Custom PC - UK (2021-05)

C

oming at you direct from 2007, Werewolf: The
Apocalypse – Earthblood is a bafflingly dated
action game based on the White Wolf tabletop
RPG of the same name. It puts you in the hide of Cahal, a
werewolf who, along with his fellow lycanthropes, wages
a secretive war against an oil company named Endron.
The plot is bolstered by heaps of back-story and lore from
the aforementioned tabletop RPG, but you’ll struggle to care
about any of it. The storytelling is rote and humourless, while
Cahal has the personal charisma of a Bonio.
This lack of personality extends to the general
presentation. Aside from the dated graphics, Earthblood
is stylistically grey and featureless. Nearly every mission
involves infiltrating one of Endron’s facilities, which all look
indistinguishable whether it’s a power plant or a training area
for Endron’s private military. The heavy-metal soundtrack
that kicks off whenever you enter combat is a nice touch, but
that’s as close as Earthblood gets to personality.
It’s slightly more interesting at a systems level. Play is split
equally between stealth and grisly werewolf combat, and

Cahal can assume three different forms – human, regular

wolf and werewolf. The first two are primarily used in stealth

• the former lets you interact with the environment and
  quietly eliminate enemies, while the latter makes it quicker
  to move and easier to hide.
  Stealth play is half-decent, striking a pleasing balance
  between challenge and pacing. One of Werewolf’s neater
  touches is that Cahal can sabotage doors that spawn enemy
  reinforcements, meaning they enter combat at half-health.
  Unfortunately this feature, and stealth in general, is made
  redundant by the combat.
  If detected, Cahal can erupt into his most powerful form –
  an 8ft, befanged monster, and tear through Endron’s private
  army like a toddler through a toy shop. At first glance, the
  combat system looks impressive.
  You have two combat stances, four special abilities and
  a ‘Frenzy’ meter that, when filled, lets you perform extra-
  powerful attacks.
  In practice, though, you end up frantically mashing the
  buttons, occasionally pausing to dodge the attacks from
  one of the few enemies that can do meaningful damage.
  In short, combat is far too easy, which would be less of a
  problem if it felt satisfying. While tearing through your human
  adversaries will spill lashings of blood, your attacks have little
  sense of impact, while dead enemies bounce around combat
  arenas as if made of rubber. The fact you can grab and throw
  weaker enemies is fun, but again, there’s no weight to the act
  of throwing.
  The result is a combat system’s that’s too effective to
  be ignored, but not satisfying enough to be engaging. This,
  combined with the shoddy production values and general
  lack of style, means Earthblood is a bit of a howler.
  RICK LANE

/VERDICT

Dated, tedious

and poorly

balanced,

Werewolf: The

Apocalypse

• Earthblood
  shows players
  its full moon.

OVERALL SCORE

43 %%

DEVELOPER Cyanide Studio / PUBLISHER Nacom

LYCANTHROPE

+^ Decent stealth play

+^ Transforming

gimmick is cool

MISANTHROPE

(^) - Graphically
antiquated

-^ Stylistically dull
-^ Combat lacks
impact

WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE -

EARTHBLOOD/ £35.99 inc VAT