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Given that I’ve discussed Werewolf: the Apocalypse, the tabletop RPG by White Wolf, in a couple of other posts, I just knew I had to say something about the recent gameplay trailer that came out for the upcoming game.

In case you haven’t been keeping up on your White Wolf news lately, yes, there’s going to be a Werewolf: the Apocalypse game. (There’s also going to be another Vampire: the Masquerade game, but that’s a discussion for another time.) Normally, I’d be ecstatic to see someone doing something with this amazing franchise that otherwise seems to have been forgotten.

Having seen the gameplay trailer, though, I have some misgivings. I’ve decided to share some of my thoughts in this Werewolf: the Apocalypse – Earthblood Gameplay Trailer review.

What is Werewolf: the Apocalypse – Earthblood?

For those White Wolf fans like me who may have been living under a rock, let’s pause for a second to cover what the game is.

The game is called Werewolf: the Apocalypse – Earthblood, and it’s slated for release in February of 2021. According to the Wikipedia page, it’s an action RPG starring Cahal, a Garou (werewolf) from the Fianna tribe. (I discussed the Fianna tribe in a bit more detail in our post about the best Werewolf: the Apocalypse tribes, if you’d like some more info on that.)

In the game, Cahal has returned to the tribe he was exiled from after something unspecified happened to his daughter. He then, along with his tribe, seeks to combat the evil Pentex corporation, known for its assault on the environment.

Click on the thumbnail below to watch the gameplay trailer I’ll be discussing.

My Reviewing Criteria

I’m not an official game reviewer/critic, and I don’t ever intend to be. I can’t give you a super-technical review analyzing specs or tearing apart the gameplay, because I’m too casual of a gamer to do so.

For that reason, the aspects I’m going to be reviewing are much shallower, and I ask that you bear with me. They include the following:

  • Music
  • Graphics
  • Theme/Mood
  • Gameplay

Music

I simply couldn’t discuss the trailer without mentioning the odd choice of music. To be honest, I can’t say I spend a whole lot of time watching gameplay trailers, so for all I know this could be the norm, but…doesn’t it seem weird that they chose a song that sounds straight out of the 2000’s nu metal craze?

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. As a millennial, I went through my teenage angst phase when that cringey nu metal was at its prime, so part of me is living for the song in the trailer.

Then there’s another part of me that really listens to it and thinks it’s the kind of music someone would use to make a terrible AMV for InuYasha or something.

At any rate, I’ll probably secretly put the song on one of my hidden playlists and listen to it on repeat without telling anyone.

(The song, by the way, is “Kai Tangata” by Alien Weaponry, and it’s written entirely in the Maori language. That’s actually pretty awesome.)

Graphics

Oh, boy. I know for a fact I’m not the only person who noticed that the graphics in this trailer look reminiscent of the PS2 era, because the comment section is flooded with similar observations.

I’m not sure why a gameplay trailer would look so dated these days. Are those old, blurry graphics making a comeback that I don’t know about? That’s entirely possible, because I’ve been so into Stardew Valley these days that I might simply not have noticed this shift in the video game graphical paradigm.

Jokes aside, I’m really disappointed in how it looks visually. Granted, there’s still some time before it comes out. Maybe some changes will be made in the meantime.

Theme/Mood

I wasn’t really sure what else to title this section, but knew I had to discuss the overall theme of the game. There’s a lot to like and to dislike here, based on what you see in the trailer alone.

For instance, you can tell the developers have done their research on the world of Werewolf: the Apocalypse. Not only do we get to see some of the havoc being wreaked on the environment by the corporation, but you can clearly see Fomori at one point. (Fomori are essentially evil spirits bound into animals or humans by Pentex – these would be the weird, alien-like monsters you see several seconds into the trailer.)

These are all details that I like to see…but what I don’t like to see is the lack of character customization. That’s at complete odds with the spirit of the tabletop RPG, in which you create a character from scratch whom you’ll enjoy playing as.

I’m not sure I want to play as Cahal. He’s your stereotypical, grizzled, middle-aged male protagonist with that gritty past you see in video games everywhere. Characters like him are a dime a dozen.

Gameplay

Remember what I said earlier about not being a super technical or skilled reviewer? This section is where that whole bit comes in.

Like I said, I can’t absolutely tear apart gameplay with technical terminology. However, I can tell you that, as a casual player and lover of White Wolf games, I’m really disappointed to see this game going in such a beat ‘em up kind of direction.

To me, it looks as if the developers just took God of War and re-skinned it to be Werewolf: the Apocalypse. Some will argue that this is entirely appropriate, because of all White Wolf’s tabletop RPGs, Werewolf: the Apocalypse was the most combat-oriented one.

It’s true that werewolves are, for the most part, insanely powerful warriors. But they also have a deeply spiritual and magical side, and I fear that this part of the world is going to be neglected in clichéd fight scenes.

Furthermore, like I had said earlier, I dislike the absence of any character customization. I’d prefer to have options.

I want to be able to choose my appearance, tribe, auspice, and breed.  I want to be able to create a character I could truly bond with, because Cahal definitely isn’t it.

Verdict: Am I Going to Buy It?

So, does all of this mean I’m not going to buy the game?

That’s a really tough question for me to answer. I’ve never been the person to judge games based on their trailers and pre-release hype alone before. Those things have let me down too often.

Instead, I prefer to wait for the game to be released, so I can look at gameplay from casual players like myself and see what they think. I like to see reviews from un-biased reviewers.

But if you told me I had to decide now, I’d probably say that I’m leaning more towards not playing it. The gameplay trailer seems at complete odds with the spirit that was conveyed in an earlier cinematic trailer. I’ve posted that one below, so you can see what I mean.

Not only did the cinematic trailer touch on that spiritual side that I feel more befits the world, but it looked nicer. I get that it was probably pre-rendered, but it’s still disappointing to see such a stark difference between it and the actual gameplay.

Wrap Up

In the end, I can’t make a final decision on this game until I see more of it. I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll some improvement before release, though.

What did you think of the trailers? I’d love to hear your opinion. If you have any additional comments, please feel free to leave one below.

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