I have a hard time differentiating what weighs more in Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood, if some obvious flaws for which the experience of Cyanide has no excuse, the inescapable flavor of double A spirit of previous generations -not necessarily the closest ones-, or the fact of having passed me divinely.
Action and stealth go hand in hand in a game that, finally, allows us to put ourselves at the controls of a werewolf while unleashing our rage and fighting against soldiers, exoskeletons and mutant monsters. Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is proof of all the good and bad that goes into giving wings to Double A.
A 90s movie made a video game
Far from facing the analysis towards the debate of that kind of product that does not enter either the realm of the tiny indies or the big blockbusters – something we already did, for example, with Destroy All Humans – the truth is that the mere fact of shelling Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood already gives a good account of its benefits and limitations.
That of a certain creative freedom halfway between the sweat of all fashions and a little smell of mothballs is precisely in its story and characters. Here we meet Cahal , a werewolf who little or nothing matches the current hero canons.
Do you remember the last time you saw one of those t-shirts with the face of a wolf and you thought who the hell would wear that? Well, it’s this guy.
A part man, part wolf and part forest guardian action hero from the 90s , whose anti-establishment hippie adventures lead him to fight in terrorist guerilla mode against a megacorporation that is destroying his tribe’s ecosystem.
From there, the good old Cahal will experience a series of predictable problems that will lead him to chase the head of said company until a final confrontation that, how could it be otherwise in a story with an old flavor, has deaths everywhere and a giant end monster with tentacles.
Vampire’s Brother: The Masquerade
You don’t ask too much of a story with such an approach and, although Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood strives to keep the lore alive based on conversations, cinematics and a series of roles scattered around that expand the story, not take it serially It seems like part of the contract you make with him.
I don’t know to what extent those who, unlike me, come here because they are fans of Mark Rein-Hagen’s role-playing game – another arm of the franchise to which Vampire: The Masquerade also belongs – will be satisfied, but in reality the game does not forget its origins.
It does so through sections more focused on history in which the conversations will allow us to choose what we want to say, the situations will invite us to choose what to do or an ending that forks to give us two alternatives in which it is difficult not to opt for the of chaos, destruction and revenge .
A duality with a constantly more obvious path that actually takes over the game almost from the beginning, never to let it go again. Do you want to pass through this room full of enemies performing eliminations silently or transform into a werewolf and leave all the walls stained with blood with the dismemberment of your victims? Well, it ‘s clear right?
Werewolf in Washington
In total, Cahal has five different transformations. Its basic mode, the one it uses to eliminate enemies without making noise and press buttons that open doors or deactivate security cameras, is the one that has us from here to there in human mode.
Compatible with the same is the wolf mode, my favorite to move faster through its scenarios and the one that allows you to go more unnoticed in stealth areas, create distractions based on barking or sneak through ventilation ducts.
Whenever you arrive at a room, you will do it in one of these two ways and it will be up to you to decide which way to go. You can dedicate yourself to eliminating enemies without making noise, using blows or crossbow shots, or you can hit a couple of slugs at your flask and transform into a werewolf with all the power bars activated.
While stealth is more or less resolved, even with sections that you can get through without casualties, it’s that kind of gameplay that personally finds me tremendously uphill. Why the hell would I wait for him to move from here to there when I can bite his head off .
We have come to break things
Transformed into a werewolf comes chaos and destruction. The pieces of the scene fly out in your path and the enemies are at your mercy so that you take advantage of the last skill learned in the character progress tree.
A blow from above like a bomb? Has it. The one to jump to the other end of the stage? Also. Heavy, loose, and dodge hits? Obviously. Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is one of those games that, with a couple of images and videos, you already know very well how they are going to be.
With the possibility of changing between an agile mode or a tank at will, each with its four special powers, our main objective will be to grow our rage bar by attacking and executing the dolls that we have caught with our claws.
Once this is achieved, the last transformation arrives, in which our werewolf becomes an even more dangerous beast that, through the power of Gaia but without becoming invincible, sticks hosts like bread of those that give a tremendous taste.
Limited variety
The possibility of sending the stealth to wind at all times – or opting for the opposite – ends up being a real joy. The fights, especially when there are final bosses involved, end up being the most fun and demanding .
The bad thing about Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is that it costs him horrors to keep up with the news except to introduce enemies. A problem that inherits from a skill tree with few surprises and a very short fuse, especially if you opt for a specific combat style and go stealth, and a very evident lack of originality when dressing its scenarios.
It does not matter if it is in a forest in Washington or an Indian reservation in Arizona, you can have crystalline that you will end up getting into a factory with little variation between the previous room and the next one. However, here you have come to distribute tow, so it is easy to miss it .
Less elusive are bullets from design errors that imply always repeating the same thing or that, after dying in combat, teleport you to a checkpoint where you have to use an elevator and deal with a cinematic before trying again.
If it is a deliberate maneuver to generate a penalty for losing, congratulations, you have achieved your goal, but it is a trick as old as the double A’s on PS2 .
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood makes no attempt to hide the obvious. This is a minor game, humble in its making and stumbling blocks as basic as they are foreseeable, but also one of those experiences where you can have a nice snack on a weekend.
Despite the repetitive nature of his proposal, the action never falters and his fights are most gratifying. It is far from being a game to highly recommend but, although I will not be the one to tell you to throw yourself at him like a wolf to the jugular of his prey, I cannot deny that I have had a great time playing it. .
Werewolf: The Apocalypse -Earthblood
| Platforms | PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC and PS5 (analyzed version) |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Not |
| Developer | Cyanide studio |
| Company | Nacon |
| Launch | February 4, 2021 |
| Price | 49 euros |
The best
- Being a werewolf is always going to be fun
- Final matches as demanding as they are entertaining
- A decaf double A that delivers on what it promises
Worst
- Little variety of situations
- Surprises are over soon
