Werewolf: The Apocalypse - The Heart of Gaia was an aborted computer "first to third person action game" based on Werewolf: The Apocalypse. It was being developed for the PC by DreamForge Intertainment, and executive produced by former White Wolf author Travis Williams. It used the Unreal engine from Epic Games.
The Heart of Gaia was to be published by ASC Games, but after a series of delays on the title, ASC closed down on January 7, 2000. DreamForge, seemingly unable to find another publisher and struggling for funding, also closed down without ever completing the game. A series of prequel stories by Phil Brucato, titled simply The Heart of Gaia, were published on the ASC Games web site, but only four of the planned ten installments were posted before the company folded.
In the game, the player portrayed Ryan, a teenage lost cub - a Garou who has undergone the First Change on his own and has yet to discover Garou society. Through the course of the game, Ryan encounters other Garou and fights agents of the Wyrm, including fomori, Black Spiral Dancers, and agents of Pentex. He eventually learns he is descended from White Howler stock and is destined to become a hero of legend.
A CGI commercial for Pentex, a promotional game advertisement/intro, 30-second clip of gameplay, and 14 of the 15 cinematics were developed and released for the game and are viewable on YouTube (see below).
Gallery[]
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Background Information[]
- Two music files were originally previewed on the Heart of Gaia website:
- The_Urge_Wyrm.mp3:
- The_Weaver's_Web.mp3:
- Form what little information can be ascertained, it is possible to piece together what this game could've been from an article by Unseen64 and brief the gameplay and screenshots shown:
- It would've run on Epic's Unreal Engine.
- The game's premisis was described by Unseen64's article as follows:
- "The protagonist was a teenager named Ryan Mcullough who discovers that he is a member of the Garou tribe of werewolves after being attacked by monsters who serve the Wyrm – a supernatural force of destruction that wants to warp reality by corrupting all living things with its sickness. Ryan comes to find that not only is he a werewolf but that he also carries the blood of the White Howlers – a powerful tribe who has been extinct for years after trying to stop the Wyrm and falling under its corruption. With his new found abilities Ryan goes on a globetrotting journey to save the heart of the Earth itself from the clutches of the grotesque Wyrm as well as finding out the truth behind his father’s disappearance when he was still a child. Along the way he makes allies with fellow werewolves and other mystical beings to help him battle the twisted agents of the Wyrm such as the Fomori, humans who have been possessed by evil spirits that serve the Wyrm, and the Black Spiral Dancers, werewolves that have been corrupted by the Wyrm. His travels take him to places such as Greece and the Pentex Corporation, which is a powerful conglomerate that serves as a front for the Wyrm."
- The game would've been a mix between a third-person hack-and-slasher, along with first-person shooting. A gameplay style akin to Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. With the player having access to long and close range combat, with a lock-on and strafe feature to make combat easier.
- The player would be able to switch between Ryan's Homid, Crinos and Lupus form at will with each form having a different method of fighting;
- Homid form would use firearms ranging from pistols, machine guns and “experimental” weaponry.
- Crinos form would focus on melee which would consist of claws and a Klaive that has fire or ice powers.
- It's unknown if the Lupus would have any combat potential.
- The player would be able to unlock certain abilities depending on a "good" or "evil" paths the player chooses, these would take the form of Gifts.
- A multiplayer versus mode was also planned; the game mode would have players be able to choose one of multiple characters out of the thirteen different tribes to fight one another. It also featured totems as a gameplay mechanic that players could attach to their characters to give them special abilities. Many standard multiplayer game modes would have been available Deathmatch, King of the Hill and a Tag mode.
External links[]
- Travis Williams interview on PlanetUnreal.
- Last official news on the game from White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
- Compilation of in-game cutscenes
- The only public clip of gameplay footage
- Overview of game's overall design in an article by Unseen64.