LARGER THAN LIFE
IN the world of Manga, Attack on Titan is something of a phenomenon.
Starting life in a Japanese magazine in 2009, the story was initially set in a world where humanity lives in cities which are surrounded by giant walls to protect against the Titans.
Titans are giant humanoids who attack metropolis in order to eat humans.
So popular is the series with fans that it is still running today, with its adventures spanning 24 tankobon (standalone) volumes.
It was only natural then that Attack on Titan would evolve from the page to the screen. A hugely popular anime series was released in 2013, and there are stalled plans for a live-action movie.
There have even been several stabs at bringing the franchise to games consoles, sadly with varying degrees of success.
This game, Attack on Titan 2, is the direct sequel to Omega Force’s 2016 release.
That first outing was met with mixed reviews with critics praising its faithful adaption of the story, but also lamenting its lack of gameplay variety and grinding action.
Developer Omega Force seems to have taken some of this constructive criticism into consideration when building this second game, smoothing out some of the rough edges and building on what were very promising foundations.
The story sees you playing as a self-created character alongside series heroes Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert – a big change from the first where you simply jumped between protagonists.
While the game is billed as a direct sequel, in reality its story is more of a mash up of stories from season one and two of the anime – so if you’ve played the 2016 game, there’s about 10 hours of story, missions and boss battles you’ll be retreading.
And that’s not the only dull thing I found. While it’s great to play a character of our own creation, zero personality has been injected into it.
You are given multiple dialogue options when it comes to interacting with your team and, in most instances, you’re encouraged to chose the correct choice.
For example, one character begins to brag about how amazing they are and, when I failed to respond flatteringly, my character was essentially punished.
While that may not sound like a big thing, thanks to the game’s infuriating ‘Friendship Level’ system, you have to massage the egos of those around you or you’ll not be able to unlock certain skills for your character. It’s a system which just serves to slow the pace of story mode.
The new combat system however, is a bit of a revelation.
Movement feels faster, more responsive and fluid, adding realism to the combat experience and, more importantly, making it much more addictive.
Bringing a Titan down requires either a direct kill shot to the neck, or you need to fell the beasts by dismembering them.
A kill shot can be tricky, the timing needed to set up the play then time the blow as your character slingshots past the Titan is precise, but the feeling of completing it is oh, so satisfying.
And that is this game’s major draw.
Yes the campaign is a tad short, and yes, you’re not really left feeling like the hero – but the satisfaction of bringing down a lumbering Titan is a feeling not to be missed.
BUY it: £38.99 from 365games.co.uk