Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves

I don’t get to discuss my culture as much as I’d like to on this blog. The province of Quebec is home to many notable studios, large and indie. I make a point to mention it when I know a game I’m reviewing was Made In Quebec. But even then, very few games show our folklore.

Plaid shirts, beards, axes and determination are a
mandatory part of the package.

I know we don’t have the luster of the more famous mythologies out there, but you’ve gotta give us a chance. Only in this part of the world will you see stories of Christian lumberjacks defending their cabin and sister, in the dead of winter, from an army of werewolves conjured by the Devil himself. That’s metal. We Canadians get stereotyped as nice guys. You see what our ancestors had to deal with? We channel our aggressivity where it matters; hockey, and kicking Satan's ass.

Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves was developed by Artifice Studio and released on April 5th, 2013. Its story was co-written by Quebec author Bryan Perro, known for the Amos Daragon and Wariwulf book series and a major advocate of our folkloric tales for the world at large. The game is now free on Steam and GOG, though I reecall purchasing it several years ago.

Don’t expect us to put on the kiddie gloves. We’re showing our mythology, warts and all. Pack your winter gear, there’s gonna be a lot of snow. Silver bullets and holy water might help, too.

Sang Froid, lit. Cold Blood

In the introduction, we witness a man, Doctor Lamontagne, killed by wild beasts before he could find the refuge of the nearest cabin. When we begin playing, we choose one of the two Irish-Canadian O’Carroll brothers: Joseph (Jos) or Jacques (Jack). Jos, a big, burly guy, has more stamina and higher base attack, while Jacques is more lacking in both. Jos is the normal difficulty option, and Jacques, the high difficulty one.

Considering what we're up against...
I'm gonna go with the muscle.

Nothing worse than the rumor mill of an uneducated,
God-fearing, bigoted 19th century village.

Jos and his sister Joséphine must come live in their brother Jacques’ cabin. While she was cleaning the church, priest Elzéar tried to feel up Joséphine. In the resulting shock, she accidentally knocked over a candle and burned the place down. Not only does the town believe the priest’s lies that Joséphine did this unwarranted, they also think she’s a witch due to strange abilities she displayed. What’s more, she seems to be coming down with an illness. No one else will take her in, and with the doctor MIA, the safest option to be is with her brothers.

When it comes to men of faith in French Canadian folklore... for every one that’s presented as a decent person, two more are either power-hungry, hypocrites, perverts or ready to sell their soul to Satan to get what they want. Or all of the above. Reading into our myth will make you think that we have a complicated relationship with religion. Well, that impression is 100% correct. Why do you think we have been using the words of the church when swearing?

"Boom, headshot" works here; aim for the head, you'll
do more damage.

The first stage begins, serving as a tutorial on how to move, navigate the map, and fight the wolves. You attack with the axe using the left-click, dodge-roll with Space. You accumulate rage as you attack; it lets you do a stronger axe swing with the right-click. You can hold down Crtl to switch to a third-person shooter view, and Jos will aim his gun; shoot with Left-Click. Bullets do more damage, but this is the 1850s, so it takes a while to reload. You switch bullet types with the mouse wheel. Another mechanic is the Fear Factor, which counts down the time before an enemy attacks you; this timer can be increased by shouting at these enemies, intimidating them by pressing Q. I managed well enough despite barely using the Fear Factor.

Defend your cabin like your entire family lives in it!
....Which is exactly the case right now!

We find the bridge to the village burnt down, so the siblings will have to live together a little longer. We also rescue Phidias, owner of a nearby sawmill, from a tree; he was attacked by wolves, who are now guarding the path to the mill. We kill the wolves, then return to the cabin in a hurry when it's attacked by animals. Another major mechanic here is building damage; all enemies target one of the buildings under your watch. At first, there’s only the cabin, but over time we add: The chicken barn, the sawmill, a chapel, and a treehouse. Enemies attack buildings left unattended, and if any building is destroyed, you lose. The monsters often attack different buildings at the same time.

The moment the priest stopped thinking with his head, he
became a prime target for evil. Satan is everywhere
in our mythology.

After rescuing the shack, we come in to see Joséphine in a trance, claiming she has seen the beasts and that they were sent by the Devil. Meanwhile, Priest Elzéar is visited by a man with top hat, cane, and red skin. Three guesses who that is, and the first two don’t count. He offers his services to let the Priest get what he wants, Joséphine’s love. But at a price. To carry this out, the Devil makes Elzéar sign over the souls of the villagers, which the demon will control to possess animals of the forest, creating werewolves at night.

