It has been two years since the terrorist group, Ragnarok (a.k.a Dagger), occupied New York city with its military forces. Since their air borne destruction, the group responsible for the chaos vanished without a trace. Since the incident in New York, mech technology has become the technology of choice for all current and future military projects. Factories that manufacture these mech suits are located all across the world, but the largest of these companies reside in Oceania.
These mech suits become the target of Ragnarok when they resurface to claim military factories located in both Australia and New Zealand. Their plan is to use incomplete, but powerful mech suits to wage war against their enemies. The USAF and RAAF organize a strike force to confront Ragnarok and reclaim their mech facilities. As a member of the strike force, it is your mission to liberate the facilities and defeat Ragnarok.
Wolf Fang is a simple, yet unusual 2D horizontal shooter with platform mechanics. Instead of limiting the player to a specific direction, you can move freely in the environment, aim your guns in a 45 degree angle and duck to avoid projectiles. Moreover, power ups can be attained to enhance your mech’s ability to fire in all directions. This compensates for the suit’s limited 45 degree aiming capabilities.
While not a bullet hell shooter, Wolf Fang is relatively difficult to play. The on-screen enemies are numerous, and the variety of enemies range from mechs of all sizes to large, ominous spacecraft that are armed with gun turrets. The game has a tendency of boxing the player in a corner with an overwhelming clout of enemies. Luckily, your mech is equipped with a sword for close-range melee attacks. The only drawback to this is that you can’t always kill everything fast enough to prevent being hit.
There are ways to increase your mech’s defense, though. You can pick up Oceanic defense force soldiers equipped with rifles that will mount themselves on your mech’s blind spots. These soldiers will protect your mech by retaliating with semi-automatic gunfire. It’s only possible to hold four soldiers at any given time, and being hit once by an enemy will cause your mech to lose these soldiers temporarily.
There are four types of mechs to choose from, each with their own mobility and weapons. The selection includes a hovering mech, a standard walking mech, a four legged mech and a six wheeled mech. The player can assemble a mech based on the armaments and features that are available. These armaments include: Vulcan, a rapid-fire, auto cannon; Cluster Shot, a gun that spreads its fire the further it travels; Grenade gun, a powerful, but slow grenade launcher that can eliminate most enemies; and Laser Gun, a laser weapon that increases in strength with upgrades.
As a game, Wolf Fang is a solid shooter that manages to challenge the player from start to finish. And thanks to the ‘customize your own mech’ feature, Wolf Fang’s replay value far exceeds initial expectations.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: PS Vita (Available on PSN /Also plays on Playstation 3)
Developer: Data East
Publisher: MonkeyPawGames
ESRB: N/A
Price: $5.99
MonekyPawGames’ Official Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| Colorful 2D graphics and smooth animation. | |
| Sound | |
| Average sound effects and music. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Fast-paced action from start to finish. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Wolf Fang is a fun, but challenging 2D shooter. | |
