Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood Reviews
A fun but incredibly flawed hybrid of stealth and hack-and-slash which plays like something dug out from the bargain bin of 2009.
Where Werewolf: The Apocalypse lacks in quality, it makes for in gameplay and one of the few lycanthrope-centered power fantasies around.
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.
B-story, bad characters, boring combat system. A completely repetitive system of quests where you always do the same thing. The game contains several bugs, getting stuck in the wall, soldiers walking into the wall. Boring combat system and stealth. Graphics both from PS3. In short, a title that might have worked maybe 10 years ago.
Review in Czech | Read full review
If you’re looking for some chill and generic action-adventure experience, Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is a perfect title to get by. It’s still enjoyable even while you’re trying to kill some time since the straight forward upgrade system makes minimum stress in developing strategies along the way. Unfortunately, most of the interactions were pretty typical and even when the plot thickens, the production quality wasn't as eye opening to be deemed very memorable. Most of the fun comes from the emphasis of the mechanics which allows you to transmorph into different wolf forms and switch some of the action into tactical infiltration. Since the game’s idea is fresh and promising, If they’re planning a sequel, we expect great improvements from the developers.
Review in Korean | Read full review
At times, Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood will deliver a glimpse of a great power fantasy, only to be torn down by everything else it has to offer.
Besides the prominent pro- or antagonists like zombies and vampires in recent years, Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood positively stands out from the crowd with the rather stepmotherly treated werewolves. Unfortunately, that's almost all that can be said positively about the title. But don't misunderstand - Werewolf isn't a bad game per sé, it's just mediocre: Graphics and story look old, especially in direct comparison with other recently released titles, many parts like the skill tree seem to be seen as a must rather than a real enrichment for the game and the short game duration of about eight hours isn't convincing either. Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood seems to want a lot, but not be able to accomplish that much. At least there could have been more of the heavy metal music.
Review in German | Read full review
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood suffers from repetition and terrible stealth-focused gameplay that fails to capitalizes on its potential world.
The road to redemption is a long and winding path. I will not spoil it for you and trying it out for yourself is the only way you’ll discover Cahal’s fate. If you play this, you’ll be experiencing a well-designed game that; looks, sounds, and feels great. You’ll be at home almost immediately with the controls, and you get to decide how each mission unfolds. So, do I recommend it? Of course, so buy it here! The life of a Garou is tough. But the Wyrm must be stopped, and the Wyld and Gaia protected at all costs.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Hearthblood is a game that manages only at a narrative level to make a worthy use of the prestigious brand of Werewolf: The Apocalypse. At the level of gameplay it performs a sufficient task without ever taking risks and with only sketchy RPG options while at a technical level, despite not having particular bugs, it never reaches an adequate yield for the platforms on which the title is launched. A game that we recommend at full price only to those who love in a visceral way the settings of the World of Darkness and the paper RPG Werewolf: The Apocalypse published by White Wolf, while lovers of action RPGs should think about it only after a drastic drop in price.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All in all, Earthblood is a promising assortment of competent and mismanaged concepts. Yet even with several annoyances and late-game repetition, there's no silver bullet taken against my primal enjoyment.
Truth be told, Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood has a lot of promise. From its narrative hook that sadly never catches on, through to its would-be addictive gameplay loop that never delivers, it is clear to see where things should have worked out well. Unfortunately, the emptiness felt from the repetitive levels and incredibly samey mission structures are too difficult to ignore. On a positive note, the dialogue system feels modern and less primitive than its overall design, and the RPG-lite system can be fleshed out in a possible expansion down the line. Sadly, these positives are not enough to sway away from the tepid gameplay, aged visuals and a total missed opportunity to further explore the copious amounts of lore and background from which the game is based! Until the developers pull some Hello Games antics and completely end up bringing more to the table than what this game offers, it simply cannot be said that Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is any good.
Wolf. Crinos. Human. Three forms that render the moment-to-moment gameplay of Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood as unique as it comes. When you aren’t sneaking around in the shadows in Cahal’s wolf form, you are shapeshifting into a human to snap necks or transitioning into a Crinos to wreak havoc on the environment and your enemies. It’s fascinating, yet oh-so-flawed.
There is a lot of potential in Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood, I just wish more of it had been fully realized. There are moments of excitement to be had, especially in the game’s earlier hours as you take on your werewolf form and lay waste to your opponents. However, the combat and many of the environments become repetitive relatively quick. Given the game’s tie-in to the well-established RPG property of Werewolf: The Apocalypse, I do wish there had been more depth in both character development and the story itself. There is a ton of potential lore to draw from here, but it misses some of those opportunities. The end result? A decent enough weekend action-RPG binge, but not much else.
If you are looking for a game that brings you back to a simpler generation of games, or you want to be a Werewolf for a few hours, this game is absolutely made for you.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood had a lot of potential. The World of Darkness universe is clearly full of interesting lore, creatures and characters, so it’s a shame that the game drops the ball so hard. While some players may find some surface-level enjoyment in the game’s stealth and combat, the lack of depth or player growth makes them feel old fast. Even if you are a World of Darkness superfan, it’s probably best to skip Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood, at least until it’s heavily discounted.
It seems that Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood had some very nice ideas under its hood but they just haven't come together as good as they should in the final product. Although the combat has its moments and the world building is quite intriguing, at the end of the day it's just a cycle of repetitive and banal moments.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood might be fun during minute-to-minute gameplay, but it is seriously lacking in complexity when it comes to actual “role-playing”. If you’re after an experience akin to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, you’ll have to hold out for its sequel.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood offers some brutally satisfying combat, but everything else in-between feels a little half-baked. It’s not that any of it is bad, but the stealth mechanics are inconsistently utilised, the level design can lack variety, whilst the visuals feel very dated – especially by PlayStation 5 standards. Despite this, I did enjoy my time playing through the game with the murderous rampages offered in Cahal’s werewolf form offering enough to make the ten-hour adventure worthwhile. Players might just want to keep their expectations in check if they were hoping for an adventure that really embraced a blend of stealthily sneaking around and all-out action fruitfully.
After playing Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood I am left with mixed feelings. It's one of those games where a note is never really going to be fair. On the one hand, this is a playable proposal, which despite some shortcomings, is quite fun. It combines stealth, infiltration and action quite successfully, making none weigh more than the others and balancing each level so that we don't feel like we're doing the same thing for too long. It also has a script that knows how to tackle a world as big as that of the role-playing game from which it takes inspiration and that offers us quite epic moments. The problem comes in a technical section that remains at half throttle with some CGI and a main character that are visually very well worked but that are out of tune with the rest of the characters and scenarios that seem to have not had so much work behind and that ugly the result
Review in Spanish | Read full review