YMMV / Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Earthblood

• Complete Monster: Richard Wadkins is the CEO of Endron and a devout servant for the Wyrm. Eager to destroy the Wyrm's enemies, Wadkins opted to use his company to destroy the ecosystem, thereby weakening the spirit of Gaia. He also hired various soldiers and mercenaries to murder environmental activists as well as rival werewolf tribes that stood in his way. Knowing that his soldiers were no match for the werewolves, he tested a biofuel called Earthblood on hundreds of prisoners and conducted various scientific experiments on them in an effect to increase their strength, indifferent to those who succumbed to the biofuel's effects. After finding out that Cahal and his tribe intend on sabotaging various Endron locations, Wadkins lets them all destroy the foundations all so he can lure Cahal's daughter, Aedana, into a trap and kidnap her. As Wadkins performs experiments on Aedana, he tests Earthblood out in public, flooding a desert in Nevada with the gas and turning dozens of activists into Fomori mutants. Wadkins eventually transforms Aedana into a Wyrm mutant that Cahal is forced to kill before it's later revealed that he intends on exposing the whole world to Earthblood.
• Harsher in Hindsight: In the beginning of the game, Cahal is so consumed with rage over his wife's death that he inadvertently claws out one of Rodko's eyes and kills Rafeeq. It's a bit unsettling to watch this cutscene upon second viewing, given that Cahal ends up killing Rodko because Rodko was too consumed with rage after Aedana gets kidnapped by Wadkins.
• Player Punch:
  • The boss fight against Rodko. He's so consumed with rage over Aedana getting kidnapped that Cahal is forced to fight him. No matter how aggressive or pragmatic you are in the fight, it ends with Cahal killing Rodko.
  • The Red Talons' betrayal. You manage to get close to Richard Wadkins and almost save your daughter but are interrupted by one of your own coming to kill you. This after you've rescued their leader.
  • The penultimate boss fight. After spending half the game trying to save her, you find out that Aedana has been converted into a Wyrm monstrosity, and she has no control over her body and attacks you. Similar to the example above, there is nothing the player can do to prevent this fight from happening, and it ends with Aedana dying in Cahal's arms.
• So Okay, It's Average: The general consensus of the game is that it feels like a PS2 game with dated graphics and mediocre gameplay. The best points in its favor are that it is a simple story, doesn't overstay its welcome, and has a faithful recreation of the tabletop game's lore.
• That One Boss: Aedana is incredibly tough, as she has fast swiping attacks that chew through your health and can impale you with spikes through various sections of the floor, which also can quickly drain your health. On top of this, she has tons of health and becomes more vicious when her health gets low, to the point where she starts unleashing new attacks on you.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • One of the main criticisms of the game is that it injects some of the lore and worldbuilding from the original tabletop game, but does very little with it short of exposition. For a game that comes across as an RPG, it spends less time fleshing out the characters and setting and more time focusing on the stealth and combat mechanics—both of which were also criticized for being too repetitive.
  • The final choice at the end of the game between saving Ava and her allies and letting Wadkins go free or killing Wadkins and sacrificing Ava and her friends. This choice is presented to the player after the death of Aedana, an event that the player cannot prevent no matter what they do. It would've been far more interesting if Aedana could've survived her ordeal, depending on the player's actions and how fast they were. Whether or not Aedana lived could've had a bigger influence on this choice, as Aedana most likely would've tried to convince Cahal that killing Wadkins for revenge and letting Ava and her team die would be very selfish and pointless, especially since another person can easily replace him. But as it stands, there's little reason not to kill Wadkins because Cahal, at this point, has virtually nothing left to live for and at least this option prevents a frustrating Karma Houdini.

---