Berserk and The Band of the Hawk Reviews
Perhaps the source material is too dark and violent to really tout this game, however, if you're a fan of the series you should absolutely consider picking it up. Some minor performance or gameplay issues don't really mar the experience – which is to say Berserk is one of my all-time favorite pieces of fiction.
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is OK for devoted fans of the original work, who rarely play games. For everyone else this is another dull project in the series - with the same type of missions and depressing monotony of the gameplay.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk its one of the simpliest Musou games that Koei Tecmo has made. It is not a bad game by any means but it also doesn't offer anything different or new from what we have saw in any other titles from the genre and one that, sadly, doesn't fully capture the escence of the story that its based on. Simply put, is one game that fans from the original manga or anime will enjoy, but also one that other players will forget really quick.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you’re a fan of gory sword-and-sorcery anime, you may have seen Berserk, either the 90s version or the more recent CGI movies and series.
If you are at all interested in the world of Berserk, either as a long time fan or a complete newbie then this game is worth a look. If you are looking for an interesting game with varied as well as involved hack and slash gameplay, you might want to give this entry a miss and check out one of the mainline Dynasty Warriors games instead.
BERSERK is certainly not a perfect game, it suffers from confusing and struggling story-telling, repetitive gameplay and not working design concepts. Omega Force tried to squeeze the Berserk franchise in the Dynasty Warriors concept, removing a lot things that make it work and adding some new, not nearly as good things to it. However BERSERK nails one thing: Being Berserk. During the first ~6-7 hours BERSERK´s gameplay works well, due to unlockable combos, leading to a very enjoyable experience, combined with the brutal and fitting presentation. Honestly, I wouldn´t recommend BERSERK to someone who´s new to the franchise, it just can´t tell the story properly in order to understand what makes it so great and is just to “niche” to be enjoyable over its playtime. However, for Berserk fans like me this game fills a hole, the wish to finally play these amazing battles himself, to slaughter thousand of enemies himself and to experience this story himself.
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is great. The strong visuals and story are complemented well by the gameplay. It should be satisfying for both fans of the gameplay style and fans of the Berserk franchise, and still approachable enough for fans of neither to enjoy. The only downside is that Warriors games' signature gameplay can lead to fatigue in long play sessions. It's a solid and polished game that is definitely and easily recommended to all.
At the end of the day, it does what it says, it's a Warriors game, and it does it as well as most of the other games do. It's nothing spectacular, but it is good mindless fun.
Although Band of the Hawk is incredibly faithful to Kentaro Miura´s manga, it becomes boring after playing several stages. We miss multiplayer modes in this musou.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
That’s true of Berserk and the Band of the Hawk overall—it’s a supremely disappointing mess. It still feels like a Musou game, for what that’s worth, but at a $60 price point I couldn’t suggest it to even the hardest of hardcore fans. It adds nothing to the story, adds nothing to the Musou series, and you’d be better served by playing any other Dynasty Warriors game.
Only big Berserk fans should try this one, and even then I'd say wait for a price cut.
There’s no doubting that Berserk and the Band of the Hawk won’t be for everyone – the fact that it’s a Musou game alone will make it a divisive title for gamers. Those who enjoy the games though will find it one of the finest Musou titles to have been released for some time. Everything about ‘Berserk’ works perfectly within the genre, with the series’ brutal combat and massive scale of battles portrayed perfectly in the game. The lack of multiplayer options and the small character roster is a disappointment, but it doesn’t do enough to take anything away from what is otherwise an enthralling experience for both veteran ‘Berserk’ fans and newcomers to the series. There’s hours of savage entertainment to be had with Berserk and the Band of the Hawk and I can’t see myself putting the game down for quite awhile.
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is a dire title, a rare miss from the usually serviceable Omega Force.
Probably the biggest strike against Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is, paradoxically, that it got me into the Berserk franchise.
One of the longest running manga has its own Dynasty Warriors-style game, and hey - it actually works pretty well.
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk captures the essence of the series in spectacular fashion.
Simple, violent and rough around the edges, Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is just like its protagonist, Guts, and equally just as endearing in small doses.
In the end, Berserk and the Band of the Hawk offers plenty of content for fans of the franchise in an impressively presented package.
This title is a good entry point to first experience Berserk for any newcomers to the series. Longtime fans may be annoyed by the reuse of scenes from the Golden Age movies and wish other arcs past that point received more attention - I know I did. But the game's addictive and satisfying combat ensures Berserk and the Band of the Hawk will remain installed on my PS4 throughout 2017.