Reviews
[Review] ‘Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood’ is a Rough and Ready Action Game with Satisfying Werewolf Combat
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is very much like one of those horror films where it’s a bit shoddy, you know the budget isn’t especially high, but it has blood flying about, and an enthusiastic charm that shines through.
The latest in a variety of games that draw from the monster-filled World of Darkness universe is, on the surface, a relatively standard third-person action game where you take control of a grizzled white guy scrapping against an evil force, and for portions of the game that is extremely true. It’s at least not a traditional action game plot. Cahal, an eco-terrorist banished from his group long ago, is dragged back into a battle against sinister corporation Pentex. Oh, and he’s a Garou; part of a werewolf tribe that is being forced out of their home by the actions of Pentex. Across the game’s story, he will sabotage and destroy Pentex’s facilities to drive it back out of the Garou’s homeland, and save the environment from disaster.
Cahal’s transformation abilities see him able to become a regular wolf or a hulking werewolf, and each of his three forms comes with its own flavor of gameplay. In human form, Cahal converses with others, is able to get into regular human-occupied spaces without alarms being raised, and perform stealth takedowns. As a regular wolf, the action shifts into stealth, with Cahal able to slink about just out of eyeshot of guards. When spotted, the action really starts, and he can unleash his rage-fueled werewolf form to snap and tear enemies to shreds, reverting back to human form when a room is cleared of threats.
This cycle of human-to-wolf-to-werewolf does become somewhat predictable as there’s a clear definition of what you can or cannot be in any given area, but slipping between these forms remains satisfying nonetheless. Plodding around the same safe areas as human Cahal over and over would get old quick if not for the instantaneous ability to shift into wolf form and go bounding around the place. Unleashing the werewolf form sees Cahal burst into a mass of fur and fury that often feels cathartic after sneaking past enemy after enemy only to get spotted by a camera you missed. In this form, the game is essentially a hack and slash action game, with Cahal able to gain new Pentax employee-slaying abilities as he progresses and finds collectibles.
It makes the stealth feel a little pointless at times, but that does serve a tactical purpose beyond simply avoiding a fight (you rarely actually end up avoiding a fight for long, hence the occasional feeling of pointlessness). Whilst sneaking, Cahal can switch off cameras, open doors, and sabotage the deployment gates for reinforcements to cause soldiers damage before they ever get to join the fight.
Combat is easily where the game is most enjoyable to actually play. The vicious whirling dervish that is Cahal’s werewolf form isn’t the most refined fighter, but the indiscriminate manner in which he attacks his foes lends itself to the idea this is a creature Cahal himself can barely contain (shown best when it goes into full-blown rage mode). Cahal’s swift return to human form after the last enemy has been destroyed feels like a part of that too. He’d really prefer not to risk losing himself to the spiritual force known as the Wyrm, but when confronted by an inescapable threat, he has no choice.
Fair play to developer Cyanide, it has leaned on the RPG roots of the series to give this story empathy and subtlety beneath its otherwise ordinary surface. Cahal often reconvenes with his former wolf clan between missions. Engaging them in choice-based conversations about their shared past, and the imposing threat Pentax poses to their homeland. Yes, it’s all a bit like a literal Dances With Wolves plot-wise, but the eco-warrior angle in a video game story is honestly a refreshing way to paint the whole ‘chosen one vs. the system’ narrative. Despite the violence against them, the clan generally just want to be left alone, but Pentax increasingly makes that impossible so they fight back simply for their own survival, even if they find it hard to go that far.
The morality of it isn’t really in question as the message is clear. This company is fouling up the environment and taking a homeland by force. There’s every reason for the kind of rage and fury Cahal shows, but even he’s hoping for another solution beyond violence as he doesn’t want to embrace that side of himself.
Where the game actually suffers is in its presentation. While it can look pretty decent in places (mainly in Cahal himself), it’s thoroughly underwhelming on a technical level. Janky, stiff animations, character models that feel a good couple of generations behind the curve, and the uninspired and repetitive level design do little to help endear Earthblood to the player. It does at least keep a steadier framerate than past Cyanide titles, so it’s crucially not overly unpleasant to play. To be honest, when you get down to it and are playing, it’s easy to let the issues slide as Earthblood is entertaining. It’s when things slow down for conversations and story development, an important spoke in Earthblood’s wheel, that those blemishes come to the fore. It probably wouldn’t be such a problem if this was on a regular Xbox One, but it’s not exactly a showcase for the power of the Xbox Series X.
Still, with the strength of the World of Darkness’s rich universe of lore backing it up, Earthblood is far more compelling than it first appears. Just as it looks like a formulaic, repetitive, action game, it throws enough odd stuff and interesting characters into the mix to add a bit of unique pep to proceedings. It would be unfair to call Earthblood ‘mindless fun’ given it has a more positive message to it than a lot of action games, but its easygoing blend of action, stealth, and narrative adventure certainly make it surprisingly simple to get into despite essentially being three games stapled together.
Plus, flipping out and eviscerating hapless goons and mechs as a powerful werewolf doesn’t get old.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood review code for Xbox Series X provided by the publisher.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is out now on Xbox One, Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC.
Reviews
‘Hungry’ Review – Finally, a Film Brave Enough to Call Out Hippos for the Monsters They Truly Are
When it comes to the animal attack subgenre of horror, there’s a hierarchy of sorts with the wildlife in question. Killer shark movies are easily the most ubiquitous, while alligators/crocodiles, dogs, bears, and snakes probably lead the rest of the pack.
