Werewolf the Apocalypse Earthblood

I am a Wyrm and not a man

So I inadvertently touch on a few vampire topics on this blog, huh? I mean there's 'Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines', pretty sure I've mentioned Vampyr a few times and... I mean I bring up Jojo every now and then...  What I'm trying to establish is that it's high time I gave a little love to their hairy antagonists in the humble Werewolf. Because when we really get down to it, that's the age old question, isn't it? Would you rather be a Vampire or a Werewolf. Similar beings cursed with opposite aversions and a bevy of different rules depending on who you ask, a least with the shaggier brethren no one's asking you to die first in order to join the club. (Then again, not all vampires are technically undead; Dio did famously choose to reject his humanity, remember... and then he was shot several times... but by that point he was technically already a vampire... does that count as undeath?)  It's hard to rightly say, however given that we have two video games coming out that settle on either side of the conflict, perhaps there's a gaming solution somewhere to the age old debate.

Announced earlier this year during what I guess we're just calling 'announcement season' now, a little title called 'Werewolf: The Apocalypse- Earthblood', and as far as naming conventions go they are certainly on their way to giving VTMB a run for it's money. As it just so happens, this here is yet another video game adaptation of an old school RPG that proposes an alternate earth filled to the brim with mythical creatures and monsters who live in secret beside humanity. (It's almost like this game and VTMB went to the same highschool.) The difference comes in that... well there is no difference, this is actually technically another part of the World of Darkness and I have spent the last 30 minutes trying to make sense of that. (FYI; I do not recommend trying to speed-read 20 years of RPG storytelling history) But to woefully oversimply things to a near insulting degree; this is essentially a game covering what's happening in the wider gothic-punk world whilst the LA vampires are busy getting all prissy about 'The Camarilla' and 'The Masquerade', whilst single-handily besmirching the very art of dance in their bloodbanks/nightclubs.

Ever since VTMB, I've found myself vaguely drawn to this world for it's 'one size fits all' approach to horror. They don't just stick vampires in The World of Darkness, no you've got Werewolves, Mummies, Wraiths, Fallen Angels (apparently), and Changelings. (Whatever the heck that is.) Pretty much if you've ever had a childhood fantasy about a mythical creature, these guys have come along and shoved them into an dark, weird role-playing game for you. Thus it makes sense that Werewolf the Apocalypse caught my eye before I even knew it was part of this universe, there's just a universal style to these stories that I gravitate to apparently. (Maybe it's the overly long names... That would certainly explain it.) Plus this game is being made by Cyanide Studio and I already have my eye on them whilst they develop 'Blood Bowl 3', so I was gonna end up looking at this Werewolf game eventually.

Curiously enough there's not a great deal of gameplay out for this title just yet, so all we have to go on for the moment is a pretty stylish CG and a minute of very fast action, so I'm going to focus on the minute. This action adventure fighting title looks to be taking an almost beat-em vibe to the action, or at least that's what I'm seeing from the werewolf (or 'Crinos') form; but the game promises a variety in that there's also the intractability promised as a human and stealth as just a normal wolf; that's right, we're looking at three different forms to make up the gameplay. I can only imagine that this isn't as 'pick your poison' as it sounds, but if it is and you can switch things up to fit the situation, this might be a pretty cool gameplay system. (I always find that the challenges presented by giving players a choice of approach usually encourages some of the best in level design)

All these powers are available to the protagonist as a 'Garou' named Cahal who is apparently perturbed by the impending end of the world. (Hence the subtitle 'Apocalypse'.) From the gameplay trailer we've seen they seem to imply that this is a FFVII situation where unchecked consumption is sending the world spiralling into an abyss, but if I've speed-read the synopsis of the series' correctly then this is a much more biblical 'apocalypse' we're talking about. Also, it's something of an inevitability so I guess the game is being upfront when it tells us that Cahal is about to 'rage' over the situation rather than actively work to do something about it. (Also, this really reflects badly on those lazy asses over in VTMB. Do they even realise the world is ending or are they busy arguing about the quality of bloodlines and who's 'following the rules' correctly? Huh? They're dealing with an entirely separate impending apocalypse of their own? Rough luck for these World of Darkness guys, huh?)

I do get a very 'mother nature strikes back' out of this whole trailer, with the exception being that mother nature, in this instance, is about 8 feet tall and consumes flesh for a hobby. Although beyond the 'striking back at man' angle of the previews I am very interested by some of the more supernatural elements, because the brief glimpses we've seen so far look pretty interesting; as in interesting beyond what you'd expect out of your prototypical 'world of supernatural' affair. The cinematic trailer had all these strange fleshy growths that twisted around the human form and a creature that we spot for a split second of the action trailer looks positively like something out of a body horror. Of course, I don't think this will be the sort of game that'll have a particularly spooky vibe to it, but just plain gross out is fine by me in all honesty.

As someone who is a late comer to all this World of Darkness thing I find myself fascinated with the whole world and the way it plays out in the table top as well as gaming. But if there's one thing which confuses me, it's the way that ever single action game out of this story seems to play into the 'end of the world' storyline, I mean surely there are more aspects of the World of Darkness to delve into. As I understand it, the world as been officially 'ending' since about 2004, with a lot of videogames since have been delving into different signs of the 'end times' on the vampires end and for the Garou too. VTMB dealt with the impending awakening of an Antediluvian (Which is a sign of the endtimes) VTMB 2 will put players in the shoes of a Thinblood (who's overpopulation is another sign of the endtimes) and 'Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood' literal spouts about it's damnation in the trailer, who knows how that'll end up manifesting throughout the game? (And I forgive them for putting 'apocalypse' in the title, as that is from the source material, afterall)

But at the end of the day that's all just nitpicking, I really want to see what the Werewolves in this world are up to and am excited to see the World of Darkness come into the world of gaming more and more. D&D may be making it's slow return to the world of gaming but this is the role playing franchise that has me interested. (I just love alternate history Earth stuff, it gets me all conspiratorial!) As long as Earthblood can let me tear off some faces and be sneaky in the same package, then it's exactly what I'm looking for and ain't nobody that can tell me otherwise.