It Feels Like Spiderman, But It’s Not Spiderman – Attack On Titan Review

Developer: Omega Force

Publisher: Koei Tecmo

Release Date: August 30, 2016

Platforms: Xbox One, Windows, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 (reviewed)

With games like One Piece: Burning Blood, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Sword Art Online: Lost Song, and the more recent A.W. Phoenix Festa, the anime-to-game zeitgeist is in full swing. The biggest problem with these games, however, is the horribly obtuse narrative: Following its source material so closely, jumping into the fiction by way of the game is a terrible way to get into the mythos. And regardless of how fun the game is, there isn’t enough of a setup for anyone other than fans to really give a damn. Sadly, Attack On Titan is no different. Locked to its source material’s hip like a new couple, Attack On Titan delivers a damn fun experience with a narrative that is so sporadic and incoherent that no one but fans will understand the emotional impact.

And that’s unfortunate. Attack On Titan‘s narrative is exceptional, even if being a carbon copy of its source material. Attack On Titan recounts the events of season one of the anime: Closely following Eren Jaeger and Co.—Armin Arlert and Mikasa Ackerman—you experience them grow and transform from frail children to badass soldiers. Though quite a few scenes are missing—it’s improbable to turn a 25 episode anime into a game—developer Omega Force does a great job at translating the narrative from a 2013 anime to a game—for fans, that is. For everyone else, Attack On Titan‘s story is not only obtuse but also perplexing. Frequently jumping between the multiple characters and losing a lot of the scenes creates a distance to the characters’ plight, elicits an unsympathetic response, and a rather disinterest in the narrative as a whole. And although the Japanese voice acting sounds accurate, the lack of emotional punch leaves the voice acting reaching for feelings that are never established. This is a shame: Attack On Titan is an emotional anime, but not an emotional game.

Attack On Titan‘s story is not only obtuse but also perplexing, unless you’re already a fan.

While it may not tell the part, it looks the part. Omega Force took the trite path of cel-shading. Like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven, TMNT: Mutants In Manhattan, Transformers Devastation, and many games before it, Attack On Titan mirrors its anime counterpart exquisitely. All of the cutscenes look like they’ve been ripped right out of the anime—because they have. While it’s not the animation of Wit Studio, the Japanese animation company responsible for the animation of the Attack On Titan anime, every cutscene is undeniably replicated exactly. It’s hard to decide whether this is good or bad: On the one hand, fans will appreciate the retelling of the story in case they forgot (it has been three years, after all); and on the other, newcomers to the series will get glimpses of the hype train. Still, this faithful recreation is commendable, for Omega Force decided to focus all of their efforts on the gameplay. (At least I hope that’s what happened in the studio.)

There hasn’t been good swinging in video games since the 2004 movie tie in game, Spider-Man 2. Most swinging games don’t capture the momentum well enough, or they don’t make logical sense in terms of their mechanics. Well, it seems Omega Force may have perfected swinging for games. (Insomniac, wherever you are, I hope you’re taking notes.) Using the omni-directional maneuver gear feels fantastic: Zipping around the battlefield at breakneck speeds, latching to and orbiting around titans, catapulting through and up buildings is all satisfying, fun as hell, and easy to master. Though a bit clunky at first, understanding the ODM only takes a few minutes of flailing around erratically like a child on an ice rink to fully grasp its capabilities and nuances. Gameplay is similar to that of other Omega Force-Koei Tecmo properties like Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, and other Musou titles. You roam the fairly large maps completing main and side objectives before a final boss appears. Once that boss is eliminated, you finish the level, gain experience and rankings, and return to the hub area—rinse and repeat a few dozen times. Unfortunately, this can become monotonous: the maps all look the same and have a similar setup, main and side objectives are repeated ad nauseam, assets and textures are reused—after about two hours, the game ends up too familiar.

Using the ODM is satisfying, fun as hell, and easy to master.

What’s worse is the incompetent AI and the inconsistent hit detection. True to the fiction, titans are killed by slashing the nape of their neck. Sounds easy enough, and it is, until you’ve hit the titan three times in its neck because the first two hits didn’t register. On numerous occasions, myself and my partners—both online and offline—have struck titans in their neck only for them to shrug it off as if being stung by a mosquito. Have this happen incessantly and you have a perfect recipe for rage—especially since this is the only way titans are killed. Couple this with the asinine AI, and attempting to kill multiple titans becomes a chore: The titans are too damn big to focus on just one when there are multiple coalescing, the lousy hit detection makes eliminating them quickly nearly impossible, and their stupidity is so laughable that watching them swing their arms at you and your partners is like watching a mosh pit, only less coordinated. (At least moshers have conviction.)

Even still, Attack On Titan is damn fun. While it suffers the problem of familiarity—since it’s too close to its source material—Omega Force managed to make the gameplay itself thoroughly enjoyable, and that’s what matters most. A game like this is not played for its narrative. A game like this is not played for its animation and design. (Although its aesthetic is faithful and passable.) Hell, a game like this isn’t even played for its online capabilities. (Though playing online can alleviate some of the boredom that occurs.) A game like this is played solely for its gameplay—and with the fresh and exhilarating swinging mechanics, Attack On Titan is certainly a game that can be enjoyed by fans of the anime and fans of Spider-Man. If you want to get into Attack On Titan, however, just watch the anime.