Compared to World of Darkness' better known vampire counterpart, Werewolf: the Apocalypse has flown under the radar as far as video games go. Now finally Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood gets to take center stage. There's a matter of tempering expectations first as Eartblood is not an RPG some were lead to believe, but rather action meets stealth. Was it worth the wait, though?

It doesn't take long for disaster to strike our protagonist Cahal of the Fianna tribe as he loses his wife in a raid on an evil corporation called Endron. This results in him abandoning his own pack as well as his daughter, and going on a five year self-imposed exile after losing himself to Rage. Until he hears they, now operating with human activists, continued to fight the good fight and his daughter Aedana had stepped into her mother's former role – being an inside woman. Looking to redeem himself Cahal returns and if there's a chance he gets to avenge his wife all the better for it.

In this setting werewolves, or Garou, fight to save the world at the behest of its very own spiritual representation called Gaia. This “saving” takes place in many shapes, but is primarily characterized by maintaining the balance between material and spiritual realms. In modern times this tends to effectively mean becoming eco-terrorists who fight polluting corporations, literally or otherwise seeing as everything has a spiritual equivalent in the realm of Umbra, acting under the auspice of less well-meaning spirits. These entities seek to unbalance the status quo for their own benefit all the while Garou serve as Gaia's warriors combating such incursions.

There's a metric TON of lore to all of this and I've given you the cliff notes version which is more than Earthblood does because it aims to keep your focus grounded. This can be somewhat jarring as you get to interact with your pack's spiritual Totem spirit, for example, but still.

What struck me as strange is just how minimal the experience you're getting here is. For example, Cahal's tribe? Game will barely even mention that unless you read the notes scattered about. That's not even getting into his character. He's a gruff and almost stoic type which seems to be at odds with Fianna image of warrior poets or loud braggarts, depending on who's answering. Characters themselves never really get much attention and it's fortunate that goes hand-in-hand with a likewise simple approach to story game has. There's two pillars to it: avenging those you cherish and saving the planet. It just so happens that, be it your hacker Kinfolk or Silver Talon pack leader, everyone can conveniently direct their anger at Endron. I did like how there were some attempts to ambiguity later on, but it's portrayed in such obvious manner you can immediately figure out something is wrong. Only people who may be fooled in this instance, ironically, are fans of the property who know about a certain anti-human tribe's ways.

Enough waffling about the story bits because it's time to get into gameplay. This is where I got blindsided by how the game approaches action and stealth so they work perfectly together. You have three forms to work with, after all.

Stealth in a game driven entirely by turning into Crinos aka hulking wolfman destroyer form dedicated to combat alone, which comes with its own Agile and Heavy stances, is tempered by the presence of Lupus form where you assume the shape of a regular wolf. Now that I think about it Cahal's human form is mainly there to press switches and talk to scant few other characters, it's the action and stealth ones pulling most of the weight. So how does an action game manage to integrate stealth without it feeling tacked on? Simple – by making stealth entirely optional, but beneficial to engage in all the while keeping the doors ajar enough so stealth can always escalate into action. I had a good laugh when the only mission where Cahal is seemingly set for a stealthy approach can just be hacked and slashed through leaving your contact wondering what you're going to do now. Protagonist answers he'll think of something.

I wish Earthblood had more there to work with. For me it boiled down to “stealth became too cumbersome, combat became too annoying” as game kept throwing more obtuse level layouts and enemy compositions at you. Probably not helped by the fact you're largely confined to corridors with plenty of chest high walls to hide behind, cameras to avoid and fuse boxes to sabotage incoming reinforcements with. Reasoning behind why you would want to do SOME stealth has less to do with thinning out enemy ranks, as they'll send waves of reinforcements, and more with building up your Rage which lets you use special abilities. You can also generate it in combat, but why not prepare beforehand? Cahal can also use a crossbow to deal out damage and flasks to increase Rage, but I honestly never found much use for either. On normal difficulty cameras were never an issue because combat isn't really an issue to begin with. Sure, some enemies are trickier as silver damage can limit your max health until you upgrade your skills a bit, but nothing you can't work around with some dodges or target prioritization. I also wish an action game like this had more worthwhile bosses instead of couple I actually remember.

Skills? Yes, I've saved the best or worst for last. Further enforcing the whole “play it your way” is the way in which progression via Spirit points isn't at all tied to how you play. You get some from mission completion, but 90% comes from tracking down vagrant spirits scattered throughout levels. This means regular backtracking throughout the level to find the ones you've missed with your Batman, errr, Umbra vision and Lupus form's detection upgrade should be the first one you buy. These points can then be spent on Tactical or Combat skills. Just keep something in mind – Earthblood doesn't feature level selection. Make sure you get them Spirits as you need them if you want to get ALL the skills by end game.

In conclusion I can say game had me hooked enough to not only collect all the Spirits along the way, but also to replay the final mission to see both endings. Amusingly enough side missions ended up being the most frustrating aspect of a game that teaches you to rely on Umbra vision only to expect you can locate things without reliance on it. As far as soundtrack goes I cannot remember much, but sound effects were crunchy enough even with general lack of gore. I'd say they nailed the overall feeling of Werewolf: the Apocalypse down to how the game ends.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Werewolf: the Apocalypse – Earthblood manages to marry action and stealth in a manner where neither is slighted, but action is the real deal here. Werewolf Cahal returns to his Pack after five years of exile following a disastrous mission only to see they've gotten in deeper fighting an evil corporation out to endanger the world. Get ready to hunt for spirits throughout levels with magical vision in order to upgrade your skills, skulk around as a wolf and cause havoc in werewolf form once the alarm starts blaring. Story is there with all its “save the planet” glory, but it's the freedom to play your way that sold Earthblood to me. Even if you'll mostly fight similar enemies for a while and monotonous warehouses and office locales. Good pinky dip for the franchise and here's hoping for more.