Ever see a full moon and wish to be able to howl without attracting attention from the public and the eyes of local law enforcement authorities? There's a time and place to strip off, shed fur, and guzzle down on the blood of livestock: it's called video games, and the time is now.

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While vampires have had a good run in every imaginable platform and console generation, their overlooked cousins (and arch-enemies), werewolves, haven't had as much love from developers. However, a plucky few studios have seen the appeal of trotting through the wild on all fours with a muzzle of freshly squeezed blood. They graced gamers with a chance to rip loose, transform, and destroy.

Updated March 03, 2024, by Mark Smith: Fans of Telltale's Wolf Among Us will undoubtedly be excited to learn that work on a sequel is continuing development and is expected to drop sometime in 2024, most likely between October and December. Wolf Among Us 2 is likely to feature gameplay similar to the original game and, in deviation from Telltale's usual piecemeal episodic style, will be released in its entirety from day one. In the meantime, those wolves with a hunger for carnage in their bellies can sink those fangs into these savage werewolf games!

9 Darkstalkers

Jumping Straight Into The Fight, Tooth, Claw, and Shoulder

• Darkstalkers features a martial artist werewolf in a supernatural roster of fighters
• As well as using his claws, Jon Talbain uses nunchaku when battling opponents

Stretchy fighting pants? Check. Lycanthropic blood and a full moon? Check. Nunchaku? Why not? Darkstalkers' Jon Talbain is half a martial arts master and half a werewolf. Rather than savaging his enemies with claws and teeth, he savages them with his chain sticks combos or his iconic special move, "the Beast Cannon," with which he pounces his opponent with supernatural speed and smashes into them shoulder first.

While the game may be more famous for a certain bat-themed fighter or blue-haired catgirl, one English illusion-using wolf-man tops the top five for many Darkstalker fans. The use of martial weapons may be a little too civilized for some in the pack, but as old as these classic 90s beat-em-ups are, the action is as savage as it gets.

8 Argou

Online Social Deduction With Werewolves And Villagers

• Players must use social reasoning to deduce who the werewolf is in their midst
• Argou uses server multiplayer, but playing with friends is highly encouraged

Transforming into a werewolf with gigantic claws, huge teeth, and bestial strength is all well and good, but where is the fun of being a wolf-person without the ability to sow paranoia and anxiety among regular folk, even during daylight hours? Argou addresses this by providing a way for four to twelve friends to roleplay villagers with a wolf problem. Each day, villagers gather to frettingly discuss who they think is the metamorphic beast (while the beast waits until nighttime to claim their next victim).

Using deduction, intuition, and petty spite, the players can vote on who they think the wolf is (and have them put down). The werewolf isn't the only one with the ability to take lives. Players are granted unique abilities and traits that may help (or hinder) their quest to root out the big bad wolf. While Argou can be played on multiplayer servers, the user base has waned somewhat, and it is more fun to play with friends, as trying to outdo the wolf as a group (without destroying any friendships) is the main source of the fun.

7 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Other "Twilight Werewolf"

• Rather than turn into a hybrid like other werewolves, Link assumes the form of a wolf with Twili-enhanced abilities
• Enhanced senses, digging claws, and a rapid gallop speed all allow Link to reach places he otherwise couldn't as a human

Plenty of werewolves in fiction (including video games) are depicted as upright lupines, but The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess offers players the chance to inhabit the body of an actual wolf (albeit one that is very well-groomed and styled). After being touched by the magic of the Twilight realm, Link is mystically transformed into a wolf (complete with blue eyes and ear piercings). While there's no "man/wolf" middle ground when Link assumes the shape of a divine beast, he does gain the ability to dig, scratch, and sniff out scents.

Link's wolf abilities are enhanced by Midna's Twili magic, which allows him to grapple, teleport, and strike multiple enemies with superspeed attacks. Since Link plays the hero in Twilight Princess, the "bloodthirsty killer" aspect is toned down somewhat, but there's still plenty of chance for Wolf Link to rip at monsters' jugulars, run along the moody, Twilight-soaked world with heightened speed, and spook hapless villagers should he wander into town.

6 The Sims 4: Werewolves

Wolves Are Social Creatures, Too

• "Werewolves" is the first Sims expansion pack to focus exclusively on the furry monsters
• There is more of an emphasis on social interactions between other sim-wolves, and players have the chance to become the leader of the pack

The Sims series isn't exactly known for cultivating gory gameplay, but since The Sims 2 "Pets," Sim-wolves have been a regular addition to each game. The Sims 4's "Werewolves" expansion pack does exactly what it does on the tin: introduces werewolves, a range of lycanthropic abilities to hone, and an appropriately grunge-rock neighborhood, Moonwood Mill, for lycanthrope-friendly activities. The "Werewolves" expansion provides Simmers with the most customizability and progression yet seen in the series, and the werewolf life state in The Sims 4 is the most animalistic incarnation to date.

