The new adventure game of savage horror within the legendary World of Darkness is clawing its way to PC. Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest, from the makers of Wanderlust: Travel Stories and The Witcher 1, will let you share the deep secrets of the last primeval forest in Europe.
Heart of the Forest is a narrative adventure game based on the legendary role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse. You play as Maia, a young woman looking to uncover her family’s history. In the pursuit of past mysteries, she arrives at the Białowieża Forest, an ancient wilderness full of ancient and dangerous secrets.
The game’s mechanics are based around three main resources: Rage, Willpower, and Personality. They determine the choices available to Maia and influence the overall presentation of every scene.
“Heart of the Forest is one of the few video games that actually represent the traditional pen-and-paper role-playing mechanics. The game assumes the role of the game master and guides us through the adventure. It’s one of the best renditions of traditional RPG I’ve ever seen in gaming,” said Piotr Gnyp, Head of BizDev at Walkabout Games and a long-standing fan of tabletop RPGs.
The game is set in one of the last primeval forests of Europe – the Bialowieza Forest. It is a vast area located in Poland, Europe, full of myths and legends which players will also find in the game. The first people settled here 1,500 years ago, but their presence remained relatively limited until they eventually vanished. The mix of nature and mystery makes the Bialowieza Forest a perfect setting for a World of Darkness story.
Just like the original Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Heart of the Forest has many themes. These vary from mythological to inspired by its real-world setting, e.g. where should our interference in nature end? Aren’t we morally bound to interfere? How far would you go for a good cause?
The game stands out thanks to its unique art style. Dynamic collages, which mix photography with hand drawings, are used to represent not only the forest environment but also Maia’s state of mind. The main inspiration for this look was the art of Dave McKean, especially his legendary covers of The Sandman graphic novels. The design team also studied works of artists such as Elke Trittel and Wangechi Mutu.
Sean Greaney, Brand Manager for World of Darkness at Paradox Interactive, adds “We’re excited to be partnering with Different Tales: their unique brand of narrative adventure storytelling fits the World of Darkness perfectly. The story of Maia helps us experience the richness and complexities of the Garou, and gives us a new perspective on their long, savage struggle to protect the world from natural and supernatural disaster.”
The game will be available on Windows, macOS, and Linux on Steam and GOG.com in Q4 2020.
