Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is very much like one of those horror films where it’s a bit shoddy, you know the budget isn’t especially high, but it has blood flying about, and an enthusiastic charm that shines through.
The latest in a variety of games that draw from the monster-filled World of Darkness universe is, on the surface, a relatively standard third-person action game where you take control of a grizzled white guy scrapping against an evil force, and for portions of the game that is extremely true. It’s at least not a traditional action game plot. Cahal, an eco-terrorist banished from his group long ago, is dragged back into a battle against sinister corporation Pentex. Oh, and he’s a Garou; part of a werewolf tribe that is being forced out of their home by the actions of Pentex. Across the game’s story, he will sabotage and destroy Pentex’s facilities to drive it back out of the Garou’s homeland, and save the environment from disaster.
Cahal’s transformation abilities see him able to become a regular wolf or a hulking werewolf, and each of his three forms comes with its own flavor of gameplay. In human form, Cahal converses with others, is able to get into regular human-occupied spaces without alarms being raised, and perform stealth takedowns. As a regular wolf, the action shifts into stealth, with Cahal able to slink about just out of eyeshot of guards. When spotted, the action really starts, and he can unleash his rage-fueled werewolf form to snap and tear enemies to shreds, reverting back to human form when a room is cleared of threats.
This cycle of human-to-wolf-to-werewolf does become somewhat predictable as there’s a clear definition of what you can or cannot be in any given area, but slipping between these forms remains satisfying nonetheless. Plodding around the same safe areas as human Cahal over and over would get old quick if not for the instantaneous ability to shift into wolf form and go bounding around the place. Unleashing the werewolf form sees Cahal burst into a mass of fur and fury that often feels cathartic after sneaking past enemy after enemy only to get spotted by a camera you missed. In this form, the game is essentially a hack and slash action game, with Cahal able to gain new Pentax employee-slaying abilities as he progresses and finds collectibles.
It makes the stealth feel a little pointless at times, but that does serve a tactical purpose beyond simply avoiding a fight (you rarely actually end up avoiding a fight for long, hence the occasional feeling of pointlessness). Whilst sneaking, Cahal can switch off cameras, open doors, and sabotage the deployment gates for reinforcements to cause soldiers damage before they ever get to join the fight.
Combat is easily where the game is most enjoyable to actually play. The vicious whirling dervish that is Cahal’s werewolf form isn’t the most refined fighter, but the indiscriminate manner in which he attacks his foes lends itself to the idea this is a creature Cahal himself can barely contain (shown best when it goes into full-blown rage mode). Cahal’s swift return to human form after the last enemy has been destroyed feels like a part of that too. He’d really prefer not to risk losing himself to the spiritual force known as the Wyrm, but when confronted by an inescapable threat, he has no choice.
Fair play to developer Cyanide, it has leaned on the RPG roots of the series to give this story empathy and subtlety beneath its otherwise ordinary surface. Cahal often reconvenes with his former wolf clan between missions. Engaging them in choice-based conversations about their shared past, and the imposing threat Pentax poses to their homeland. Yes, it’s all a bit like a literal Dances With Wolves plot-wise, but the eco-warrior angle in a video game story is honestly a refreshing way to paint the whole ‘chosen one vs. the system’ narrative. Despite the violence against them, the clan generally just want to be left alone, but Pentax increasingly makes that impossible so they fight back simply for their own survival, even if they find it hard to go that far.
The morality of it isn’t really in question as the message is clear. This company is fouling up the environment and taking a homeland by force. There’s every reason for the kind of rage and fury Cahal shows, but even he’s hoping for another solution beyond violence as he doesn’t want to embrace that side of himself.
Where the game actually suffers is in its presentation. While it can look pretty decent in places (mainly in Cahal himself), it’s thoroughly underwhelming on a technical level. Janky, stiff animations, character models that feel a good couple of generations behind the curve, and the uninspired and repetitive level design do little to help endear Earthblood to the player. It does at least keep a steadier framerate than past Cyanide titles, so it’s crucially not overly unpleasant to play. To be honest, when you get down to it and are playing, it’s easy to let the issues slide as Earthblood is entertaining. It’s when things slow down for conversations and story development, an important spoke in Earthblood’s wheel, that those blemishes come to the fore. It probably wouldn’t be such a problem if this was on a regular Xbox One, but it’s not exactly a showcase for the power of the Xbox Series X.
Still, with the strength of the World of Darkness’s rich universe of lore backing it up, Earthblood is far more compelling than it first appears. Just as it looks like a formulaic, repetitive, action game, it throws enough odd stuff and interesting characters into the mix to add a bit of unique pep to proceedings. It would be unfair to call Earthblood ‘mindless fun’ given it has a more positive message to it than a lot of action games, but its easygoing blend of action, stealth, and narrative adventure certainly make it surprisingly simple to get into despite essentially being three games stapled together.
Plus, flipping out and eviscerating hapless goons and mechs as a powerful werewolf doesn’t get old.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood review code for Xbox Series X provided by the publisher.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is out now on Xbox One, Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC.