Thank you Koei Tecmo for sending us a review code for this game!

My husband and I enjoyed the Attack On Titan anime which this game recreates in its Attack Mode single-player campaign. If you have any plans on watching the anime, you may want to do that first because this game will spoil it for you otherwise!

The premise is that humanity is struggling to survive and has walled themselves in as a last resort to protect themselves from huge titans that pick them up and eat them whole. Things get hairy as the walls (which are named after goddesses) get breached and titans flood in and ravage the towns. To make matters worse, some of the trusted soldiers have the ability to turn into titans. Humanity has to fight back if they want to survive.

The main character is Eren Jaeger who watched his mother get eaten when he was a young boy. Since then he vowed to fight back and to avenge his mother’s death. The single player campaign takes you through his boot camp experiences, being assigned to the military police, and later the scout regimen. The scout regimen is held in high regard by the civilians since they are the only group to leave the city’s walls and often return with fewer soldier than they departed with.

While you’re a cadet you’ll learn how to use your equipment and how to efficiently take down these towering titans. The titans have a vulnerable spot at the nape of their neck and in order to reach it or any of their other limbs you’ll need to use special ODM Gear, which uses gas canisters to thrust you into the air. Between the grappling hooks and ODM Gear you’ll be slinging yourself around like Spider-Man. Be sure to watch your gauge levels, refill your gas canisters, and replace your dull blades as needed. There are replenishment points on the battlefield so be sure to make note of their locations.

The titans come in various sizes and they are all deadly. If you get picked up by one you’ll have to mash the triangle button repeatedly to slice off their fingers to free yourself. Some of the titans are tougher and smarter than others. Later in the game you’ll come across ones that require taking out their limbs before you can do any damage to the nape of their neck. Other variants toughen their muscles and do a number on your blades if you strike them in a hardened spot.

In the beginning of the game you can disable gore which is a nice feature. Even with that option enabled I still saw plenty of blood in the cutscenes and limbs/appendages sliced off throughout the game. Watching people being eaten is rather unsettling as you see their body parts bitten off. The titans don’t wear any clothes, but they don’t have reproductive organs either. The humans don’t know how they reproduce and most of the attacking titans are masculine in appearance.

The story mode comprises of three chapters and throughout the campaign you’ll be switching between various squad mates and a titan! You’ll unlock characters for the Exhibition Mode as you play through the Attack Mode. After the credits roll, you can still complete various side quests and scouting missions. The scouting missions have single-player/survey missions or multiplayer expedition missions. You can play along with friends or people online. I had no problem finding people to play alongside online.

Though the scouting missions help you acquire materials and items to better your equipment, they are nearly as fun as the story missions in my opinion. Depending on how well you do on a mission you’ll be given a letter grade, materials, medals, and money towards researching better gear. I like how you can combine items to make better ones or look into new technology altogether. Be sure to check up for better models of all of your gear and horses throughout the game.

Despite the short story mode there is still plenty to do with the exploration missions, side quests and online play. Fans of the anime will enjoy the story and may even recognize the voice actors that reprised their roles for this game. Sadly the voice acting is all in Japanese, but it’s still very well done.

The 3D cel-shaded artwork is really neat and stays true to the look and feel of the anime it's based off of. There are lots of different looking titans to slay and plenty of variety in locations to do it in. This game ran great on my PS4 Pro.

Overall, any fan of the Attack On Titan anime should look into this game. The active multiplayer community is refreshing to see even after being released almost a year ago. The same moral issues are present in the anime will be found in this title. Because of the blood, violence, and mild language, this is not a game to be played near or by children. Chances are the titans may give young kids nightmares since they are pretty creepy.