Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Platform: PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: Xbox One
Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom – Review
Attack on Titan has been one of those anime series that exploded in terms of popularity. While the manga was released in 2009 and is still ongoing, it took four years for Attack on Titan to be turned into an anime series, which took the West by storm. Now, a few years later once again, and after a few delays of the second season, we finally are able to relive the first season on our spiffy next generation consoles.
Story
Just like the anime, A.O.T. Wings of Freedom will revolve around Eren’s journey of suffering. Nearly 100 years ago titans suddenly appeared, wiping out pretty much the entire human race, safe for those who were able to hide behind the titan-proof walls. Sadly, out of thin air, a colossal titan appeared, who was able to breach the outer walls, allowing to let the normal titans pour in, forcing the inhabitants to get beyond the second wall, making humanity lose a third of what they had left. During this breach Eren loses his mother and vows to exact his revenge upon these dastardly creatures, albeit with the help of his friend Mikasa, who is pretty much his guardian angel. Eren, Mikasa and their childhood friend Armin all enlist in the army, hoping one day to wipe out the titan threat.
Overall, even though we kept things simple for those who are still watching the anime or want to experience the story firsthand when playing the game, you’ll be playing through the first season of the anime (and a tiny bit more). That being said, the plot is brought in a more superficial way than it is in the anime, as the game revolves around the battles, more than the psychological and character development.
Graphics
Graphically Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom looks amazing and everything feels totally in sync with the source material. Characters look as if they popped out of the anime, albeit in a 3D rendered fashion. The titans themselves are as scary and gruesome as they ever were, and the buildings in the city have more diversity than one would imagine for a game such as this. Everything moves fluently, and nothing beats seeing the world flash by while you use your mini-directional mobility gear to soar above the rooftops.
While the game itself looks superb, it does have a few items that could have used some extra polishing. For example, when talking to other members of your team, or other soldiers in general, their faces will be static, thus their mouths do not move or they don’t blink etc. Even though this is a small hiccup in the otherwise nearly perfect picture, it’s a very noticeable one. Last but not least there are clearly performance issues when you’re fighting several titans at once, and have allies swarming around you. The game does not only become rather chaotic to follow, frame rate issues tend to become more frequent, adding another layer of indistinctness to the equation.
Sound
Fans of the anime series will immediately recognize some of the iconic tunes that were played throughout the first season. Nonetheless, the creators added enough music that completes the already extensive soundtrack, and gets you pumped up more than enough to fly through the sky and chop yourself some titans to bits.
The voice acting in the game is superb, as Wings of Freedom uses actual snippets from the anime (or at least so it seems) and adds enough dialogues, albeit short ones, to spice things up. The source material is once again respected and the voice acting feels authentic, making it a perfect combination with the graphical prowess of the game.
Gameplay
Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom is an action adventure game that has all the typical items that are found in many of Koei Tecmo’s titles, but also many rather original elements, such as the way you dispose of your enemies and move around the map. All in all it’s about killing titans, hoping one day humanity will flourish beyond the walls and perhaps reach the top of the food chain again.
Truth be told, nearly every mission on the game, be it the ones in the main storyline, expedition missions or survey missions, you’ll simply have to beat the final objective, namely kill a stronger titan, and be on your way afterwards. Of course, the time you take to beat the mission is entirely up to you, as you’ll be able to kill all hostiles first and aid your allies, before heading towards the bloody finish line. Investing some time in slaying extra titans often tends to pay off, as they will provide you with much needed materials and higher missions ranks, which will serve you quite well in the long run.
More than likely, players that are actively seeking this title were fans of the anime, and thus will probably dig right into the story mode, as it will allow you to actively play through the story you’ve come to love. You’ll occasionally switch characters and get to play with Eren’s titan form, which adds a bit of variation to the mix. If you’re curious about the extra mode, it’s pretty much the equivalent of spending time to do the side-missions in the story mode, but the expedition mode allows you to freely choose your character beforehand, even certain ones you will not use in the story mode itself. Other than that, if you are a completionist, you can pretty much aim to complete all of the missions the campaign has to offer.
Combat in Attack on Titan is both as simple as it is complex. Just like in the anime series, you, the puny human race will have to take on the mighty titans, which have almost no weaknesses, except for their ‘nape’. You can cut off their arms and legs in order to incapacitate them for a while, and then aim towards their neck. Of course, you can head straight towards their weak spot, but if you don’t respond quickly enough, or come from the right angle, you might get grabbed and munched. Also, if you pay attention, you’ll see that some of the body parts are marked, and if you take those out first, you’ll be rewarded with extra materials, which will come in handy. While your attacks are limited to simple sword strikes, it’s all about using your omni-directional mobility gear properly, which is pretty much the synonym for: attach your grappling hooks to the titan, reel in when you’re in the right position, and strike when close enough. There are two things you’ll have to keep in mind in the heat of battle though, namely your gas supply and the sharpness of your blades. Both can be replenished/renewed with the proper items, which are given by resupplying characters scattered on the map you’re currently fighting in. You’ll also find potions, traps and other items the further you progress.
You’ll also have certain missions in which you’ll be roaming around as Eren’s titan form, thus allowing you to pound your enemies, rather than tactically slicing away their body parts. While these missions don’t come in such a massive supply, they provide a fun change of pace.
Our biggest fear was that the controls would be rather clunky, irresponsive and simply not pleasant to work with, but truth be told, we couldn’t have been any more wrong. For a game in which you’ll have to grapple and fly through the sky the entire time for both moving around the map and disposing of the titans, things feel extremely fluent and precise. It will only take you moments before you get the hang of the controls, and the game will gradually increase its difficulty, making sure you have to evolve with the game as well. All characters handle pretty much the same, but some skill sets are slightly different when you first play with them, even if they only differ ever so slightly.
As mentioned above, you’ll be able to acquire items and funds, thus you’ll be able to put them to good use. You can develop new blades, new omni-directional mobility gear, your gas supplies and even buy new horses for grassy areas where there are hardly any structures or trees to hang onto with your gear. The upgrade system does offer you a reasonable amount of items, if your overall level is high enough, but it’s hard to choose which items are better, especially when your cheap upgraded weapon is better than one you can start developing at a later level. Nonetheless, it’s a fun system to mess around with and after a while, you’ll find the gear that suits you the best.
Conclusion
Even though Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom might end up becoming a grind-fest at times, the game itself is a solid interpretation of the anime series, in which you’ll be able to experience the gruesome battles firsthand. Fans of the anime will probably get the biggest bang for their buck, but those who love Dynasty Warriors-esque games will certainly have their pick of the litter as well. Slaying titans and soaring through the sky, all accompanied by a proper soundtrack and fairly great looking graphics, is probably all a homicidal maniac wants.
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[…] Today Koei Tecmo revealed the tip of the gigantic iceberg that is A.O.T. 2. Attack On Titan 2, the sequel to the original A.O.T. which will be released upon the world the 20th of March 2018 for the next gen consoles such as PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch as well as Windows PC. The game will introduce several new playable characters as well as new online multiplayer modes. Whether you like to play alongside friends in co-operative missions or create mortal enemies in the all-new competitive PVP modes is up to you. One of the new modes called Annihilation promises to be an interesting one, with the added mechanic where the last minutes of a match allow you to gain points for your team more quickly, it ain’t over till its over! You can find our review of the original game right here. […]