Bored of zombies and vampires? Why not try your hand at some of the best werewolf games you can play instead?
Werewolves have been part of popular culture for centuries and our obsession with them is unlikely to go away anytime soon. The concept of something dark living within us and having the ability to unleash this on our foes is quite thrilling. Games allow us to live out this macabre fantasy.
The popularity of werewolves endures because of movies, TV shows, and games that each put a fresh spin on the horror myth. Here are the best werewolf games you can play this year.
Resident Evil Village
Hang on, isn’t Resident Evil usually about zombies and viral outbreaks? Yes, and in many ways, Village is too. There is a contagion and the Moroaica are very similar to the T-virus zombies of old, but the primary enemies in Resident Evil Village are the Lycan.
Technically, these aren’t werewolves, just infected humans driven mad by the virus and mutated to become hairier and more feral in nature. The game’s villains named them Lycans because they reminded them of werewolves. This and the fact that RE Village feels like something right out of Hammer Horror is why we’ve included them in this list.
RE Village also riffs on vampires and other monsters from European folklore throughout its runtime. There is also the Varcolac enemy type which looks and acts exactly like a werewolf. The word ‘Varcolac’ literally translates to werewolf in the Romanian language too.
Werewolf the Apocalypse Earthblood
One of the most recent and literal takes on the werewolf in gaming, Earthblood puts players in the role of Cahal, a werewolf abandoned by his pack. Cahal now works as an eco-terrorist battling ruthless corporations, intent on polluting his world with their greed. The game is part of the World of Darkness universe along with the Vampire: The Masquerade series.
What makes Earthblood unique is Cahal isn’t just a man who transforms into a werewolf, i.e., a Man-wolf hybrid, he can also turn into an actual wolf. This gives him three different forms to use for exploration and combat which helps give the game some variety.
Bloodborne
While werewolves are only a small part of Bloodborne, they make their presence felt in a big way, especially at the very beginning of the game. There are lots of different monsters throughout Bloodborne, some are based loosely on the work of H.P Lovecraft, while others are influenced by European folklore. Some are even based on From Software’s earlier work with the Dark Souls series.
But werewolves crop up time and time again throughout the game’s story. They even serve as bosses in some cases. In fact, while Bloodborne was in development, it was referred to as Beast Souls. A lot of the early promotional art leaned heavily into werewolves as a primary theme.
Nightmare Creatures
Speaking of Bloodborne and Dark Souls, Nightmare Creatures created the template for it to follow many years earlier. It’s staggering to see how similar Nightmare Creatures is to many modern games today. The game was originally released on the original PlayStation and featured rock-solid third-person hack and slash gameplay.
Nightmare Creatures also has elements of survival horror on top of its combat. One of its scariest encounters is a boss fight against a savage werewolf. This might have been the supernatural creature’s biggest moment in a video game yet and showed other developers the potential of the werewolf in future projects.
The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
Skyrim is many different things to many different people, but the game also lets you play it through and live in the game world as a werewolf. Soon after joining the Companions (that game’s version of the Fighters Guild), the player soon discovers that many other members have become werewolves – and are then invited to become one themselves.
There are pros and cons to accepting this dark gift though. The player can transform at least once a day, using their powers to aid them in their quest against the dragons or to further their cause in the civil war. Turning into a werewolf brings a whole new set of skills – not to mention immense bestial power.
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But there is also a cost – transforming in front of townsfolk will place a bounty on the player’s head and other supernatural groups may ban them from joining, at least until they’re cured of their lycanthropy.
The Wolf Among Us
The Wolf Among Us is an adventure game from Telltale that plays similarly to their previous The Walking Dead series. It’s also based on the popular Fables graphic novels. The player takes on the role of Bigby, who’s a living incarnation of The Big Bad Wolf from various fairytales.
Bigby is keen to move on from his role as a storybook villain and now serves as the sheriff of Fabletown – protecting other living incarnations of storybook characters. He’s also very much a werewolf and is perfectly capable of going to dark places if the situation calls for it.
Despite being the game’s hero, it’s Bigby’s past as a monster and unpredictability as a werewolf that makes him compelling. He will also always be seen as The Big Bad Wolf by many people, regardless of what he does to redeem himself.
The Order 1886
The Order 1886 divided gamers when it arrived, which may be why a sequel is yet to materialize. The game is set in an alternative Victorian era and features tons of references to Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, and other iconic literary and historical icons of the era. The Order is a modern take on the Knights of the Round Table who pass down names like Sir Galahad as titles to its members.
In the game, The Order is forced to investigate and stop a plot to turn London into a playground for werewolves and vampires. Despite its solid third-person shooter mechanics, the most memorable part of the game is a survival horror segment where the player is stalked around a dark hospital by a bloodthirsty werewolf.
The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
After the bright and charming seafaring adventure that was The Wind Waker, Link’s next battle against Ganon was a dark, brooding quest. Early in the game, Link is cursed and transforms into Wolf Link. Midna, an inhabitant of the Twilight Realm helps Link understand how to use his abilities.
Link can transform into his wolf form at twilight and uses his new powers to save Princess Zelda and defeat Ganon once again. The mechanic hasn’t been used in a Zelda game since, however in Breath of the Wild, Wolf Link returned. Only this time he can be summoned from the Twilight Realm to aid the present-day link in combat.
This gives Link a wolf companion, something that enhances the experience as you explore the map in BOTW. Although if you think about it, Link is actually summoning himself which is a bit weird.
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