As well as being able to snarl, bite, and rampage, werewolf Sims have a large array of social interactions with others of their kind and even the chance to climb the hierarchy and become the pack alpha. Players will have to balance their human (or Sim) needs with that of a hungry, feral beast, which means paying attention to their aggression buildup and finding ways to let it out when the rage boils over.

5 Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Earthblood

A Raw Unleashing Of Primal Rage With An Environmental Bent

• Earthblood ties themes of environmental destruction with primal rage and an instinct to protect the natural world
• The gameplay has two main loops: human stealth and blood-soaked werewolf combat

Environmental activism, a "the bigger they are" evil corporation, a protagonist with an uncontrollable thirst for blood, and a heavy metal score that slaps hard all coalesce to create Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Earthblood. Being derived from the World of Darkness universe, there's more going on than just werewolves fighting on the side of eco-minded freedom fighters.

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Although the game promised vicious and tooth-and-claw action (and for the most part, it is the closest thing that some lupinarians would consider to be a pure, red-blooded lycanthropy experience), some players felt it fell short in its promises gameplay-wise due to the lackluster stealth segments. But while it has its weaknesses and limitations, transforming from a cornered-cub human into a killing machine hunter before the firing squad lets loose (then painting the walls with their insides) is still very satisfying.

4 The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

The Father Of Manbeasts Beacons Mortal To His Hunt

• Lycanthropy will likely suit players who prefer to take on evil characters in their playthroughs
• Being a werewolf in Morrowind offers many benefits and buffs in exchange for having to feed each night

The Elder Scrolls lore generally treats lycanthropy (the werewolf disease) as a curse. In Morrowind's second expansion, "Bloodmoon," the fate of the werewolves can certainly feel that way at times, especially for neutral-minded or good-hearted characters. Players are turned into beasts every night at 9 p.m. and must feed on the blood of mortals (or else suffer severe health debuffs).

There are upsides to being forced into wolf mode: double health, all combat-related attributes being tuned up to 150, and an insane hand-to-hand increase, as well as permanent night vision. Players can catch the werewolf disease by waiting three days after first getting into a scrape with one out in the wild or by simply following the expansion's main quest.

3 Wolf Among Us

The Big Bad Wolf Takes A Bite Out Of Crime

• The Big Bad Wolf from the Fables graphic novel series takes on a (mostly) human form while solving mysteries and fighting crime
• Wolf Among Us is a narrative-driven adventure but does not shy away from the expected grit and gore of the character, Bigsby Wolf

This big, bad detective doesn't play it by the book, especially not some fairy tale book of legends. Bigsby Wolf, literally the same wolf from the Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Boy Who Cried Wolf, appears in his own noir mystery set in the Fables universe in Wolf Among Us. The legends and stories of old are real and have been exiled to New York City. Where there are people (even mythical ones) and problems, there's crime.

It's up to Bigsby to keep the town clean and low-profile, which he will do by any means necessary. Being a wolf in sheriff's clothing, he must hide his wolfish powers with magical enchantments, lest he be discovered by the mundane "mundies." As narrative games go, Wolf Among Us brings some of the best grim-dark, story-driven lycanthrope action ever seen in the interactive medium. After an arduous development cycle, its long-awaited sequel, Wolf Among Us 2, is set to be released in late 2024.

2 Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart Of The Forest

A Deep Werewolf RPG Set In The "World Of Darkness" Universe

• A great adaption of the popular tabletop roleplaying series set in the World of Darkness universe
• Dice rolls and skills determine the outcome of events and the progression of the story

Anyone looking for a meaty, story-driven experience featuring angry werewolves might want to check out Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest, a game based on the World of Darkness tabletop game universe. For a game about a nightmare-tortured young woman discovering her roots in Europe (by sporadically turning into a four-legged killing machine), Heart of the Forest never shies away from confronting heavy, contemporary issues facing the world today, such as climate change, deforestation, and political extremism.

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The story is highly reactive to player choices, a rare example of a fantasy RPG set in the modern world, and there is a fair amount of roleplaying choices to weigh up between rage sessions. Even the type of werewolf the protagonist, Maia, becomes is determined by the player's actions and resulting personality.

1 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

Hircine's Blessing Returns With None Of The Downsides

• Players will be able to transform at will once a day (or multiple times with Hircine's Ring)
• The werewolf form in Skyrim comes with none of the drawbacks seen in previous Elder Scrolls games

Bad day at the office and need to slaughter a whole village of peasants? Lycanthropy is the cure (well, technically, it's a disease). There's nothing quite like pelting it (pun intended) full speed across Tamriel, faster than a demonic horse as a monster wolf person, savagely launching claws like Riekling spears into hapless travelers. This incredible power is gained midway through Skyrim's Companions quest line when the veteran members offer the player a chance to join their inner circle.

The transformation is entirely controllable and, rather than at the sight of the full moon, can conveniently be used at will for maximum bloodshed (for example, in the middle of a snow-dusted bandit camp, under the snout of a dragon, or in Nazeem's master bedroom). Players also have the chance to upgrade and customize their lycanthropy powers with a feast-powered skill tree, and the Daedric artifact, Hircine's Ring, will grant the Last Dragonborn unlimited transformations.

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