Those familiar with World of Darkness have been anticipating Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood since it was announced in January of 2017. IGN has released a chilling trailer ahead of the virtual Summer of Gaming 2020 event of its successor to Vampire the Masquerade – Bloodlines, which may not have been the greatest horror video game of all time, but it’s up there.
The World of Darkness was introduced in 1991 as “Vampire: The Masquerade,” a tabletop roleplaying game in a grimdark 20th century setting where players take on the mantles of the callous supernatural manipulators, vampires. Since then it has been expanded into many core rulebooks revolving around different supernatural beings, all vying for control over their respective domains. There are two distinct flavors of the setting: Old World and New World. Earthblood will take place in the former, same as Vampire the Masquerade.
Other games, like Skyrim, have werewolves, but none have been depicted so well as in World of Darkness. Calling themselves the Garou, they are born of and shaped by righteous rage. Their duty is to the environment, to Gaia herself, which humans have been mindlessly damaging for centuries. The Garou will stop at nothing to bring down those who would use their influence to corrupt, pollute, or brutalize the natural order of things. They attempt to curate and maintain balance between the Wyld’s raw creation, the Weaver’s knitting of reality, and the power-hungry destroyer known as the Wyrm.
The video itself, just as blood curdling as the Werewolf The Apocalypse trailer before it, highlights the supernatural horror that WoD is known for. The setting is home to the righteous and the corrupt, the damned and the hopeful, the dazed and the despicable.
The most dramatic moment is when main character Cahal stands before the blast doors to the facility’s inner sanctum. He picks up the solitary maple leaf with a look of contemplation. The leaf disintegrates, perhaps because it is too close to the Wyrm’s influence, which wants only to consume, corrupt, and demolish. He cannot get past the doors alone.
Soon Cahal is succumbing to his werewolf transformation, warping into crinos form, what the uninitiated would call the classic werewolf body. Although he has been banished from werewolf society, a pack of lupus tear their way through the forest and into the compound. Only one pauses to contemplate the man in the mech, snarling as they pass. Perhaps they are stepping into the Umbra, the realm of spirits, as they enter the building.
Cahal’s roar of rage is accompanied by the howls of his kin, an appropriately dramatic end to a trailer that leaves more questions than answers. Players will just have to be patient until a release date can be announced, most likely at the Summer of Gaming event. They can also look forward to the release of Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 on PS5.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is scheduled to release this year on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.