Thanks to Joséphine’s visions, the O’Carroll brothers can prepare. This is the Strategy Mode, which opens before each night. In it, you can check the current map (it occasionally updates when new places are found, or paths open). You can view each wave of enemies, where they’ll spawn, how many there are, what their target is, and the path they’ll take. A new wave won’t begin until the enemies of the previous wave have all been killed.

That's just the starter map. Wait till you see what it looks
like at the end of the game.

[Tué de] Sang froid: Exp. “ [murdered in] cold blood”

Always remember the path the enemies will take. That
werewolf deserves to have its foot in a wolf trap.

Although fighting with axe and gun against the creatures is a major element, your success often comes down to how well you prepare in Strategy Mode. You regularly unlock new tools. First is a wolf trap (it’s designed like a bear trap, but considering the stuff we’ll catch, we need the strong stuff). Next up is bait, a carcass you can lure some enemy types with. Later, you get the Spike Trap, an instant kill on most enemies, but it won't trigger unless there's 3 or more targets on it. (P.S. You can count in those 3, so beware.) Another early trap is the Hanging Net which, when shot, drop boulders on the enemies underneath.

You later unlock:

By the endgame, you have a decent network of
ziplines to get anywhere decently fast.

-Ziplines, to fast-travel between zones. They can also be used as watchtowers, to attack from high up. These stick around as long as they’re not destroyed by enemies;

-A bonfire, which increases your fear factor when you’re near it;

-Fire walls, which will force enemies to reroute around them. You cannot block a path entirely, but you can direct enemies dirently into your traps;

-Magical towers with area-of-effect uses, like a Holy Cross (damages unholy monsters over time), or a sacred tree that releases several magical blasts which can harm any enemy;

-Heavy artillery: A barrel of explosives, which you can light up or shoot at to blow it up and harm everything nearby; a ballista, which hits for massive damage; and a mortar, which will kill everything on a spot on the map, but it must be activated from elsewhere.

The red bars? That's the fire walls. You can make these
enemies run all over the place looking for their target
thanks to those, they're useful all the time.

Some traps must be paid. Setting up traps costs Action Points (AP), so you’re limited in what you can do. Also of note, traps left unused remain on the field and can be used later. Later, you can spend remaining AP chopping wood for money for the mill. 

At the end of a night, you earn experience points. You gain a skill point when you level up, and you spend your points on a screen to improve your base skills (ex. Stronger shout, faster reload), stats (HP/stamina), or the efficiency or attack power of your traps. Skills are locked behind level requirements. You’ll never have enough skill points to unlock everything, so choose wisely.

More strategic elements are added over time. Thanks to the mini-map, you can see a circle noting the area in which your sounds are heard by enemies; and the direction of the wind, as several beasts can track your smell thanks to it.

You eventually unlock the town of Wolvesvale, where you can buy:

Eau-de-vie, caribou and bagosse, I'm boozed up
and all set to beat up some wolves from Hell.

-Alcohols, special effect items, most temporary. They include: Eau-de-vie (heals your HP), rye whisky (fills rage to max), spruce beer (stamina boost), bagosse (Quebec’s moonshine, yes really; faster sprint), caribou (increased damage) and Irish whisky (refreshes shout and boosts fear factor). You’d think the boosts being alcohols would be an issue, but we’re playing Irish-Canadians. They’ll be fine;

-New axes at the Blacksmith;

-And new firearms at the general store, as well as bullets (which, like axes, can be blessed at the convent to deal holy damage).

We also unlock access to the Mashteuiatsh Amerindian reserve, where you can buy equipment items (you can wear 3 at a time), more axes, and silver bullets (effective against the most powerful monsters).

Oh, and lastly: If you fail a night, you have the option to restart at twilight, after you’ve set all of your traps, or at dawn, so you can start from scratch.

Wolf Nights

We meet our first werewolf at the end of the second night. With only 20 levels, there’s no time to waste. No night happens without the story advancing. I think it might be interesting to note that, although the story is presented in English, players from Quebec will recognize our regional expressions, translated directly to English. As an example, a loading screen explains that Wolvesvale is led by the mayor and the priest, two “hard-heads” (“têtes dures”, for more appropriately translates to “stubborn ones”). It’s fun to spot these expressions.

You guys too? With the werewolves, don't we already
have enough crap to deal with as it is?

On the sixth night, we are introduced to the Maikans, spirits who turn into beasts and defend the “sacred land” from the white intruder. Prophecies have foretold the arrival of a monster known as the Invisible Beast, tied to the O’Carrolls’ presence. They intend to chase away or kill the siblings. Maikan warriors aren’t affected by multiple trap types. Oh, and spell-casting shamans later join the warriors.

