There are two things I am very fond of, history and brutal beat em ups games. Imagine my joy then, at finding a game that combined the two in a great way with Wulverblade, a game set during Britain’s resistance against Roman invasions. I was excited from the moment I first learned of the game’s existence but was the excitement merited?
The first thing I must note is that Wulverblade is absolutely gorgeous. The hand-drawn artworks so well for this game and it looks amazing both in docked or handheld mode on Switch. I must also mention that the game is extremely gory, with scenes of decapitation, severing of limbs and then using those body parts as weapons. And yet with the art style, it just looks awesome.
And speaking of the gameplay, Wulverblade is far more strategic than most beat em ups. You need to watch enemy attacks to learn when to defend and when to attack. Failing to do so will result in losing life and getting a quick death. However, as you learn the controls and attacks, you will find a large variety of ways to play and confront the enemies. These include summoning wolves, heavy weapons, and execution
And speaking of the gameplay, Wulverblade is far more strategic than most beat em ups. You need to watch enemy attacks to learn when to defend and when to attack. Failing to do so will result in losing life and getting a quick death. However, as you learn the controls and attacks, you will find a large variety of ways to play and confront the enemies. These include summoning wolves, heavy weapons and execution moves just to name a few.
Wulverblade has a unique selling point in that it uses years of research into the lore and history of Britania and the Celts within. Mention is made of numerous artifacts, people, gods, and cultures within, and not in a way that interrupts the game. You will find pieces of lore that you can then read when you are ready to learn more about the history and lore. As a history buff, I truly enjoyed this part of the game and feel it deserves much praise. There is a lot of neat information within and I encourage you all to check this out.
The game has a campaign mode for the story, but also a classic style arcade mode, which is for more hardcore players. There is also arena mode, where you will take on waves of enemies until you are defeated. I recommend checking out all the modes as they all have something good to add.
Wulverblade is brutal but it is also fun. I truly enjoyed my time with the game, as I have not had as much fun with a beat em up in years as I have had with this. It brings in multiple styles of gameplay, adds in throwbacks to classic gaming and bits of modern gaming, and blends it all together well. What is a drawback though, is the loading times. These did get annoying the more I played, as loading took a very long time, and for this type of game, waiting for loading does hamper the experience a bit. Hopefully, this can be fixed with an update patch, because Wulverblade is a truly amazing game. If you are a Nintendo Switch owner, then you simply must get this game, and trust me, you will not regret it.
A review key was provided by the publisher.