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Review: Blood of the Werewolf

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Review: Blood of the Werewolf
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Platforms: Windows PC, Steam, XBOX 360

Game Name: Blood of the Werewolf

Publisher: Scientifically Proven

Developer: Scientifically Proven

Genre: Action, Platformer

Release Date: May 9th, 2014

Blood of the Werewolf – What We Think:

Blood of the Werewolf by Scientifically Proven is an intense platform ride in which the tale dominates the experience: A scorned mother, Selena, whose husband has been killed and her son kidnapped must fight her way to the monsters guilty of these offenses.

Indoors, you play as Selena in human form, wielding a crossbow that slays enemies, triggers switches, and randomly shoots once the levels get too hard. Upon entering the moonlight phase, you become a powerful werewolf, and with this metamorphosis comes increased agility and strength. The transition between these forms is so seamless that when it first occurred, I wondered what exactly had gone down.

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Shoot, Jump or Cry

With a keyboard/mouse combo, you use the standard AD keys to move left and right and mouse for aim a full 360 degrees this can make for some cool fade-away crossbow action! This game also features controller support, and I’d advise playing it that way as the keyboard interface seems to pose some problems. For example, jumping is a simple task made complicated by the fact that the longer you hold the spacebar down the higher you jump (something I suspect a pressure sensor in a controller will do much better than a keyboard). When a mere brush against any spike in a level equals instant death, these spotty key functions can make for an unduly complicated and frustrating time.

Each character – Selena and the Werewolf – has its own special ability too with more to be discovered the further you progress into the game. The double crossbow bolt is particularly fun, especially in close calls where you need that extra damage!

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Different monsters have different attacks as well as a lot of tricky map areas, like the “Drop of doom” I am calling it; miss it by a little, end up squished like a bug! You cannot decide when you want to change into werewolf form, as it is purely dependent upon the moon phase. I did often wish I could control it because some areas would have been easier in the other form, but that is not how this game works. Similarly, levels take a linear path to completion – there is no way but forward.

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Challenge-wise, Blood of the Werewolf oscillates from “A walk in the park” to “A walk in the park with landmines, all the while being hunted by a ravenous lion and bear.” There is no happy medium: It is either cakewalk-easy or wickedly difficult. This might ultimately be the game’s Achilles’ heal; in spite of all the intriguing artwork and story concepts, there is no natural curve for getting the hang of things and then improving your capabilities with the challenges. The difficulty is very uneven.

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There are three game modes I came across: Normal – which is the campaign storyline. Rush – which is basically a speedrun version of levels you have completed – includes collectibles which increase your score and/or time. The Neverending mode is exactly what it sounds like: the longer you last, the more lives you collect, but in the end a few wrong moves and you’re back to the beginning. This can get very repetitive, as I came across a few levels that were the same design in the space of 2 minutes.

No Guts, No Glory

Some games just leave a feeling in your stomach, and whether that feeling is good or bad is dependent on a variety of differing factors. When done right, players can forget that they’re playing a game at all – they are immersed in the game by simply having the correct score, tempo and sound effects. My mother told me that if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all? Well I do have something nice to say and this is one of the best sounding games I have played!

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The only minor quibble I have with the game is that upon death, there is a scene with a hand raising out of the ground and a quote written on the screen. It goes away too quick to actually read. As much as I hate dying, I deliberately offed myself a few times to try and get a good look at this.

Pure Lunacy

All told, Scientifically Proven has created a well-rounded, fun, puzzle-platformer. The gripping story will lead you into darker territory, but you’ll be wanting more. Unfortunately, for anyone craving a more moderate difficulty setting, there is none to be found. You’ll have to take the same lumps as the core gamers. That aside, it’s still well worth the time to play and the narrative highly elevates the solid gameplay experience.

Blood of the Werewolf is available on Steam

[xrr rating=”4/5″]

Watch the official trailer for Blood of the Werewolf below: