Come to Ashcroft... We've Got Good Schools, Plenty of Jobs, and Zombies!
Story:
The story is based on a White Wolf Inc. Pen & Paper game from a few years back, so you'd expect there to be a deep story. Unfortunately, this is one of the let-downs of the game, sadly to say; the game just doesn't have the flair it would coming out of some Story Teller's manual. To help explain the story of the game itself, allow me to lay out a bit of the Hunter: The
Reckoning story (as I understand it): Evil walks among us every day, we just can't see it. It's next to us, it's in charge of us, and it's everywhere. Ever once and awhile, however, normal people are contacted by a mysterious voices known only as "Messengers"which awaken them to the evil in the world and lead them down the path to become a hunter. These people, now referred to as the "Imbued" are gifted with unique abilities based on their personal "Creed", which is a type mind-set and belief system unique to each hunter. Some pity the monsters and attempt to help them, some protect the innocent, and some merciless slaughter evil where they find it with no concern as to who gets in the way.
4 years ago, 4 random strangers had gathered in Ashcroft Prison to witness the death of the vicious Nathaniel Arkady, a psychotic serial killer. When he died, all hell broke loose and the 4 were awakened to the path of the Hunter. 2 years later, a rave held in the now abandoned prison awakened the once dormant evil there, and the 4 hunters returned to battle it once again. Now, 4 years after their initial imbuing, the group returns to Ashcroft after receiving a plea for assistance from hunters known only as God_45 and Fanatic_656. It seems evil has returned to Ashcroft.
That's the gist of it anyway, although the game makes it clear from the beginning that there's something more going on than a bunch of zombies going Cannibal Holocaust on the citizens of Ashcroft. Sadly enough, if this sounds interesting than you may be let down; the story never really unfolds to present great depth. It becomes apparent that there's a lot going on, but you never truly find out anything other than "Evil's Bad, kill it in the face." I'd expect more from a company famous for Pen & Paper RPGs.
Gameplay:
The gameplay of Wayward is fairly unique compared to many games out there these days; even now I've never played anything quite like it. A good way to describe it would be as "Gauntlet with Guns". You play alone or with a partner, using a dual-stick approach to cut a bloody swath through enemies. The left stick is used to walk and run through the city of Ashcrot while the right stick is used to aim your attacks. While a scheme that uses your right thumb to aim your attacks sounds difficult, it's surprisingly accurate.
You start the game with a total of 4 Hunters to choose from, and unlock a few more as you progress through the game. The game is based from a control center where you can view all your stats, bonus materials and choose missions from a map of Ashcroft. You are free to play missions in any order you wish as they become available, and you can also choose between hunters and weapons for each mission. Only a few missions are available at first, but more become available as you complete objectives in the field.
The levels themselves are quite large and fairly detailed, even though the graphics in the game are sort-of cartoony and unrealistic. They're packed to the gills with enemies, weapons, innocents to rescue (which gives you extra lives in the form of "continues") and unlockables to collect. There's plenty to do and explore, and each level features a number of bonus objectives in addition to your main missions. It takes quite awhile to find everything each level has to offer and there's never a shortage of baddies to plow through. Luckily, the combat engine makes it not only easy to take on a crowd of 40 zombies at once, you feel totally awesome doing it. Combat never really feels boring.
Sound:
The sounds in the game vary between awesome and annoying. Everything sounds cool and fitting; zombie moans and grunts sound top-notch, perhaps even on par with those from that OTHER famous zombie game. Small arms fire and other weapons sound exactly like you'd imagine them in real life, and cries of pain from your adversaries are realistic and satisfying.
The music, on the other hand, is highly boring. The ambient noise in the game matches the areas you explore, such as water dripping in catacombs or wind and metal squeals in the graveyards of the game. However, during combat, the noise is replaced by heavy metal toons which are rather distracting from the task at hand. I was pumped the first time, and downright tired of hearing it by the 3rd or 4th.
Control:
The controls in the game are pretty spot-on with a few exceptions. All combat moves are tied to the triggers of the controller; R1 is melee, R2 is ranged with your selected fire-arm, L2 is jump and L1 uses your character's "Edge", a sort-of magic ability. The other buttons fulfill tasks, such as switching weapons, changing edges, and using various actions when the time comes. As mentioned before, the right stick is used to aim your attacks. I have very few complaints with the controls themselves, and the ones I have are fairly minor.
For starters, the running seems almost slippery; your character seems to slide a bit whenever you stop running. Another problem is that the jumping is also rather slippery. Finally, though the manual claims that the X button reloads your current gun when you have it equipped, this doesn't seem to be the case. I could find only two methods to reload: Emptying the current magazine or switching to a different weapon, then switching back. These are minor grievances, however, and I can forgive them due to the solid gameplay.
Replay:
This game features a ton of things to see and do even prior to completing it. For starters, each level in the game contains a number of optional objectives and collectible items, such as CDs to unlock bonus music or extra costumes. To further sweeten the pot, you can also collect "Trophies" for accomplishing certain tasks, such as killing all the enemies of a stage with nothing but your melee weapon. These trophies unlock cheat codes you can enter upon beating the game to give yourself all sorts of stuff the next time around, such as infinite ammo or mega-damage.
In addition to that, you'll unlock new hunters to play with and an extra difficulty level after your first playthrough. Completing this new difficulty will net you yet another character to play around with. There's tons of stuff to do, so you'll be playing Hunter for a long time.0
Summary:
I had a lot of fun with this game, to tell the truth. I found very little to complain about while playing outside of a few annoyances with the controls and sound. The only other things I really didn't enjoy were the huge events in the game which are never explained and the steep difficulty climb of the later stages in the game. Still, all these things are utterly forgettable because this game is a ton of fun to cut a bloody path straight through. There's plenty to work towards unlocking and you'll have a blast doing it, so I find it hard to not recommend this game, especially with the price it must be these days. I definitely recommend it to any action fan, so if you happen to see it for a few bucks at your local Game Exchange, be sure to pick it up.