Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood Reviews
A joyful mix of stealth and action, the fun doesn't snag on the rough edges.
Fun at times but also scruffy and repetitive, Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood lacks a bit of bite.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood has decent stealth going for it, but its weak story forces you into painfully mediocre combat too often to be worthwhile, wasting the potential of the World of Darkness universe.
Playing as an angry werewolf is fun for a minute, but loses its way through heavy repetition
In a game that bills itself as a choice between stealth and combat, it doesn't take long for the deceit to reveal itself and you realize this is ill-suited and insufficiently-handled for either one of the two gameplay styles.
When I think of games from Spiders, Cyanide, Piranha Bytes, or Reality Pump, I appreciate how often ambition overcomes limited resources. Their games (such as Gothic, Two Worlds, Greedfall, Of Orcs & Men) may have glitches and fall short of triple-A standards, but they tend to be fun, have good stories, and mechanics and systems that I enjoy interacting with. Werewolf: The Apocalypse has most of these. I enjoyed taking on an evil corporation, learning more about how the Garou fit into The World of Darkness, and tearing my foes about. I won’t hide from that.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood has potential, but is little more than a C-tier experience that's unlikely to stick in anyone's memory for long.
In Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood, every advantage is neutralized by a disadvantage, leading to a totally mediocre experience
Despite what seemed like a good story at first and the interesting idea of playing with an angry werewolf, Werewolf: The Apocalypse Earthblood failed to use that idea properly as it didn’t build on it in any way with the rest of the game's elements, the overall story and gameplay experience became very disappointing very fast.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
It proposes an universe and some attractive ideas, but they are not interesting enough to overlook a crude graphical performance and some really repetitive gameplay mechanics.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood proudly wears the reverence for White Wolf's lore on its furry sleeve, with a dark-but-interesting universe and a fierce pro-environment/anti-capitalist message. But behind its wild, bloody carnage and well-meant intentions lies a dated and sorely repetitive stealth adventure that, among its contemporaries, fails to stand out from the pack.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood is an honest game that might be worth checking out if you're interested in the setting or in its mixture of (light) RPG elements, action and stealth. Just don't expect anything groundbreaking.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood feels like it had the potential to be really good, but even though the combat is very satisfying, the drab interludes and disappointing stealth meant I spent a lot of the time asking when the game was going to be over. To me, that speaks volumes.
Playing as a powerful, rage-filled werewolf should be the perfect set-up for a great video game but Earthblood misses so many obvious opportunities it's as if the game itself is cursed.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood has a good premise, but suffers from poor execution. If you're looking for a game that allows you to live out the fantasy of being an overpowered werewolf and kill everyone around you in bloody fashion, Werewolf provides that, but only just. Unrewarding combat, dumber-than-a-doorknob AI, dated mechanics, and an uninspiring presentation mean that this is a tough recommendation at the launch MSRP of $49.99 US.
Cyanide Studios have proven their mettle with previous games in the supernatural genre. Their previous efforts include Styx: Shards of Darkness and the Call of Cthulhu. Both games were well received. Earthblood is a solid effort that should get werewolf fans howling with glee.
Absolutely dated in so many ways with crusty stealth gameplay, poor visuals and uninspiring environments, yet showing glimmers of innovation that are in turn bolstered by bouts of super satisfying werewolf combat, Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood is the first proper guilty pleasure of the year.
You can see Cyanide Studios had good ideas for Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood, so it is a shame to see that potential wasted. Tearing through enemies is undeniably satisfying and Earthblood's stealth mechanics feel rewarding but with poor visuals, a short campaign, and disappointing story, you can't ignore these pressing flaws. Cyanide has faithfully integrated Werewolf's lore here – even if that is a little bare – so tabletop series fans will likely enjoy it, but anyone else would best approach with caution.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is as straightforward as an action-adventure game can be. None of its features are broken, but the shallowness of the entire experience makes it a very hard game to recommend for those who are not into the setting to begin with. It does provide moments of fun here and there, but its linear, derivative experience does not stand out in any way.
Whether it's lack of effort, time or budget, Cyanide Studio does not enough to provide a satisfying combat system, nor an interesting story-telling, nor a decent technical presentation.
Review in Italian | Read full review