With so much hype surrounding Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2, another other game from the World of Darkness has gone under the radar. Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood may be a mouthful of a title, but its trailer shows what looks to be an incredible RPG where you get to play as a werewolf. The species has gone underrepresented in gaming, and World of Darkness is the perfect IP to pull such a game off.
With Bloodlines 2 getting so much attention, it's understandable why many fans have either not hear about or forgotten about Earthblood. Paradox has been pushing Bloodlines 2 out there for over a year with regular updates and reveals, and it's also the sequel to a well-established game with a cult following. However, Earthblood was actually first announced in 2017 and later revealed at E3 2018, a year before Bloodlines 2. Since then, its flown under the radar, though it's still slated to come out during Q2 or Q3 of this year.
Since the game is based on World of Darkness, it follows the general story of the Garou -- powerful half spirit-beasts that protect Gaia (or Mother Earth) from destruction and the entropic spirit known as the Wyrm. They are driven by nature and familial bonds. Like the Vampires in Vampire the Masquerade, they have tribes and rivalries but stick more to the wilderness than cities, although there are exceptions.
Werewolves have the unique ability to travel into a spirit world called the Umbra. It's a sort of astral projection, and they can communicate with spirits and gain Gifts, the equivalent of skills and magic. Since they're beasts, they also have the downside of having to control their rage. If they succumb to it, they can frenzy and lose control or flee -- the basic fight or flight instinct. All of this is clear from the game's trailer and is true to the creature's World of Darkness origins.
The game's story follows Cahal, a lone werewolf who was exiled from his pack or tribe for falling prey to rage. Cahal is searching for his missing daughter when he finds his old pack in danger and returns to assist them. The main villain is a corporation called Pentex, possibly a subsidiary of a greater business who serves the Wyrm.
While there hasn't been gameplay footage shown off yet, the game's website reveals that there will be three forms available to use: human, wolf and werewolf. The human form is for general walking about, talking to others and interacting. Like with the Vampires, it's best not to reveal the existence of other worldly creatures to humans. Playing as the wolf is good for stealth and exploration, since it can presumably run and not be as noticeable as a werewolf. Then there's the werewolf form. The werewolf is built for combat and, if it's as huge and powerful as it is appears to be in the trailer, it's going to be fun to rip and tear enemies apart. Like in the tabletop game, it's likely the rage component will force players to balance their time between the other forms.
The trailer also shows off what looks like a dive into the Umbra, which is a big component of the Garou lore in World of Darkness. In-universe, this is where skills or Gifts come from for the werewolves, so it may serve a similar purpose in this game. Cyanide and Nacon will be revealing more about the game on July 7 during a Nacon Connect Stream, so this may be where we finally see gameplay and get a greater view into the werewolf side of World of Darkness.