Omen of Sorrow (PC)

Omen of Sorrow developed by AoOne Games is hoping to break into the ever growing Fighting Game market, with a horror theme and a “Can Do” attitude, could this title be the next EVO contender or will it be pushed into the losers bracket with dropped inputs and sloppy mashing?

So to correct my opening statement, Omen of Sorrow isn’t actually a “new” game persay, more of an enhanced re-release of a title that was initially released on Epic Game Store back in 2019. 

This re-re-re-release sees the game now available on Nintendo Switch and Steam following from its EGS, PlayStation 4 and XBox one release, sporting an additional character and cross compatibility for its online mode it seems Omen of Sorrow has reached its final form. 

But what is Omen of Sorrow I hear you bellow from the dungeon? Well it’s a 2.5d, 1 Vs 1 Brawler with a classic horror theme, think of a timeline where Darkstakers replaced Street Fighter and this would be its Mortal Kombat alternative. 

The game is a gritty themed, almost metal take on the fighting game genre featuring a cast composed of Vampires, Frankenstein’s monster, Lycans, Quasimodo and even Dr Hyde makes a home visit to round out the cast of around 12 combatants ready to spill blood.

Graphically Omen of Sorrow looks as you’d expect from a somewhat budget Unreal 4 powered horror title though it does offer a few surprises, mainly in its stages and not in some of the stiffer animations, it works just don’t go into this expecting Netherrealm Studios level of fluidity.

The sound side of the game is great, all attacks have that distinct feedback you need, especially when blocked so you know what’s landed and what hasn’t, music is really good with a mix of gothic orchestrated jams and head banging metal to really get the blood flowing. The voice clips in the story mode can be a little strange as only a few things are fully voiced and the rest are just grunts, comical and entertaining giving the game that distinct b-movie cheese synonymous with horror. 

Mechanics in Omen of Sorrow are exactly what you want from a modern fighting game, you have a super meter, the ability to cancel moves, super moves with cinematics and even a health regeneration mechanic based around your defence or aggressive play.

It’s a 4 button Fighter with an additional throw button so similar to the SNK offerings of the genre, fighting game aficionados will be right at home with the usual move inputs but even for the less experienced the input windows seem quite merciful in their execution. 

The combat feels tight enough to be fun but not quite in the upper vestiges of the genre, it’s certainly no Rise of the Robots that’s for sure though I can’t see it making the rounds on the tournament scene.

Omen of Sorrow has a few modes for you to take on including a story mode which follows the events of the cast fighting over the titular tome with awkward in-game cutscenes and some rather appealing CGI scenes. The difficulty in the mode is almost bipolar and as you switch character for every fight you’ll almost certainly have to re-try a few bouts when you’re tasked with winning with a character you don’t gel with. 

Naturally you have a practice mode, an arcade ladder to get through alongside online battling which thanks to the developers is cross-compatible so you can fight friends from EGS all the way to the Nintendo Switch, no excuse for ducking someone here!.

I’ve enjoyed my time with Omen of Sorrow and the cross compatibility means it has quite a healthy player pool for a budget title. If you’re interested in fighting games and have a love for horror this is the title for you, it’s a budget variety fighting game at its finest and it has all the charm and mechanics one could need to see Dr Hyde cave a Lycan’s head in!