The Monster Mash
Fighting games are awesome, and there are not enough of them. Seriously, if you think about it; gamers wait longer for the latest iteration of a fighter than they do for the next epic chapter in between GoW games. (wondering if I mean God of War or Gears of War…muhahaha I’ll never tell). But because of this there are usually other, maybe smaller fighting games that help tide us over; and today I’d like to talk about THE best and at the same time worst fighting game that seemingly no one is playing. Omen of Sorrow.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Made by AOne Games, Omen of Sorrow is a 1 v 1 fighter that features takes on some of history’s greatest monsters. Dracula, Van Helsing, The Mummy, Mr. Hyde all of them are referenced in this games roster. The entire aesthetic of the game is taken from the European myths and legends of old, I mean the game has a King Arthur character who has an ultimate attack that is basically “Knights of the Round” from Final Fantasy 7. Using the Unreal 4 engine, Omen of Sorrow is a really good-looking fighter. Animations could be a bit better as some of the moves feel a bit stiff when transitioning to the follow ups. It wasn’t enough to kill the enjoyment, but it is frustrating when it felt like my fingers are tapping buttons faster than the game is responding.
One of the very best things about this 4-button fighter is its overall fighting system. Personally, I’ve never been the best at fighters, I love the spectacle of them to be sure; All the flashy moves and combos but in essence I have an aggressive play style. That doesn’t work in most fighting games, but in Omen of Sorrow players are almost required to play aggressively in order to be successful. In addition to recovering lost health when attacking in Omen of Sorrow, there’s a system called Fortune/Fate. Designated by a little gauge that shows how aggressive or passive the player is being. If an aggressive playstyle is craved like me, I earned Fortune. Which once maxed puts the fighter into a blessed state; in this state the player’s chosen warrior can chain together their moves easier for combos. If my playstyle is defensive I could max out the Fate gauge which will put a curse on me for a finite amount of time; while cursed the player won’t have access to their full move set.
The entire system is a breath of fresh air for fighting games in my opinion, not only does it keep matches action packed but adds another layer of strategy to how often I blocked attacks. But sadly, there is no light without the dark and so it is with Omen of Sorrow. There is an extreme lack of content for one, sporting only an Arcade, Survival and Versus (Online as well) modes just isn’t enough. If there were more people playing the game it would make this issue less drastic; but as it stands I have only been able to play a handful of matches online in all my time with the game. Luckily my sons enjoy the genre so I was able to play with actual people but if you are someone who depends solely on the use of online multiplayer you may have extraordinarily long waits between matches. It’s the lack of a proper story mode that hurts the most, these characters while recognizable from myths are different enough that I wanted to learn more about them, alas maybe in the sequel.
Omen of Sorrow has more good things going for it than bad, the overall combat system feels fresh and new. The characters all feel relatable while at the same time being totally original. Fights can last longer than in other fighting games, not to mention the soundtrack is absolutely out of this world. But that’s where a lot of the good things end, the utter lack of content and the length of time it takes to actually find matches online really takes a lot of the wind from these sails.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
