals and fun gameplay for that time period. But in 2021, “Werewolf” comes across as a relic from the past that was remastered & ported to eighth & ninth generation consoles. Even though it’s not priced like most titles, it’s still not worth the initial asking price. No matter if you’re a fan of this game genre, or “Werewolf: The Apocalypse”, or both there’s no reason why you shouldn’t wait for this one to get a major price drop before buying it if you can’t rent it from something like Gamefly. And if you can’t wait for a series of repetitious missions, unimaginative battles, and a pretty incredible soundtrack just embrace your inner garou and run for the hills to let the umbra take you.
