Put on some pants!
I had zero knowledge of the Attack on Titan franchise coming into this game. All I knew was that people fought massive naked people, some with creepy looks on their faces. Yeah it was anime, and yes, it was definitely weird. Attack on Titan is the latest from Omega Force, the team behind a bevy of Warriors titles, so I was expecting plenty of pushing forward and mashing the X button. Instead I was treated to a game that not only stays true to what the anime brings, but also ends up being one of the most diverse titles from this tenured developer I have played in recent memory.
The campaign in Attack on TItan follows the story of Eren Yeager in the beginning – his role as a soldier, and his reason for wanting to hunt down Titans. Knowing little about the anime, I felt like Omega Force did a good job of easing new players into the weird world of the series. From what I have read, this story bridges a lot of what is in the anime, and even brings in some tidbits from the manga that the show has yet to cover. There also seems to be less about the politics of the show, and more of a focus on action, which is good considering this is an action game.
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: XB1 (reviewed), PS4
Price I’d Pay: $39.99
I went into this game thinking I was getting another Warriors title, and instead I was given something so very different. Attack on Titan is an action game, but it definitely involves more than map management and slashing through hundreds of enemies. Instead, players are given grappling hooks, gas canisters, and replaceable blades. Tapping the X button sends the grapples out of each side, attaching to the environment and propelling them upwards. Then they can use the A button to boost forward, repeat the process with succession and I could travel around the world in an almost Spider-Man-like fashion.
The mobility is awkward at first. Controlling the swing and momentum takes time, alongside the intimidating control scheme. By the end of the tutorial though, I was swinging around like a pro. It takes some time to get used to, but once grasped, the scheme felt intuitive and responsive.
When approaching a Titan, players can tap the right bumper to enter combat mode. This switches the X button to more of a grapple to the Titan itself. I could switch between body parts, in order to decide which area to focus on. The idea then is to slowly whittle them down, in order to deliver a killing blow to the nape of the neck. It is similar to an action version of Shadow of the Colossus with a more action-oriented approach. It is immensely satisfying when one of the larger Titans drops to its knees, just in time for me to finish them off. Oh, did I also mention the game is extremely bloody?
The main campaign lasts about seven hours depending on difficulty, but then it goes all Metal Gear Solid V. After the credits roll there is an entire epilogue of content that lasts almost as long as the core game. The missions here are very different than the main game. There are a lot of survey missions where players scout and defeat Titans before progressing further. This mode also allows for more playable characters, as well as the ability to tackle missions online with friends. It tends to overstay its welcome a bit, but it is nice to see a breadth of content outside the core game.
Visually the game looks strikingly similar to the anime. If I can say anything about Omega Force, it is that they work hard to replicate the series they are modeling after. The character models look great, and the game maintains a solid frame rate most of the time. The only downside is that there is not an English dub of the dialogue, which means I was trying to read subtitles while also trying to hold down the complex controls, and that simply did not work at times.
Attack on Titan was a shock for me. It isn’t going to revolutionize any genre, but there truly is little else like it out there. Fans of the anime are sure to enjoy the attention to detail in almost everything, and like most Warriors games there is enough of an RPG element to keep battles from becoming too much of the same thing over and over.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.