Werewolf the Apocalypse is a F*ckin' Blast! – Busy Gamer Review
Gruesome action sequences, heavy metal, and
extreme fits of rage are just a few parts of
what makes up this fast paced action role playing
game. And while it may be rough around the edges,
Werewolf TAE delivers these main
elements with shameless fun.
There aren’t many video games
centered on being a werewolf,
so lret’s find out why this game deserves to lead
the pack in our Busy Gamer Review of Werewolf
The Apocalypse Earthblood .
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Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood, which is based
on the tabletop RPG set in the World of Darkness,
kicks off with the cinematic trailer. Quickly
showing you the environment and some of the
enemies you will be facing from guards with
guns and tech suits to mutated monsters.
After that there is a second video explaining the
3 primal forces from which Gaia, or mother earth,
springs forth. All 3 were supposed to
work together and maintain balance,
though the Wyrm has grown out of control
and become a force of corruption. Many
fall to its wrath including Endron, an oil company
responsible for the destruction of the environment
and eventual war with our main characters
You play as Cahal, a werewolf or Garou and
member of an Irish tribe known as Fianna. The
first mission tosses you right into decision
making as Cahal, and a small group, are planning
a way to force Endron to leave their region.
Not knowing that the events of this mission would
force Cahal to abandon his tribe and work towards
righting his wrongs through the rest of the game.
While watching the first cut scene and listening
to their plan we come across my biggest issue with
this game, the graphics. Though gameplay graphics
are never as good as the cinematic trailers,
I really felt let down. To clarify, I played
this game on an Xbox One X because I haven’t yet
purchased a next gen console. So, I thought I’d
try it out on a friends Series X and yes it was
better but still not as good as I was expecting.
Another thing that I found odd, and eventually
made me laugh, was watching the characters arms
moving around sporadically during cutscenes and
discussions. All I could think of was one specific
movie scene.This wasn’t a huge deal but became
more and more comical throughout the game.
Now to focus on Cahal. He explores and battles
his way through a world that is divided into 2
large hub areas that are used to split up
the missions. These areas are also full of
collectibles to give you some backstory on
characters and lore of the werewolves. Cahal
does this with his ability to switch between
3 forms: Homid, Lupus, and Crinos.The Homid or
human form is used for all dialog, takedowns, and
technical applications such as disabling cameras
and opening doors along with his most useful
ability, Penumbra vision. This lets you peer
into the spirit world and gives you the ability
to see enemies and door controls through walls
but also shows you the location of hidden spirits
that you collect to upgrade Cahal’s abilities
like increasing the rage meter or improving
his special moves as a werewolf. Quick tip,
if you’re trying to collect all the hidden spirits
make sure you talk to Yfen, the forest guardian,
early on. He will fill you in on a few side
missions and reward you with more spirit points.
Cahal will also crouch automatically for
stealth, though I quickly figured out
that this aspect of the game was where the
Lupis or wolf form was the better choice.
The size of the wolf played a big role because
his height made more sense for sneaking around
and was much quicker for exploration and evasion.
While his physical stature made it easy to use air
ducts to move around undetected, which is used
throughout the entire game if you want to stay
out of the enemies eyesite. The last ability
that the wolf has is the ability to bark,
which may not sound that important. But barking
attracts enemies to your location giving you the
chance to perform a stealth takedown and clear
the area one at a time rather than dealing with
the chaos that follows being detected. Leading
me to the last form, the Crinos or werewolf.
Easily, the most fun form because, let’s face
it, if you’re playing this game you aren’t here
to play as a human. You are here to play as a 9
foot tall badass monster with the goal of causing
as much destruction and carnage as possible. If
you guessed combat as the werewolves strong suit
you guessed right, which brings me to my second
and last issue with the game. The tutorial for
the werewolf goes really fast, and obviously I
don’t want them to take forever. But they throw
a lot at you in such a short chaotic part of
the first mission from the fighting stances and
different special moves that I had to look at
the controls a few times till it all sank in.
The werewolf has 2 stances that are used for
agility or heavy combat, both are useful but I
found myself favoring the heavy stance.
If you’re enjoying this review,
crush that like button and let us know
which fighting stance you preferred.
Don’t worry I didn’t forget to mention
the best part of fighting as the werewolf.
The part that makes you almost invincible
called frenzy. You hit harder, move faster,
and take the violence to a whole new level. The
only downfall is waiting for the meter to fill
but that doesn’t take too long when you rack up
your hit combos. I think the balance between speed
and strength is almost perfect and found myself
being less stealthy as the game went on because
the combat sequences were so enjoyable. The combat
definitely became more difficult but also became
more fun once you’re confident switching between
stances and using the different special moves.
Honestly, the best way I can describe the fight
sequences would be to reference the gore nests
in Doom 2016. All the doors lock, the heavy
metal starts and you are surrounded by monsters.
Only difference in this game is you are the
monster. Sure you’re surrounded by a barrage
of guards with silver bullets, tech suits, mutant
abilities and face a boss battle from time to time
but you can barely contain your rage so
do you really think they stand a chance?
Like I said early, the cutscenes may not
have looked the best, but as a busy gamer
I really enjoyed the combat style and
fast paced story. I had a blast playing
this game and it delivered the promise of
causing chaos with a monstrous werewolf.
So for Busy Gamers, Werewolf: The
Apocalypse Earthblood is time well spent.
