Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves
Review
Tinkerer by day, hunter by night
by Zee Salahuddin
reviewed on PC
Hunter by Night (cntd)
Swinging the axe and sprinting will both rapidly drain stamina. You must also carefully monitor health, as you will get thrashed, especially while trying to learn the game. Combat has several elements, the most interesting of which is your personal threat meter. Enemies will not attack you unless their aggression matches or overpowers your intimidation level. These two bars overlap and the equal points slowly move toward each other as the battle progresses. An in-game marker tells you which enemy is likely to attack next, so you can prioritize shots and attacks. Your arsenal can be imbued with blessings from the local church, and your ammunition can be augmented with silver for increased and decisively lethal damage.
During combat, you must use a lot of elements in the environment, as well as personal abilities, to your advantage. You can shout, attracting nearby enemies, while increasing your intimidation level. If you are smart, you can lure enemies into traps using this mechanic. You can light bonfires to keep the lupine demons at bay for a limited amount of time. You can dodge, roll, sprint and climb. You can also improve your statistics and abilities with a full-blown skill tree that unlocks after the first mission. Oh and did I mention, the map alters slightly every night?
Presentation Matters
The game is ugly. This is not a pastry factory, we do not have to sugarcoat anything. The in-game sequences are barren landscapes sparingly dotted with a few trees and the occasional, indestructible, doodad. But the map itself is bare, uninteresting and almost always in perpetual darkness, save for a limited radius around you. The cut-scenes are terribly rendered, disjointed and at times outright laughable.
Where the video fails, the audio succeeds. The same cut-scenes above have decent voice-acting. The gentleman who carefully walks you through every possible element in various tutorials is a treat, both for the depth of the information shared and the stark weightiness and gravity with which he shares it. The sound design is solid, with howls that raise hackles, and gunshots that have a meaty, satisfying kick to them.
Conclusion
Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves is a brilliant game, peppered with original ideas, a unique setting, and an interesting premise. It is a clever amalgamation of asynchronous tower defense and synchronous brawling. It teems with pride and gusto, and should be lauded for attempting something bold, fresh and inimitable. It just needed a little more love, a little more time, and much better visuals.
7.6
fun score
Pros
Unique setting, idea, mechanics and execution, solid sound design, surprisingly deep.
Cons
Ugly, almost no replay value, no compelling narrative, oh and did I mention it's ugly?