It’s often worth paying attention, though, when a filmmaker targets a more atypical animal threat, including the likes of Jonathan King’s Black Sheep or Juan Piquer Simón’s Slugs. A new contender rumbles its way onto the screen this month, and while we all grew up thinking hippos are rotund cuties, the truth is far more frightening – this hippo is Hungry.
Sistine (Madison Davenport) and her best friend, Hannah (Olivia Bernstone), are enjoying a vacation in New Orleans, hoping to drown out their troubles back home. They sign up for an early morning bayou tour known for its alligator sightings and are joined by four other tourists and the boat’s skipper, Rodrigo (Michel Curiel). An uneventful trip sees Rodrigo take the group off the beaten path, but when an animal in the water capsizes their boat, the group finds themselves trapped in the swamp by something unexpected and deadly.
It’s a hippo. There’s a hippo in the bayou, and it’s not happy about all these pesky people.
From Joy Houck’s Creature from Black Lake to Walter Hill’s Southern Comfort to Adam Green’s Hatchet, the movies have warned us time and again not to go into the swampy bayous of Louisiana. Those cautionary tales are appreciated, though, as bigfoot, inbred hicks, and undead serial killers are a very real threat. But hippos? In the bayou? Well, that just seems silly.
And yet, Hungry plays its blubbery, big-toothed threat with deadly seriousness, and it’s all the better for it. “But Rob,” I can already hear some of you saying, “just yesterday you reviewed the new shark attack film, Chum, and said it suffered from taking itself too seriously. What gives?” For one thing, you’re misquoting me, but more importantly, the reference there was more of an observation on the animal attack subgenre successes as a whole. The “fun” ones tend to succeed more often than their more serious counterparts, but a dramatic and thrilling time can still be found with filmmakers who know what they’re doing.
Chum may be serious, but it’s also poorly written/performed, lacking in any degree of tension, devoid of personality, and so on. By contrast, Hungry lets its suspense build on the backs of engaging characters, good performances, and believable writing. Only one of its ensemble is obnoxious – a major feat for this kind of film – but even then, their motivations are both well-written and understandable.
The rest of the characters are people you’d be happy to see survive the night, and rather than looking forward to the next kill, director James Nunn and his cast leave us uncertain and nervous about who’s going to go belly up. The nervous business traveler wanting to get back to her kids? The family of three celebrating lost loved ones while on their vacation? Joaquim de Almeida’s Walker, an old hunter, is introduced saying, “The only cute hippo is a dead hippo,” so you pretty much know where he’ll end up.
To that end, the film teases out its hippo’s first appearance until well into the ninety-minute running time. We get ripples and splashes, but it’s only around the midway point that we get our first real look at the beast, and it looks fantastic. Nunn goes on to show the hippo in all its glory, and it’s a convincing antagonist brought to life through practical prosthetic effects and digital work. From the ear twitches to the beast’s giant maw opening wide with awe and malice, the hippo’s presence feels part of the action. There’s a tangible nature to it, something practical effects excel at while digital effects sometimes fail to convince of, and both succeed here with quality work from all involved.
While we get brief exteriors early on and some visually appealing drone shots, the bulk of the film unfolds on what looks to be a highly believable, set-dressed water tank (but could very well be an actual location, in which case, kudos to the team). It’s wholly convincing as a section of the bayou, complete with shoulder-high water and arching, twisting trees emerging into the sky. The film was shot in Malta, which is, coincidentally, where Chum was filmed as well.
Nunn, who also wrote Hungry, is now ten films deep into a fairly interesting career as a genre filmmaker. He’s made four movies with Scott Adkins, three of which are certified action bangers (with 2016’s Eliminators in particular being an underrated gem). He dipped a toe into the animal attack subgenre back in 2022 with the aforementioned Shark Bait, and it’s clear he learned some lessons from that endeavor, as its first hour is an engaging, attractively shot feature that sinks fast as soon as its poorly rendered shark becomes a lead character. Hungry improves on every aspect of that film, with its biggest step up being in regard to the effects.
If there’s an area or two where Hungry lacks bite, it’s in both its gore and its ending. There are numerous kills here, but the nature of the attacks and the choices made by Nunn mean none of them result in gory assaults or outcomes. We’re shown the torn apart corpse of an alligator early on, but most of the human kills see them attacked and dragged underwater, leaving nothing but a blood spill behind. Similarly, while the ending encounter satisfies, it still feels like it should have been a bigger confrontation. Neither of these aspects really hurt the film, but a bolstering of the gore and ending antics would have definitely upped the film’s ultimate entertainment value and rewatchability.
When all is said and done, Hungry is a genuinely solid animal attack film that succeeds in making its creature threat thrilling, entertaining, and, dare I say, educational? Title notwithstanding, the film acknowledges that hippos are vegetarians, meaning the five hundred or so people they kill every year – a true fact! – are slaughtered not out of hunger, but out of spite, self-defense, or a desire to play “land orca” while tossing around us fragile humans like we’re little more than seals in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Characters are grounded and engaging, the film moves well between suspense, character beats, and action, and the effects used to bring the hippo to life are highly effective and never feel like distractions. Drop those expectations of a Hungry Hungry Hippo romp, and settle in for a terrific little survival thriller about an angry, angry hippo instead.
Chomp chomp.
Hungry releases in select theaters today, June 3, before arriving on VOD on June 23, 2026.
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