During our time at E3, we had the chance to sit down with publisher Bigben Interactive behind closed doors and see their new game, Werewolf the Apocalypse: Earthblood, developed by Cyanide.

Taking place in the Whitewolf’s World of Darkness universe, Werewolf offers players a more visceral and combat orientate game compared to the other World of Darkness game, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2.

Werewolf is very much an action game with some stealth elements added in as well. The player will take on the role of Cahal, an eco-terrorist Werewolf from the Fianna tribe.

Early on in the game, Cahal witnesses a traumatic event and is banished from his tribe. Later on, however, he returns to his clan as a Ronin, a werewolf without a clan in order to master his rage and the Wyrm infection/curse he currently suffers under.

As a werewolf, Cahal is intune with the natural world and a large part of his mission is to fight against the Pentex Corporation defiling the natural world and ravaging his homeland.

I will admit to knowing very little about the setting of Werewolf the Apocalypse, but I was assured by Bigben that even a player who knows relatively little to nothing about the lore and setting of Werewolf the Apocalypse will be able to play through and understand the game, due to in-game story and lore explanations.

We were shown off several different combat actions that Cahal will be able to perform during the game. He is able to quickly transform in to a full lupine form and fast travel through the large stages as he completes his objectives in each area.

In wolf form, he is also able to see Wyrm corruption which will act as a form of poison if he enters in to it. Not only that, but as a wolf, he is able to enter and traverse areas he would not normally be able to reach.

In human form, he can traverse around the area as normal, but also perform a bit of stealth, taking down enemies before they can enter combat.

Finally, Cahal does in fact a werewolf form which he can enter in to during combat. This is where most of the action in Werewolf takes places. Quickly transforming in to werewolf form, Cahal can rip and tear in to human and vampiric foes alike. There are two big mechanics at play during combat in Werewolf, namely: Rage and Corruption.

Rage will increase your combat prowess and will also heal Cahal when he focuses it during combat. However, when he reaches a certain threshold of Rage, the corruption of the Wyrm manifests as writing tentacles that sprout from his body.

At this point, if his rage increases much more, it is game over for the player. When Rage reaches the max level, regardless of anything else, the game ends and Cahal fails.

Only a scant few details about the game world were shared with us during the demo, as it was mostly focused on gameplay and combat. What we can say is that several other rival werewolf clans will make an appearance in Werewolf the Apocalypse, such as Glass Walkers and Black Furies.

Since Cahal is a werewolf and deeply intune with the natural world, spirits of the world will help him in his quest while he is in the penumbra. These quests will at first revolve around and be given by a great tree spirit that Cahal can commune with.

You can find our original article about Werewolf the Apocalypse: Earthblood here. We have a follow up article that you can find here.

Werewolf the Apocalypse: Earthblood is slated for release sometime in 2020 and will be available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.