#MysteriousSpread - Sang Froid Tales of Werewolves

Intro

Sang-Froid is an interesting game to say the least. If I were to sum it up in a few words if would be a strategy, action, tower defence RPG but this summary does not being to even express the amount of character this game has. The game is developed and published by Artifice Studios a small indie company from Canada based in Montreal.

Story and Game

Sang-Froid’s Story takes inspiration from Canadian and Native -America Folklore and was co-written by a bestselling Canadian Author Bryan Perro, the narrative however is not by a long shot a novel that is at the writing level of a best-selling author. It has a very basic narrative that serves more as a medium to progress the game than as a story. The narrative in summary is about a priest’s unsolicited advances towards Josephine the sister of the two protagonists of this game Jack and Joseph. The priest Elzear lust towards Josephine is so great that he makes a pact with the Devil to take her back. So, the Devil decides to send waves of wolves and were-wolves to capture her back. There is more to the story as you continue further into the game but this is the basic premise of the story.

The voice acting is don’t even get me started the voicing acting is at most very basic and emotionless so much so that  you will find yourself skipping many of the cut scenes. The music in this game however is spot on. The music while you play and in the loading screens set the mood of the game very well. The music is ominous and moody and listening to the music as you wait gives the game a tension and weight that the story and voice acting lack. Even the calmer music of the game has a sense of weight to it pushing you through the game.

Gameplay

The Game is split into two distinct parts Strategy Screen and the Night. The Strategy screen is where the tower defence part of the game plays out.

Here in this part of the game you plan how your night will play out by setting up traps to aid you. Your sister Josephine can tell you the where the enemies will appear and the path that they will travel which is very useful for planning where to set your traps. The more you prepare at this part of the game the easier it will be for you during the night.

During the night, you must run around using the trap you set up as well as your trusty axe and musket to kill various mythical creatures. The combat system is split into melee and ranged. Melee combat relies on your axe to attack enemies and perform rage attacks which charge up from you attacking opponents. Your ranged attacks are by a musket which are limited to one shot and is very loud with a very long reload time, this however is to fit within the time frame of this game as well as to balance the weapon. These are all tied to together by an interesting gameplay mechanic called Fear Factor. Fear Factor is basically a deterrent against the enemies attacking you the higher your Fear Factor the more time you have before the enemy attacks you however over time the enemies Fear factor will increase over time once their Fear Factor is equal or greater than yours they will begin to attack you. Juggling this as you dodge and attack enemies is what make this game so interesting past its strategic aspects.

 Outside the game you can go to various other locations in the games world to purchase potions, items and upgrades for your weapons. Also after every night you gain exp which increases your level and gives you skill points which you can put into the skill tree and improve various aspects of yourself or your traps. 

Summary

Sang-Froid is a great game, graphic and story wise it is very lacking, but it more than makes up for this by its gameplay and best of all as of now it is free, so you can pick it up on steam straight away to play.