Blood of the Werewolf Review
A Journalistic Review by DefiantParrot
10/27/2016
*Spoilers
May Be Ahead*
Developer: Scientifically Proven
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| (1) This looks freakin' awesome! |
Publisher: Scientifically Proven
Platform: Xbox Live Arcade
Genre: Platformer
Release: July 11, 2014
Horror
is subjective, like many things. So to one person seeing a horror movie could
be the highlight of their day, enjoying the fear and rush of adrenaline a good
fright can give. To another, it is an uninteresting activity. Not looking for
or maybe even understanding the love some people have for the genre.
I fall somewhere in the middle, I enjoy a good fright and
creepy story but most horror movies just irritate me for having stupid
protagonists, lame monsters and even dumber storytelling. I do love a good
horror game however, even if the monsters are stupid the gameplay can more than
make up for that if done well.
Blood of the Werewolf was originally released exclusively
for computers back in 2013. The reviews for it were mixed and didn’t garner a
lot of attention at least I never heard about it. Fast forward to 2014 and it
was released again this time for the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade,
and that’s where I come in.
I remember seeing a short review of this from a youtube
channel CGRUndertow, and it intrigued me a bit, I’ve never finished a 2D styled
platformer before, not even a Mario game. So I decided this would be the game,
I bought the game and immediately… never played it. Well today that is going to
change, time to scratch this off of my backlog and play Blood of the Werewolf.
Now you may be wondering, Parrot why did you waste our
time with that discussion about horror movies? Well my sweet summer child, I
did because Blood of the Werewolf is obviously inspired by classic horror movies.
Complete with black and white introductions screens for each level.
The game begins with a narration from the main
protagonist Selena, her home has been destroyed and she is heavily injured with
her husband murdered. If that isn’t bad enough her infant son Nikoli has been
stolen from her. With a rage fueling her only a mother would understand, Selena
sets out into the night to rescue her son and rip apart the people who
destroyed her family.
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| (2) Walk it off! |
So not exactly the deepest story I’m aware, but as a
father myself, it is a pretty good motivator, but if it ended there this would
be very generic I know. However it doesn’t just end there. Selena and her
family are the last of the Werewolves, hence the title of this game.
The gameplay here is classic platforming gameplay. With
many enemies to kill and dodge, narrow jumps to be made and hazards to
overcome. The gameplay here can be white knuckling, and extremely frustrating.
If you make the mistake of believing this game will be an easy play it will
quickly and harshly slap you out of that dream.
Now if you’re game is going to be Super Meat Boy levels
of difficult the most important thing you have get right is the controls, and
thankfully that is the case here. Selena controls very well in this game with
complete control over her movement in mid-air. If you die in this game it is
because you messed up not because of the controls, and make peace with that.
You WILL die in this game.
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| The game looks better in motion |
The gameplay is broken up into two sections Selena as a
human, she is armed with a crossbow you find early on, and is able to fire her
bolts at any time. Be it running or jumping you are always able to fire that
crossbow and learning how to do it at the right time, is very rewarding for
those difficult sections. You have to aim it with the right analog stick and
while it is awkward at first, once you are over that learning curve and you
have that down and you clear a difficult room, all of the frustration, curse
words, and broken appliances are more than worth it for that feeling of
accomplishment.
The second bit of gameplay is when Selena transforms into
her werewolf form, Selena can double jump in this form and is capable of
dealing more damage. It’s this form you’ll be in most of the time to battle the
bosses in this game. The controls for both of these styles is again, really
well done and I felt in complete control of both forms of Selena on her quest
for vengeance.
During gameplay there are hidden secrets and upgrades for
Selena’s crossbow and werewolf form that can be found hidden in levels of this
game. Really promoting exploration and for you Metroidvania fans out there
might just sate that itch Nintendo and Konami aren’t interested in helping you
with anymore.
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| I do love blood soaked revenge stories! |
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| (5) That's not Nemo! |
Now thankfully while you may die a lot in this game, the
loading times are mercifully short, quickly getting you back into the game.
There is a checkpoint in every new room, so you’ll never find yourself having
to redo entire sections. They do a good job of keeping you moving through this
game and does not punish you for making a mistake.
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| (6) I'm not the only one who sees it right? |
The game is very bright and colorful, which is very
appealing on the eyes. The enemy models of Ghouls, Vampires and Skeletons look
really good. Selena’s wolf form is also really well done, colorful yet
intimidating in all the right ways. However the character model for Selena
herself is a bit odd. In the Beastiary section you get a close up of her model
and she doesn’t look well done at all. Her face doesn’t look right and her
shoulders are weird, it just doesn’t look good to me. And what’s with the dress
that she ripped straight from Disney’s Tarzan?
The voice acting in this game is also incredible, in
between levels Selena will speak as if talking to her son Nikoli and Erin Cummings
does an amazing job here portraying many emotions love, sorrow, fear and anger
extremely well. I’m not sure what else this woman has done. But I sincerely
hope she has done and will continue to do more voice acting. The other voice
acting is also really well done, such as Chris Kagel as Dr. Frankenstein and
definitely Matthew Kohylarek as Dracula.
The bosses in this game are based off of classic horror
movie villains such as the aforementioned Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster. I
will not spoil the others because it is nice for a surprise to come up. The one
in the graveyard in particular caught me by surprise.
 |
| (7) Apparently this is a crossover with "Saw" |
The last thing I will complain about is admittedly me
nickpicking, but I’m not sure what the tone for this game is supposed to be.
The black and white level title cards and the story and Selena’s determination
make it seem this game is trying to be serious. Yet the bright colors, and
video game references in the loading screen made me laugh so for me at least
there was a bit of a mood whiplash with this game. That might just be me
though.
Now originally I heard through the grapevine that the
ending to this game disappointed a lot of people and actually angered some, so
I was prepared for that, and admittedly when it got to that ending scene I was
sitting on my couch saying “bullshit!” quite loudly. However there was a scene
added at the end to try and alleviate those feelings and I felt it did a really
good job. Now I am hoping this game receives a sequel because now I want to see
how Selena has to go up against this new foe.
Upon completing this game there is a Score Rush mode
which involves trying to get the highest score possible in the allotted time.
And Endless Challenge which is pretty self-explanatory I feel.
All in all Blood of the Werewolf is a pretty good game.
The challenge isn’t for everyone and I definitely can only recommend this game
to people who love platformers or wish to give one a try.
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| For when you almost matter |
Fans of platformers should definitely try this. Horror
movie fans might get a kick out of the nod to old school horror movies. I hope
to see a sequel in the future, because I feel Selena’s story is far from over.
References Pics:
1. https://steamcommunity.com/app/260250
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMnPFstE7mA
3. http://www.purexbox.com/games/xbox-360/blood_of_the_werewolf/screenshots (2017)
4. http://www.purexbox.com/games/xbox-360/blood_of_the_werewolf/screenshots (2017)
5. http://www.push-start.co.uk/game-review/game-review-blood-of-the-werewolf-pc/ (2016)
6. http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Jane_Porter
7. http://www.xboxaddict.com/Staff-Review/13795/news/13675/New-Sniper-Ghost-Warrior-3-Gameplay-Video.html (2000-2017)
8. (8) http://www.qualitycoast.info/?page_id=902 (2015
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