The shaman is brooding. I sense an antagonist.

The O’Carrolls’ mother was Mani-Uapikuan, a seer from the Innu tribe, who formerly competed with Mishtamatsheshu, the Mashteuiatsh reserve’s shaman. She died giving birth to Joséphine, but it is her prophecy that foretold the Invisible Beast – and how to defeat it, thanks to “three keys”. Mishtamatsheshu's desire to protect his village is weaker than his spite for the O'Carrolls, as Joséphine has inherited her mother’s gift of vision. (Heh. Guess she IS a witch after all.)

After rescuing the blacksmith’s daughter lost in the woods, the brothers are visited by a “doctor” (actually the Devil). He tries to get Joséphine taken to the village, but the brothers prefer to keep her safe with them – so instead, he takes a blood sample. For “tests”. Following this, will-o’-the-wisps are added to the roster of enemies; unaffected by fire walls, love to attack in groups, can hide in the ground to regain health.

Damned wisp packs.

Sorry about the weird framing, I realized too late that OBS
captured the game wrong, and I didn't feel like doing three
hours of levels again.

A spirit comes from a broken chapel north of the cabin and asks for help. In return for repairing its chapel and protecting it at night, it offers its spiritual strength against the attacks. Joséphine’s visions confirm this is a positive spirit, so the brothers help it. Meanwhile, from the Devil’s ploy, even the Mayor’s soul is joining the attacks. This is seen by a strange old man with bizarre glasses living in the woods. Sheesh, this area’s getting crowded. The brothers also meet with the Innu tribe’s chief, Ussimashk, much more reasonable than his shaman; he gives the brothers an item that allows them to change the direction of the wind.

Sang-froid: Exp., “Courage”

....Guess the Invisible Beast just wasn't threatening enough.

It IS a nice treehouse. It looks cozier than the cabin.

Not only are there more werewolves per night, but the Maikans have summoned Wendigos, mythical creatures that slaughter everything in their path. On the plus side, we do find the hermit with the weird glasses; those grant the ability to see what is invisible. Sounds useful against the INVISIBLE Beast! He’ll give them in exchange for protection of his treehouse.

We also learn that Phidias keeps in his mill a cursed saw that could slice through anything. It’s been attracting monsters. He hands it to the brothers, who take it to the blacksmith who, as thanks for his daughter being rescued, forges it into a new axe, the most powerful in the game (and the only one that can hurt the Beast). Two keys down.

No so tough after all, huh, you punk?

Ussimashk is mad that Mishtamatsheshu still refuses to help the O’Carrolls. The wendigos slaughter people both white and First Nations, no discrimination, so the threat goes beyond racial spite. The Chief fires his shaman, who sides with the Maikans. Meanwhile, the Devil has brewed a potion with Joséphine’s blood, and has the priest drink it, turning him into the Invisible Beast. It overpowers the Devil and eats him. That's the holiest thing this priest has done!

No items also means no attack boosts or health increase.
Good. Luck.

Your character goes to the village and is invited for drinks by the Mayor, manipulated by the Devil. This turns out to be a ploy to poison the O’Carroll brother. This leaves your character MIA for this night, forcing you to play one night as the other brother, who has no skills, no items, almost no money, and no access to the village since he can’t keep Joséphine alone. However, all traps are unlocked. Awesome concept in theory, as it’s bound to be challenging. In practice, it’s the hardest level of all, since you can't rely on many of the tricks you're accustomed to. Setting your traps right will be vital. In Hard Mode, where Jos substitutes for Jacques, it’s probably a little easier, but not by much.

I don't think it'd be much better if the roles were swapped.
As they are in Hard Mode.

At the end of the switcheroo night, the brother we play as is attacked and turned into a werewolf. Meanwhile, the other brother turns out fine, as the barman, albeit complicit, reduced the poison dosage to be non-lethal. You go back to playing as this brother for a level. At the start of the next level, you find the other brother’s body in the snow. Not dead; but soulless. We clear the Maikans' last challenge and earn their respect. Mishtamatsheshu orders them to attack again, but they're not his underlings, and they tell him so by way of ripping his heart out of his chest.

The brother is taken to the village and we're given some holy water. One of the last werewolves fought in the next level contains the other O’Carroll’s soul. You use the glasses to spot the soul, then must incapacitate that werewolf and spray holy water on it.

I did tell you we'd need holy water!

