Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom

Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom brings to life the horror of the popular anime series. It was hard to imagine being able to fly around a broken city on retractable zip lines as you desperately try to take down monstrous titans, hell-bent on eating you, but this game delivers on that sheer adrenaline rush. Yes, it’s not the sleekest product going around and there are perhaps some issues around longevity, but fundamentally, this is a stupidly fun and unique take on traditional hack ‘n’ slash, especially if you can rope in some friends for online play.

Attack on Titan is set in a world where all of humanity has been confined to a single city surrounded by three massive walls designed to protect them from the titans: gigantic humanoids with an insatiable urge to eat humans. Eren Yeager and Mikasa Ackerman are two such humans who for their own reasons, want to fight in the Scout Regiment, a military division designed to combat the encroaching titans. Although Eren, Mikasa and their childhood friend Armin are the main characters, you will pick up and play 10 characters by the end of the campaign, giving you a variety of different abilities and styles to try.

Existing fans of the series will relish playing through the campaign with the tactile dimension a video game provides, but people new to the series shouldn’t be discouraged. There are detailed cutscenes and dialogue which cover all the key moments of the anime, so you can get a full sense of the story if you are unfamiliar. In terms of anime adaptations to video games, this is one of the best I’ve seen, with picture perfect graphics, voice and sound.

“…you can grapple on to their individual body parts and begin severing them limb by limb.”

Gameplay is fast and furious as you would expect and I recommend that PC users have a gamepad before they pick up this game. At the press of a button you begin soaring through cities and forests using the omni-directional mobility gear. As you encounter the invading titans, you can grapple on to their individual body parts and begin severing them limb by limb, until you finally go for the killing blow at the nape of their neck. The controls are intuitive, but it does take a while to master the timing and angle required to dispatch the titans efficiently. Once you do get the hang of it, you’ll realise how satisfying it is to be gliding around a city at full pace, subjugating hordes of titans without even touching the ground.

The game doesn’t really get more complicated than that, other than that the titans become progressively more difficult to take down. It is very much like other Omega Force predecessors such as Dynasty Warriors in that regard. You do have to manage resources such as blade sharpness and gas canister capacity, but this is easily achieved through the completion of side quests. In between battles there is the opportunity to upgrade your equipment from materials you gain in battle, as well as talk to NPCs to immerse yourself further in the Attack on Titan world. For this reason, I wonder if there is enough content in this game, especially for the substantial $59 USD cost.

One thing that does give this game some extra legs is the online multiplayer mode. Grab three friends, choose a scenario, such as protecting one of the walls from destruction and hack up some titans together! Especially if you can get some voice comms up, this game is going to give you and your friends hours of fun.