Preview: Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom

After spending an hour or two with Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom, I have to say I’m having a blast. I’ve only played the first three chapters, but I definitely like what I’ve seen so far. It looks fantastic, is full of outrageous gore and controls like a dream. What more could you want from an Attack on Titan game?

If you’ve never watched the series, frankly, you’re missing out. Thankfully, being familiar with the anime doesn’t look like it will be necessary to play Wings of Freedom. Its narrative follows the show quite closely and explains its bizarre premise right of the bat.

Given the action-packed setting of the anime, its combat really needed to be spot on to emulate the tone of the series. It should come as no surprise that developers Omega Force — best known for the Dynasty Warriors series — completely nail it. The fighting is incredibly fast-paced while still allowing an impressive amount of control. It’s surprisingly intuitive, allowing for quick changes in speed and various other minor adjustments during combat. Most of this all happens with only 4 buttons, allowing excellent control over your character and freeing up the rest of the controller to micro manage items and accompanying NPCs.

Wings of Freedom is divided into chapters, giving reports and ranks after each mission. They can be replayed immediately if you’re like me and have to get that S rank before progressing. Experience is given according to performance after each mission, adding an RPG element to the mix. This will be added to both your regiment skill and soldier skill. Increasing your regiment skill unlocks new equipment and upgrades in camps while your soldier is a more traditional levelling system used to learn new abilities with each character.

Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom is cross-gen but nonetheless looks fantastic. Its cel-shaded style suits the game perfectly and even its loading screens look similar to information displayed mid-episode during the anime before and after ad breaks. Its definitely true to the original anime but in a way this lead to the only problem I’ve had with the game so far.

There’s one downside to all this: everything is in Japanese. Don’t get me wrong — I like subs as much as dubs (usually more) when it comes to anime, but it can be really distracting when your more actively involved in the entertainment. Maybe I need to work on my multitasking, but I find it difficult to read what people are screaming at me while I’m pulling off and insanely dangerous maneuvers at high speed that would make a gymnast blush. I cant help but think I’m missing out on whatever the hell is being said around me while I’m playing because I’m defiantly not stopping to read what my comrades reckon so I can be lunch for some 10 foot terror.

At this stage the language barrier hasn’t bothered me all that much but I’ve only just scratched the surface. There is still plenty of Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom left for me to play before I make my decision on it but thins are looking good so far. Keep an eye out for our full review in the coming weeks.