[PC] Game Review - Sangfroid: Tale of Werewolves

[Tomo2000 60]

Sangfroid: Tale of Werewolves is an indie RPG/Strategy game I've been following on Steam Greenlight for quite a while now. It was released the other day and it looked pretty good, so I decided to pick it up. On Steam right now it's $15 and, at first, I wasn't too impressed with the game, to be honest, but that started to change pretty quickly as I progressed through the game. The graphics aren't too impressive, but, after all, it is an indie game, and I think there's a lot more focus on the actual gameplay of the game than the graphics, which is a place where a lot of big-spot companies go wrong.

 

The game throws you into a small feud between two brothers, Jos and Jack, who put their differences aside to save their sister, who's pursued by the devil himself. The game has is based in the absolutely beautiful 19th Century Canada; complete with Saloons, Blackpowder Rifles, and Native American tribes.

 

The game starts at Jack's house in the middle of the forest. The bridge back to town gets burnt down and, depending on who you're playing as, you go out to scare away what you believe is a wolverine. This turns out to be a wolf, who had attacked and killed two horses. You learn the basics of combat during this section, but I felt that the game, at the start, was rather bland, and had a lot of complicated features to it. Your attacks chewed quite a bit of stamina near the start, so, when fighting a pack of wolves, spamming attacks is really a non-option. There's a fear gauge, which you use to fight strategically, as a wolf will build up courage before attacking you, which gave you some time to reload your rifle. Mind you, this is a black powder rifle. To reload one of these took time; you'd put the round in, and pack the barrel full of gun powder. At the start of the game, this is incredibly slow to do, and you can only get one bullet at an enemy before the pack is onto you. This isn't Call of Duty we're talking about here... There is also a rage system which, after striking enemies for a while, you can either let out a more powerful attack by right clicking, or charge your rage for a more powerful attack.

 

The game quickly evolves into a defense game, where you have to defend different areas in the forest, including the mill, your house, a church, etc.. By the end of the game, there's five different areas to defend, and quite some space between them all. However, I'll cover this later. After the first night, you learn about traps. There are a huge variety of traps, some of which are more effective against different enemies and enemy types. After the second night, learning about traps, a third, but this time with a werewolf. You learn that the traps you have aren't very effective against the werewolf, and neither is your melee attacks. It's quite a tough battle at a very low level, especially if playing as Jack.

 

The bridge to town opens back up, and you can go to quite a few cool places in town to buy things:

• The Saloon/Tavern sells alcohol, for the most part. This lil ol' shoppe will help you greatly late game. Some alcohol will give you 100% stamina for a few seconds, or add damage to your attacks, which helps so much when you're fighting an enemy resistant to your weapon.
• The General Shop sells regular bullets, guns, and boots and vests. The boots let you sprint longer, and the vests help absorb some damage from enemies. There is a large variety of guns, also, including a double barrel, which comes in very handy.
• The Convent will bless weapons and bullets that aren't Silver weapons, as Silver weapons have Pagan energy within them. Blessed weapons are very effective against Diabolic enemies, such as Werewolves and Will o' the Wisps.
• And the Hardware Store/Blacksmith sells different axes; which is what you will want to buy first, believe me...

There are two different enemy types, and, as new enemies appear, they get more and more difficult. Apart from having no type at all, such as wolves, the types are as follows:

• Diabolic: Diabolic Creatures, such as Werewolves and Will o' the Wisps are resistant to normal and silver weapons, but are vulnerable to holy bullets and blessed weapons.
• Mythic: This can be called by many other names, but usually referred to as Mythic. This type is strong against everything except silver bullets and weapons. These are the hardest enemies you will come across, and some have some pretty scary abilities.

Planning your weapons is equally as important as planning your traps. You don't have infinite money, so you want to be able to buy the traps and bullets you'll need for that night. If you are going up against both Diabolic and Mythic creatures, it is important to choose which enemy you have the most difficulty with [usually the Mythic creatures], and take a weapon to counter them, while taking a bottle or two from the Saloon; one which increases damage on your attacks. This will even out the resistance factor, but only temporarily.

 

You also have a yell ability, which will attract enemies within a circle to you and frighten enemies already near you. There is also an RPG-like system in place where you can get different passive skills which help you in combat, such as reloading your rifle faster, getting more rage on your weapon, and a dozen other skills. Another system in place is, depending on the wind, your scent travels in one direction all game, and you can sneak up on enemies when your scent is going behind you, but enemies that get your scent will hunt you. This can be both a gift and a curse. Attracting a large amount of enemies towards you is bad, but they would rather hunt you then attack the structures you have to defend.

 

There are also lots of traps you can buy and place down for the waves of enemies at night, anything from bear-traps to mortars. Not all traps damage and kill enemies, however. One of the place-able objects is a watch tower and zip line, which you can use to get across the map to other locations quickly. Another is a bonfire, which increases the enemies fear factor. And, one more example of this, is the firewall, where you can force enemies to take specific paths to areas at night, as there are many different paths they could take.

 

You discover an Indian tribe who assist you in hunting the Maikans, the first Mythic enemies you face. They are incredibly strong when you first fight them, and you can buy silver axes and silver bullets from them. You can also buy talismans and amulets which give passive effects, such as increased health, increased fear factor, etc..

 

I can't say much without spoiling it, but there are some missions which differentiate from the normal defend missions. Some are effectively time trials, while some involve some story to it. There are some really cool things late game you will discover to go with your bullets, as well as axe, but I won't spoil that.

 

Overall, the first impression isn't everything. At first, I thought the game wasn't going to be very good, and I was wrong. I ended up loving this game, and was constantly looking forward to what else it had to offer. It says that this is Tome 1, and the story itself ended on a cliffhanger, so I am very much looking forward to a Tome 2. There are a few things I would have liked to see, such as a few missions that weren't just defense, or a few really minor ticky things I won't bother mentioning, but, overall, it was a very enjoyable game.

 

My Rating: 9/10

Next Review: To be honest, I have absolutely no idea... I may review the iPod app "Zombies, Run!" before "Zombies, Run! 2" comes out on the 16th. It's a fantastic app and I really enjoyed it. I also hope to review the Mob of the Dead map Black Ops 2 Nazi Zombies on the 16th or 17th.

[Wyzrd 12]

I remember seeing this game and I was like ehhhh. Still kind of ehhh, but after reading your review, one day if it is on sale I might check it out.

[Tomo2000 60]

I remember seeing this game and I was like ehhhh. Still kind of ehhh, but after reading your review, one day if it is on sale I might check it out.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was like when I first saw it. My friend recently had a birthday and had, like, $120 worth of Steam Wallets so he just went on a huge indie game spending spree, and this was one of the few I hadn't played, so we spent that night just playing this game. I think the best part of the game is it's soundtrack, it's just beautiful.