It feels like Omega Force have become known more recently for their warriors infused spin-offs of other properties rather than their own Dynasty Warriors series. While Omega Force have started branching off into other genres completely outside their work with Warriors games such as Toukiden, Attack on Titan represents something completely new from the developer. Attack on Titan is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the anime series with seemingly little to no trace of Warriors left in it.
The demo I played had a short tutorial section followed by an mission set in the city. The tutorial starts with learning how to use your omni-directional mobility gear. In the anime, we see the characters practically flying around, darting between rooftops, trees and titans. The game however drives home the reality of such a system that basically propels you across huge distances via a few wires. It feels alien at first but within minutes you’ll have the basics down. Pressing square will shoot your wires outward to launch yourself and X will give you an additional boost using your gas tank. Once you’ve demonstrated your flying capabilities, you move onto taking down some wooden practice titans. These titans are stationary but the forest setting makes for a trickier combat area. When near a titan, pressing R1 will switch you to combat mode. Now when your launch your wires out, they’ll be planted directly into the titan. You’re able to circle around the titan but be careful as your wires are a solid object in the game. Get your wires caught in trees or by another titan and you’ll fall. A titan’s weak point is the back of its neck so you’ll need to get up high to approach at the right angle. Pressing X here will speed you towards the titan ensuring a clean killing strike.
Moving onto the city mission, a few more elements are introduced. You start off in a hub area where in the full game you can talk to other characters and improve your equipment but this wasn’t available in the demo. You’re able to form teams to go with Erin and approaching a member of the Scouting Regiment and pressing circle will add them to your roster. As the mission progresses a green signal will appear on the map. This signifies a side quest from a squad member and if you don’t get to them in time, the titan they’re facing will eventually kill them. It’s up to you whether you want to save them but more allies you have, the better. After skimming rooftops and taking down titans, eventually your blades will dull and your ODG will run out of gas. There are squad members specially dotted around the map whose sole purpose is to refill your inventory but they’re finite so don’t waste your resources meaninglessly. Alternatively, should you defeat a titan whose consumed a squad member, you can loot their corpse for their supplies. It’s a grim detail but it goes to show the struggles Erin and the team face.
The mission introduced three types of titan to take down. The small titans have no limbs for you to take down and you simply go straight for the neck. However, their smaller size means they’re more agile and more likely to take a bite out of you if your timing is off. Medium titans are the most common ones roaming the city and you can take off their arms and legs to make things easier. Removing legs slows their mobility while removing arms means you’re less likely to be attacked. Some titans will have small symbol on certain limbs and this signifies that by taking off that limb, you’ll earn a materials than can be used to enhance your weapons later on. The demo finished with a fight against a large titan with the rest of the squad joining in the battle. These essentially are the same as medium titans but a single clean attack isn’t enough to take off their limbs. With the squad’s assistance the Titan wasn’t too tough to take down though it was certainly more aggressive than what the medium titans were. After a few limbs, it had lost its defenses and by striking the neck it was taken down.
My time with Attack on Titan felt really promising. The gameplay that I’ve experienced doesn’t feel like a cut down experience at all and it genuinely delivers on recreating the fast paced action from the show. As fans of the series will know, there should be more to come in terms of gameplay opportunities related to one certain character and I’m looking forward to seeing how Omega Force’s take on that and the rest of the series.
