Recently at E3, I was fortunate enough to have some hands on time with Koei’s soon to be released Attack on Titan and find out what the game was all about. I was told that the story covers all of season one of the anime, so those familiar will know exactly what is coming next, but newcomers will also be welcome, which is nice. From the get go, the game uses a cell shaded 3d art style which seems to have become popular in recent years, especially with games based on an anime (One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure).
In the demo three modes were available to choose from, so I started with the tutorial so I could understand how to move around in the game. At first I was introduced to the basic standard movements such as walking and jumping, but I was really interesting in how I would be using the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. First, I needed to anchor myself to either a tree or a rock wall of some kind with one button, and then activate my gas with another to push me along. In order to keep moving through the trees like in the anime, I need to steadily alternate between the two buttons while also using the joysticks to steer myself along. Once I got the hang of it, I truly felt like I was part of the Survey Corps. The gas doesn’t last forever though, so I need to frequently refill my blades and gas at different stations throughout the map.
Once I mastered the ability to move, I was introduced to the titan battle system. Once I was within range of a titan, I would have to initiate the battle mode by hitting the right bumper on my Xbox One controller. Once engaged, my focus stayed on the titan and I would have to press B to anchor onto the titan. Here are where things got a little tricky. In order to attack the titan, I would have to choose which part of the titan I wanted to attack first, via a visual on the screen, and then use the joystick to find the ideal spot to attack from. This is all while I’m being slowly reeled in to the titan. I could then choose to boost myself towards to titan and give a strong attack or wait to be reeled in naturally for a weaker one. I was given a time limit and sent on my way to kill as many titans as possible. A good introduction to the controls overall.
Due to the limited amount of time I had left, I chose to skip the second mode, which I assume to be a story mode, and chose to try the more enticing Titan mode. Here is where I played as Eren in his titan mode and DESTROYED EVERYTHING. For anyone that enjoys hack and slash games, this mode is for you. The control scheme is fairly basic and doesn’t use too many combos (or maybe that is further in the game) making it easy to pick up and murder everything in existence. The overall goal is to help the members of the Survey Corps by destroyed the titans attacking them, but it was so much fun, I just left a bloody trail in my path to saving my fellow Corpsmates.
I only played a small portion of the actual game, so I can’t imagine how immersive the rest of the game will be upon its release in August. Stay tuned for a full write up once the game is out!
