Blood of the Werewolf

I have a soft spot for games that wear their influences openly, and Blood of the Werewolf wears them on both sleeves. Scientifically Proven built a side-scrolling action platformer clearly soaked in memories of Castlevania, Mega Man, and Contra, and the result lands somewhere between loving tribute and uneven execution. You play as Selena, one of the last surviving werewolves, alternating between her crossbow-wielding human form indoors and her more agile wolf form whenever the moonlight hits. That shift is the game's best mechanic: indoors, you're picking off harpies and bats with a 360-degree-aiming crossbow that can be upgraded with split arrows, fire rounds, or a multi-shot burst; outside under the full moon, Selena gains a double jump, ledge-grab, a charging dash, and claw attacks for close-quarters monsters. Both modes have their own upgrade trees, and collectible sigils scattered through each stage permanently increase your max health, which does encourage a second look at levels you've already bulldozed through. The atmosphere lands well. The art direction is angular and vivid, gothic color palettes that feel more Halloween-parade than genuinely sinister, and the soundtrack threads a haunting tone through the stages without tipping into parody. Voice acting for Selena is notably committed for a small indie production, and the between-level story vignettes, while simple, give the revenge plot just enough emotional weight. The five boss encounters face classic Universal-Horror figures: Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, Hyde, and the Creature. On paper that lineup is a dream. In practice the boss fights are the game's strangest contradiction: the surrounding levels will punish you hard, but the bosses themselves are far too readable, with telegraphed patterns that fall apart once you recognize the tells, which happens fast. Difficulty is where the mixed Steam reception (sitting at roughly 59 percent positive across a few hundred reviews) makes total sense. The first few stages feel accessible, then certain sections spike into near-pixel-perfect territory without much warning. Knockback from enemy hits is severe, and in levels like the Factory, a single fireball can send Selena flying into lava she cannot recover from. There is no difficulty selection whatsoever. The game does compensate slightly: unlimited lives, generous checkpoints that refill your meters on respawn, and quick reload times all soften the blow. But the difficulty curve is genuinely inconsistent rather than deliberately brutal, which is a different feeling from the "hard but fair" ideal the developers were aiming for. Beyond Story Mode, there is a Score Rush mode, an Endless Challenge with procedurally generated stages, and a Speedrun mode backed by online leaderboards. If the base game clicks for you, those extra modes have real replay value, particularly for achievement hunters: there are over 100 achievements tied to things like kill counts, speed, and level grades. Keyboard-and-mouse controls are functional but awkward given the 360-degree crossbow aiming; a controller is the obvious and strongly recommended choice. One last note for the mood-sensitive: the soundtrack has a genuine atmosphere that I kept noticing between deaths. It does not match the legacy giants it nods toward, but it has its own quiet character.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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