Tweet
I read a book in between levels of Sang-Froid. Not a long book, granted, but it's not a particularly long game. It is an incredibly exhausting game, though, and that's where the book came in. I needed a breather to break up the periods of vile punishment. I needed time off before heading back out there. For an adventure that trades so heavily in its oppressive atmosphere, that's got to be a good sign, right?Sang-Froid's a game about killing werewolves. In this respect, it's not the first of its kind. There have been other games where you're dispatched to kill werewolves, and they generally give you tools and powers that are up to the job. They'll dress you as Van Helsing or a scowling equivalent. They'll spend the opening cut-scene telling everyone what a werewolf-killing savant you are. After that, the first actual level will load you down with heavy artillery and see you pulping everything that comes your way. Killing werewolves, you will quickly come to realise, is a bit like killing anything else in a video game. It's no big deal.
Not so Sang-Froid. Sang-Froid casts you as a knackered-out Canadian lumberjack in the 1850s, and most of the tools and powers you have are the tools and powers a knackered-out Canadian lumberjack in the 1850s might reasonably come with. You've got an axe, but it's a nightmare to swing around with any accuracy. You've got a rifle, but it takes an age to load. The werewolves strip your life away in broad, flesh-rending swipes, and even the gentlest jog through the snow will see you doubled up and heaving afterwards. The health potions are generally rustic moonshine that was probably made in some unfortunate's bathroom, and the cooldowns are an absolute killer. The right mouse button's shoot. The left mouse button's cough.
Read more…
More...