Werewolves: Haven Rising
Rise up, werewolves! Throw off the shackles of a tyrannical military police state. Fight for your pack! Fight for your honor! Fight for your freedom!
Werewolves: Haven Rising is a 285,000-word interactive novel by Jeffrey Dean, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
You are one of fifteen pups born in Haven, a government internment camp where werewolves are forced to live and work. Raised in this refuge since birth, you’ve never known the freedom of the wilds. You soon discover the elders have selected you for a mission that will put you directly into the cross-hairs of both the military and werewolf radicals alike!
You’re a new breed of lupine explorer, your hunting grounds an urban jungle of steel and concrete. When your expedition to a forbidden military base goes wrong, a startling discovery sparks an escalation of violence and tragedy that will lead your pack to the hungry maw of war.
- Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, or bisexual.
- Rise to power in opposition to a war monger or join him in the fight for werewolf supremacy!
- Train in the path of the warrior, the shadow, or the sage.
- Fight your enemies with claw and fang, or take a non-lethal approach.
- Uncover the true motivations of a powerful anti-werewolf zealot.
- Explore several potential romances, finding love in an increasingly chaotic world.
Once hunted and imprisoned, the werewolves rise again!
Game Discussion
Steam User 1
The game's author is Jeffrey Dean, the same author who wrote the exceptionally great game "Parliament of Knives" (which is set in the World of Darkness universe, unlike "Werewolves: Haven Rising"). I played Parliament of Knives surely more than 7 times and thus looked for more from the same author.
WHR is not a bad game, it is definitely amongst the better ones the publisher Choice of Games has to offer: You have a lot of customization options, you can freely specialize in abilities or interests, you have multiple love interests to choose from and your choices can and will result in very different endings (albeit I think it is not always fully logical what you get). The writing, especially in the first half of the game, is very well-done, but towards the finale both the plot and the writing get more chaotic and "lost in the action". It is fitting in a way, but it's not what I expected.
A word of advice for the gameplay: Stick to what you know you are good at, stats-wise (unless explicitly prompted not to).
Maybe I am just spoiled rotten from the genius "Parliament of Knives" experience, but WHR just doesn't scratch the same itch for me that I had hoped it would.
Nontheless, I would still generally recommend WHR for werewolf lovers, revolutionists that yearn to fight The Good Fight and dark (horror) urban-fantasy enthusiasts.
Steam User 1
This game was the first of this genre of game I ever played. At first I was put off by the lack of visuals and it felt like a novel that was altered slightly via my choices and looking at a normal screen full of words was overwhelming and hurt my eyes sometimes. That aside, it's a solid story with a few likable characters (if a bit basic) and lots of ways to customize your character and how they overcome the given challenges. There are even a few different endings and different romances to go for to make each playthrough unique which allows for more replay-ability to get every ending/achievement, ect. I have a soft spot for werewolves in general and I enjoyed immersing myself as a beast of the moon and dealing with the morality of slaughtering (or not) your oppressors. ALSO DENA BEST BOY. Very fun. 7/10
Steam User 1
Inspiring story about struggle and resistance against military oppresion.
Steam User 0
Epic game very choice
Steam User 1
I love it
It has some flaws
But I love it
Steam User 0
Good
Steam User 0
Can't wait for book three!