Against all odds, Attack on Titan emulates the high-flying, bloody action of the anime series. Boasting fast-and-fun swinging mechanics, an in-depth equipment system, and plenty of satisfying gore, Attack on Titan is fun for fans and new players alike.
Attack on Titan
Developer: Koei Tecmo
Price: $59.99
Platform: PS3, PS4 (reviewed), PS Vita, PC
MonsterVine was supplied with a PS4 code for review
Attack on Titan is a fun show. Despite some leaps in storytelling, the series consistently provides gorgeous over-the-top action, with a wondrous premise involving teenagers flying around on cables to slash away at monsters. While I’ve always wanted to experience this in video game format, the high-flying mechanics behind the show’s Maneuver Gear and pinpoint-accurate attacking seemed nearly impossible to translate into a controllable form. This scepticism was proven when first game to hit Western shores wasn’t particularly successful, due to the clunky implementation of these features. I’m happy to say that the Attack on Titan game is a wonderful surprise. It manages to take these difficult concepts from the anime and translate them into an accurate and incredibly enjoyable game.
The campaign, appropriately dubbed Attack Mode, takes you through the main events of the currently released anime, while also going slightly beyond what we’ve seen by delving into the ongoing manga. The provided narrative is comprehensive enough for players who haven’t watched or read any Attack on Titan, but still brief enough to keep the attention of series veterans. The added arc of story is compelling, as it gives players a look at some of the more bizarre Titans that appear later in the manga. It also adds to the main story’s moderately short length, a bonus for players who purely want to experience the story.
Attack on Titan‘s gameplay is nothing short of astounding, once you get the hang of it. Players are dropped onto an expansive map that’s packed to the brim with the titular hulking Titans. As one of the many main characters from the series, players are given a set of objectives to complete as they freely glide around the map. Normally objectives revolve around slaying the different types of Titans while saving teammates.The Titans range from eerily baby-like 8 ft tall Titans, to enormous creatures with terrifyingly human features, which makes each encounter a uniquely creepy one.
Cutting through these Titans is ridiculously fun. As established in the series, Titans can only be killed by slicing the nape area of their neck. Players are able to latch onto any limb of a Titan by locking on, and shooting the cables from their 3D Maneuver Gear at the chosen limb. While flying towards the enemy, players use air from the two tanks attached to them in order to propel themselves in different directions to get the perfect angle on the Titan. This means you can take out their limbs to slow them down, or fly around straight towards their nape.
Gliding around the city is invigorating, as Attack on Titan is one of the few games to really nail the physics of swinging around a city, a la Spider-Man 2. It’s just as gratifying to cut down a Titan, as the camera will often give you the perfect angle, complete with slow-motion, to watch your expert slash as it slices through the Titan, erupting in a ridiculous fountain of blood. The amount of side-missions is impressive, and adds a great deal of time to the overall game. These side-missions normally involve protecting citizens, slaying Titans, and rescuing teammates. It’s nothing particularly special, but it often results in new bits of plot, and character interactions. They’re fun enough to keep your attention, with rewards that make them worth completing for those who want the best weapons, and the most story. It’s plenty of fun to aimlessly swing around, but for the more hardcore audience, getting S ranks on each mission will provide enough challenge to keep Attack on Titan entertaining for sufficient amount of time.
Outside of a sometimes wonky camera that gets stuck on the occasional tight alley or character model, the gameplay is smooth and satisfying. Flying around and grappling onto Titans gives off a feeling of freedom and flexibility that few games like Attack on Titan can, and killing Titans is so fun that you’ll go out of your way to find more around the map. There are plenty of environments to traverse throughout the various missions, which gives Attack on Titan plenty of content to hack through.
Attack on Titan‘s visuals perfectly match the style seen in the anime. While the manga is known for a grittier look, the game aims to match the more clean and bleakly colorful tone of the show. In this way, the game succeeds in every regard, as everything from the characters and streets, to the ridiculous gore looks as though it was lifted straight from the show, and turned 3D.
The audio side of Attack on Titan is good, but not great. Whether it’s due to licensing or other forms of external issues, the iconic opening songs and themes from the anime are curiously absent. This is by no means a deal-breaker, but for fans of the anime, it would have been nice to have the iconic theme songs included. The music provided is great at setting Attack on Titan‘s tone, however, so the lack of anime music is forgivable.
The Final Word
Attack on Titan is as high-flying and fun as the anime it’s based on. Combat is remarkably fun, the visuals are terrific, and there’s a ton of content to play through. Though the camera can be finicky, and the music could be more memorable, Attack on Titan is a rousing success that will latch onto both anime fans and action game fans alike.
– MonsterVine Review Score: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
