Berserk and the Band of the Hawk Preview

I had the fortune to get hands-on with the Berserk and the Band of the Hawk demo at MCM London. Although it wasn’t very long, I absolutely loved it. So what is it that makes the Berserk game so promising?

 

 

 

From what I’ve seen so far, Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is everything I could want a Berserk game to be. Which is to say, it’s a multi-arc-spanning Warriors game with a range of playable characters from the series. The English version is pretty bloody too, which definitely helps add to the Berserk atmosphere.

 

Guts was the only playable character in the demo, but he plays exactly as he should. He’s pretty slow to use, but stringing together combos with the Dragonslayer allows you to wreak havoc on hordes of enemies at a time like it’s nothing – and, while that’s a staple for Warriors games, it’s a necessity for Guts. The inclusion of sub-weapons helps keep things fresh too, and it’s great to see that Guts’s arm-canon is one of them. Only after the Golden Age arc, of course – hooray for continuity!

 

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is everything I could want a Berserk game to be.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk preview

I’m very interested to see how some of the other characters will play, but what I’ve seen makes me confident that they will have the same accuracy and uniqueness that Guts does. That’s my hope, at the very least!

 

It’ll take a little more time to get used to the 5 levels of Frenzy system introduced in Band of the Hawk, but I think it’s a great concept, enhancing the ‘fill bar, do special move’ formula for extra damage. I only got to 3 levels in the demo, so I’m very curious to see what max capacity Frenzy will unleash!

 

The only drawback with what I’ve seen of the game so far is that there will be no English dub option.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk preview

 

The only drawback with what I’ve seen of the game so far is that there will be no English dub option. The English dub cast of Berserk has been consistent throughout the first two anime adaptations, and it would have been nice to continue with the same cast I’ve come to love in the game. However, the Japanese cast, reprising roles from the movies and Berserk 2016 anime, is also stellar!

 

Before the one released this year, anime adaptations of Berserk have only covered the Golden Age arc, so the fact that Band of the Hawk goes beyond this (and the Band of the Hawk, funnily enough) is really refreshing. I can’t wait to see some more of the characters and stages further into Berserk’s story, and playing them in the game will be a really engaging way to get to know them!

 

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk preview

Hungry for more Berserk? Take a look at our talk with Koei Tecmo at MCM.

 

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is due for release on 24th February in Europe and 21st February in North America. It will be available on PS4, PS Vita, and PC.

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