PLATFORM: PC, PS4, PS5, XBOX ONE (REVIEWED), XBOX SERIES X | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Based on the Werewolf: the Apocalypse tabletop game, Earthblood follows the story of Cahal (which often seems to be pronounced “Carl”), an eco-warrior / terrorist / werewolf who has fallen out of favour with his clan. To earn back their trust, he decides to take the fight to Endron, a violent and unforgiving corporation which is bleeding the United States dry of all its natural resources.
Cahal has three different forms which can be switched between at the press of a button. He’s pretty useless in human form, unable to really do much other than press buttons to open doors (and good grief, you’ll be doing that a lot), while as a wolf he’s able to sneak around a little bit more effectively (with emphasis on the “little bit” – enemies seem to have incredibly good eyesight, often spotting you even when they’re miles away off-screen). Lastly, he can go full-on werewolf when combat is initiated, swiping away at soldiers with his massive claws and leaping huge distances to take down distant foes.
It sounds like good fun, but Earthblood struggles to provide players with much motivation beyond the opening half hour or so. Apart from a couple of special attacks which you may well not even notice getting access to later on, Cahal is given his entire arsenal right from the beginning. There isn’t much depth to the stealth or combat at all, even after getting a few upgrades (which mostly focus on speeding up how quickly your various meters refill), and the game’s handful of environments are little more than a succession of doors and corridors linked by flat and lifeless open spaces. As soon as you realise there’s no reward or motivation to take the more time-consuming yet potentially more interesting stealthy approach, each combat encounter is reduced to “switch to werewolf form, mash the controller to batter everyone, then open some more doors en route to the next big room”. It gets very repetitive very quickly, and the samey-looking facilities / factories, lifeless enemies, shallow mechanics and lack of meaningful upgrades just make the game feel like a chore to get through.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood feels like a game that was conceived in 2001, with the team spending the next two decades trying to figure out how to put everything together without giving a thought to how games have evolved over the intervening years. The concept behind the game is really good and there are some excellent ideas, but the execution is sadly lacking in almost every possible way. A lacklustre swing and a severe miss, unfortunately. Sorry, Earthblood!
