Werewolf: The Apocalypse Becomes Werewolf: Earth Blood, Previews
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Not only have Focus Home and Cyanide Studio been busy showcasing more of their upcoming Werewolf-based role-playing game at their What's Next event, but they've also revealed that the game is now sporting a new "Earth Blood" subtitle. We begin with the subtitle news in this article on Gamereactor:
In Werewolf: Earth Blood (you might have heard it called Werewolf: The Apocalypse before), the upcoming RPG from Cyanide Studio, players will take control of a eco-terrorist, and throughout the story you'll mix things up as you play as either a human, a wolf, or a werewolf, managing your anger as you look to save the planet from humanity's greed.
While Cyanide is handling development duties, White Wolf is working with the studio to deliver an experience that stays true to the pen and paper RPG, while also bringing the contemporary fantasy setting to a whole new audience. At the root of the experience - which they're calling a "systemic RPG" - is rage management, and how angry the player-character gets will determine how you play. So, for example, the angrier you get, you're more likely to go into a frenzy and may not be able to distinguish friend from foe.
Next, we move to a preview on WCCFTech:
Become angry, and your character might start lashing out, killing innocent civilians or important characters. Lose control too much, however, and the player falls to the lure of the same destructive forces they were trying to stop, ending the game. Managing this anger throughout Werewolf: The Apocalypse promises to be an interesting task, given that succumbing to the rage in small doses will have benefits during combat according to the developers. You can freely transform between wolf (Lupus) and human (Homid) form, but you can become the true embodiment of your fury as a hybrid (Crinos). This form is the most powerful but once you enter it, you can only leave when combat is finished, and you must fight against the clock or be lost completely to the rage.
That’s not to say the other forms aren’t useful. Quite the opposite is true, in fact: with the Homid form, Cahal is able to blend in the urban environments of the game, engage in dialogues and stealthily take down enemies either in melee or at range with his crossbow. With the Lupus form, Cahal can travel quickly, explore natural environments and track scents just like a wolf.
Followed by another on Games Radar:
As Desourteaux puts it, “the question we want to ask the character is ‘when will you rage’?”. When your rage meter fills up, you can unleash it in a devastating range of powerful attacks as the Krynos, with each finishing move slightly lowering your rage. If you’d rather stealth than start ripping apart everything in sight, there are apparently ways to manage your anger and make sure it doesn’t get too high. Because what Desourteaux wants most is for the “player to change forms and analyse situations”, turning into a Krynos when it best suits them rather than feeling like they have to give in to their rage in the quests being thrown their way.
Tearing apart your enemies looks deliciously fun. Be careful, though. Indulge too much in that ferocious behaviour and you’ll go into Frenzy mode, where your attacks become especially devastating. If you stay in Frenzy mode too long, you run the risk of being ‘touched by the Wyrm’, which is an immediate game over as its corrupting influence, well, corrupts you. To end Frenzy mode and ensure this doesn’t happen, you need to kill everyone around you, according to Desourteaux. Even your friends. “You have to kill your allies as well,” he says, “because you see them as a threat. When you go into Frenzy, you’re not able to recognise everybody - everyone looks like a threat”. Like an awkward family reunion, the game will remember that you massacred your friends. Your brutality will affect future quests, the ways NPCs behave towards you, and even what kind of enemies you face.