I also did tell you that we fought demons here

The brother has been saved, but he’s still out cold, no pun intended. This leaves your playable character alone with Joséphine to kill the Beast. The third key is her blood; what summoned the demon is what will kill it. Joséphine is laid on a bed of leaves in the trail, and you can pick some of her blood to coat a bullet. The final boss, the Invisible Beast, appears as the seventh and final wave and instantly destroys the cabin. To fight it, you first find it using the glasses, then attack with the magical axe. You can hurt it even when it’s invisible; though you won’t see its HP, if you know where it is, you can hurt it. You must then finish it off with a blood bullet. To me, the final boss was on the easy side. I don’t even feel like I cheesed it, I was just well-prepared, and the previous six waves hadn't weakened me too much.

Joséphine is doing better now that the threat is gone. The brother takes her to Wolvesvale to see her other brother. Meanwhile, a hand rips out of the Beast’s corpse, and the Devil emerges, unscathed... despite being eaten alive. We get a flashback to Joséphine’s birth; Mani-Uapikuan wouldn’t survive, so daddy O’Carroll made a deal with the Devil. His wife died, but her vision power was transferred to her daughter. The Devil heads out, to collect his due... from the brothers themselves.

He's the Devil. You can't kill him for good. He'll come back.
Maybe he should leave the O'Carrolls alone, though.

End of Tome I. There hasn't been a Tome II yet, so I hope you don’t mind the cliffhanger...

Final thoughts

Holy crap this was a long one. I’d been hoping to play it for a while, and I’m glad I did. I’m disappointed Tome II hasn’t yet been made (though Artifice Studio does have a game in the making), but I do hope it eventually happens, as Sang-Froid is an excellent title.

Dude hated the O'Carrolls so much, he sided with the spirits
who summoned human-murdering wendigos. FFS.

I’ll start with the story; I may be a little biased as it presents my culture to the world at large, but I thought it was fine. Overall decent but flawed. Its presentation is awkward at times, the voice acting isn’t always great, and the plot leans into the stereotypes of the time (but then again, which folk tale doesn’t). However, the game looks very nice, is steeped in historical accuracy (all alcohols and axes were available for purchase in 1858 in the province of Quebec), features some of our local expressions, and it has an absolutely killer soundtrack made of songs from traditional bands.

Though if you’re here for gameplay, you won’t be disappointed. This is one of the most unique strategy games out there. I don’t recall seeing this elsewhere. You’re not just setting up your traps and seeing whether they worked. No, you go out in the field and fight, as well. I love the variety in traps, I love that those left unused will still be there on following nights. I love that gradual difficulty of not only having more places to protect over time, forcing you to devise complex strategies, but also having to consider the weaknesses of the various enemies.

On the plus side, you can customize your experience
as much as you want, level limits notwithstanding.

However, your traps won’t be enough. That’s why you have your axe, your firearm, and so many skill options. The experience system is as basic as it gets, not adding a ton to the game aside from the skill points, which you must use carefully because you won’t have enough to improve everything. You can also count on various pieces of equipment as well as alcohols to get through the stages. I remember setting up in Strategy Mode, and making plans in my head, in which order I’d do things, where I’d send Jos Carroll at every step. That part wound up being just as important. Very few strategy games made me strategize mentally like this. Levels also come with strategy tips, which you can read if you get stuck.

Don't expect a Call of Duty game set before WW1
anytime soon, lest you want long firearm reloading times.

First flaw: The game introduces a LOT of elements to take into consideration, but you’re unlikely to use all of them. The gun is slow, and I hated using it for the better part of the game, only shooting when it was my last option or when I could activate traps with it (like the explosive barrel). Since I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t spend skill points to get better with it, and only upgraded to a better firearm because I had extra cash. Similarly, I never really used Fear as a skill, I never got the hang of it; however, shouts were occasionally useful to lure enemies.

Some alcohols were never used, others were used all the time. Caribou, the attack boost, was so OP that it let me kill even Wendigos quickly. The same can be said for tools and traps. The early options are useful even into the endgame. I also became an avid user of the sacred tree, which killed damn near everything for me. Opposite that, I barely used the bonfire since I rarely took Fear into account, the Holy Cross is fun but ineffective against too many common enemy types, and the mortar always required too much money and energy that I could spend elsewhere. Youir choices depend heavily on your playstyle.

The game has about 10 hours of content. The story changes slightly depending on difficulty, so there’s an incentive to play it twice. One downside: If you want to replay a previous level, you can, but you must restart progression from there, for some reason. It might have been great to include a sandbox mode with customizable enemy waves and strategy options, as when I finished the game I was itching for more.

I would say Sang-Froid is worth your money, but it’s now available for free on both Steam and GOG. Go get it. It’s free, it’s worth your time, and if Tome II is ever made, then you’ll be ready for it.