A new World of Darkness game is in the works, but it’s not Bloodlines 2—or a Vampire game at all, in fact. Instead, this time around we’ll be off to the world of Werewolf: The Apocalypse, courtesy of Styx studio Cyanide and publisher Focus Home Interactive.
“Become a werewolf, known as Garou (from French ‘Loup-garou’ meaning werewolf), immersed in the atmosphere of their shamanistic and tribal world,” the announcement says. “Garou are Werewolf warriors opposed to urban civilization and supernatural corruption, all heading towards inevitable apocalypse.”
That’s awfully light on detail (and all we’ve got to go on for now), but I expect Werewolf will be considerably different than its World of Darkness predecessor, the brilliantly-good Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Vampires are nigh-immortal creatures who are perfectly at home living in the shadows of humanity’s cities, while the Garou are a ferocious embodiment of “live fast, die young,” who loathe everything made of steel and glass. Needless to say, the two groups don’t generally get along, as Bloodlines players discovered during their trip to the observatory. (No spoilers, just a bit of advice: Run.)
“We are excited to work on the World of Darkness universe, as this is a formidable playground to tell the players a great story,” Focus Home Interactive president Cédric Lagarrigue said. “We are also happy to partner with Cyanide Studio in this adventure—they are behind the original wish to adapt this universe, and we are faithful in their ability to create a game that will please both fans of World of Darkness and newcomers.”
It’s not the Bloodlines sequel I’ve been waiting for, and I’m not entirely confident that the Werewolf setting has the same potential for RPG depth as Vampire. But it’s a step in the right direction, and at the very least I’m anxious to find out more about what’s coming. Focus Home said details about Werewolf: The Apocalypse will be revealed at the “Le what’s next de Focus” event (seriously, that’s what it’s called) in Paris, running February 1-2. There’s also a website, currently empty but “coming soon,” at werewolf-videogame.com.