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Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom: Let’s start off by saying that this isn’t the first game that I have played which was released in Japan, long before its UK date.
This game came out in February in Japan, and during its first week it outsold Street Fighter V. However, since then it hasn’t sold many more copies. This isn’t particularly a surprise as Attack on Titan should have a cult following. Evidence would show that this is the case. Attack on Titan is an anime series which first came out in 2014, and which I enjoyed, even though it was mainly my girlfriend (now my wife) who was forcing me to continue watching it. You see, I was a little freaked out by the Titans. However, the more I watched the show the more I liked it, hence the reason why I wanted to review this game and I have no regrets.
Let’s start off with some first impressions: The music starts off how you would expect Attack on Titan to, but I wasn’t massively impressed with the visuals. There was just something about them that seemed a little casual. Watching the intro made me smile, though; it resembled the actual show and this, for me, was a positive sign.
The game has two main modes: one is the attack mode, which follows the original story and will take you around 10 hours to complete, and while I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone, I will say two key things: it is dark and takes no prisoners. If you don’t like big scary-looking weird things with no gen -itals and big teeth, then I suggest you don’t watch this show or play this game. Also, if you fall easily in love with characters and are not keen for them to die, then don’t watch the show or play the game. So yes, people die and there are big scary monsters called Titans. I took a little bit of time to get used to this, but now, I found out how much I love seeing people get bitten in half. Beautiful. The second mode is the expedition mode where you go and survey the areas for Titans. You can do this with friends online, which is quite cool, but, all in all, I am afraid this mode is a little boring.
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on this game…
For the scores on the doors…
Gameplay: 7
As you can see I have shown my score for the gameplay before I have given my reasons. Let’s talk about why I gave it the healthy score of 7. First of all, the controller plays quite well and the buttons are relatively easy to use. The game itself seemed to be quite complicated, with a number of different ways you could kill the titans, but as you play more, you realise that, actually, you don’t need to half of what they tell you to do. This is one of the reasons why I decided to give it a 7. Although killing titans was fun, you always felt it could have been a little more challenging. And I must say at times, killing them became a little bit repetitive. I would take off their legs then subjugate the Titan. And I would do this time after time after time after time…
Talking about repetitive, sadly, some of the missions go on a little too long and don’t really have much other than killing Titans. I did notice that, sometimes, there is a lot going on: too many Titans and, due to the speech being Japanese, you can hear your allies talking to you, but you don’t have the time to read the subtitles ,so you miss the dialogue. This is a big downfall for the game and is part of the reason why you will end up missing the story and just killing loads of Titans. The actual attack mode is pretty cool and keeps to the actual story, even though I felt it worked through the story a little too quickly. This mode impressed me and allowed me to really enjoy it. The expedition mode, on the other hand, wasn’t really me. It was quite slow and a little boring.
Graphics: 7
Is a 7 being too nice? I don’t know. Let me try and explain the situation behind the graphics here. The game uses cel-shaded for all the characters, my biggest problem with them being that the funny white lines you see comingg up every now and again. Throughout playing the game, I couldn’t work out if these lines were meant to be there or weren’t. What I can say, is that they are a little bit distracting and don’t look right. At times, the white lines are really evident and other times they aren’t. Another slight issue I have with the graphics are the faces; maybe I am being a little too harsh, but I felt the characters look a little younger than they should. Not being too critical, I often got annoyed by the characters and how their faces never changed expression. This was quite hilarious, really, because no matter who was getting eaten or who had just died, their faces just stayed the same.
Sound: 7
The sound is just what you would expect of it. I suppose it is called “anime instrumental metalcore” or something along those lines. Maybe even “symphonic electronica”. I suppose the biggest flaw to this game is that it is in Japanese. I don’t know why they didn’t just dub the game, but I suppose I am not a game maker. Sadly, because of its fast pace, you don’t often have time to read what’s being said. However, as you are running around listening to the music and taking in the average graphics, you are deeply reminded of the anime and what this game is really about: enjoying an experience that you would have probably already experienced if you are playing the game. Let’s be honest, not many people will think Attack on Titan sounds like an appealing game if they haven’t seen or heard about the anime. The general sounds are just what you would expect; they don’t annoy me nor do they amaze me.
Enjoyment: 9
Okay, even though I moaned about the graphics, and even though I moaned about the sound, and even though I moaned about the gameplay, I just really love this game. It is just really fun and I am a little disappointed that it wasn’t as long as I would have wanted it to be. I loved killing Titans and riding around on my horse, but I didn’t really love talking to the characters because I couldn’t be bothered to read, but I anticipate what they were saying was fine. Overall, this is a fun game, a game I wouldn’t go out and play if I hadn’t watched the anime, but a game that is well worth a go.
Final reaction:
This game has faults. Plenty of them. However I will keep on playing this and I think more people should, too. It brings back what we often miss in games nowadays: Fun!
The game was published and distributed by the same company called Koei Tecmo who aren’t the biggest of companies nor are they particularly well known over in the UK but they have been involved with a number of games like Samurai Warriors, Dynasty Warriors and a well-rated game, Toukiden:Kiwami. If you want to find more about them, check out http://koeitecmoeurope.com/games
Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom is out now on Xbox One and PS4, and click on the packshot for the full-size version.
– HeroVoltsy
Important info:
- Publisher: Koei Tecmo Europe
- Players: single player, multiplayer
- HDTV options: up to 1080p
- Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
Director: Tetsuro Araki
Writer: Hajime Isayama
Music: Hiroyuki Sawano
Cast:
Eren Jaeger: Yuki Kaji
Mikasa Ackermann: Yui Ishikawa
Armin Arlert: Marina Inoue
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
7 7 7 9 |
| OVERALL | 8 |
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.
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