Berserk and the Band of the Hawk PS4: Why This Gory Musou Still Hits Hard

If you're looking for a peaceful, balanced gaming experience, you’ve come to the wrong place. Berserk and the Band of the Hawk PS4 is loud. It’s messy. It’s arguably one of the most polarizing adaptations of Kentaro Miura’s legendary manga ever released. Developed by Omega Force—the team behind the endless Dynasty Warriors franchise—this game takes the "one-versus-thousands" formula and paints it blood-red.

It’s been years since the release, and yet, fans still argue about it. Some say it's a repetitive slog. Others? They think it’s the only game that actually understands the weight of Guts’ Dragonslayer. Honestly, both are kinda right.

The game basically covers the Golden Age Arc through the Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc. It’s a massive stretch of story. You’re getting the rise and fall of the Band of the Hawk, the nightmare of the Eclipse, and the later journey where Guts becomes the Black Swordsman we all know and fear. If you’ve never read the manga, this is a decent cliff-notes version, though it skips a lot of the philosophical nuance that makes Miura’s work a masterpiece. But let’s be real: you’re here to swing a sword that’s more like a heap of raw iron.

The Feel of the Dragonslayer on PS4

Musou games are often criticized for feeling "floaty." You press a button, and fifty soldiers fly away like they’re made of cardboard. In Berserk and the Band of the Hawk PS4, Omega Force tried to fix that. When Guts swings, there’s a delay. A heft. You can feel the frames stalling for a microsecond as the blade connects with bone. It’s satisfying in a way that most Warriors games aren't.

You start as young Guts. He’s fast, relatively speaking. But as the game progresses and you unlock the Black Swordsman gear, the gameplay shifts. You aren't just comboing enemies; you’re erasing them. The "Frenzy Mode" fills up, you pop it, and the screen turns into a blur of crimson. Then there’s the "Obliteration" mechanic. If you hit an enemy hard enough, they don't just die. They explode. Limbs fly. Torzos split. It’s gruesome, and for a Berserk fan, it feels earned.

However, the PS4 hardware shows its age here and there. While the character models for Guts, Griffith, and Casca look crisp and faithful to the anime, the environments are... well, they’re basically empty fields. You’ll spend hours running through brown canyons or grey castles that look like they were pulled from a PS3 dev kit. It's the classic trade-off: 100 enemies on screen at once means the ground they're standing on looks like a muddy texture from 2012.

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Characters Beyond Guts

While Guts is the star, the roster is surprisingly thin for a Musou title. You’ve only got eight playable characters. That’s it.

1. Griffith: He’s all about speed and precision. Playing as him feels like a different game entirely—fencing rather than butchering.
2. Casca: Her moveset is scrappy and athletic.
3. Judeau: He uses throwing knives and quick strikes. Great for crowd control but lacks the "oomph" Guts provides.
4. Schierke: This is where things get weird. She’s a glass cannon mage. You’re summoning elemental spirits and nuking the entire map while trying not to get poked by a random dreg.
5. Zodd: Yes, you can play as the Nosferatu. Turning into his apostle form and trampling armies is probably the peak of the game’s power fantasy.
6. Wyald: A bizarre inclusion, but his chaotic, grotesque style fits the darker tone of the later chapters.
7. Serpico: Fast, wind-based attacks that are fun but lack the weight of the heavier hitters.

It’s a bit of a letdown that we didn't get characters like Pippin or Skull Knight as fully playable entries in the main campaign. Skull Knight appears, sure, but he remains just out of reach, a tease for what could have been a much deeper roster.

The Endless Eclipse: A Test of Sanity

If the main story mode isn’t enough, there’s the Endless Eclipse mode. It’s basically a survival dungeon. You descend through layers, completing missions and fighting bosses. It’s where the real "grind" happens. If you want the best gear or the rarest "Behelits" to unlock gallery items, you’ll be spending a lot of time here.

It gets hard. Really hard.

In the deeper layers, the bosses—Apostles like Grunbeld or Femto—don’t play by the Musou rules. They have armor. They have massive reach. They can one-shot you if you aren't careful with your dodge timing. This is where the game tries to be an action-RPG rather than a button-masher. It doesn't always work perfectly, but it provides a challenge that prevents the game from being a total "shut your brain off" experience.

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Why Some Fans Hated It (And Why They’re Wrong)

A lot of the hate for Berserk and the Band of the Hawk PS4 comes from the censorship and the cutscenes. The game uses footage from the Golden Age Trilogy movies for its cutscenes. The problem? It blends high-quality movie footage with in-engine cutscenes that look... mediocre. The jump in quality is jarring.

Then there’s the gore. While the game is bloody, it actually tones down some of the more horrific elements of the manga. For a series known for its uncompromising depiction of trauma and violence, the "M" rating feels a bit safe.

But honestly? If you want to experience the power of the Berserker Armor, there is no better medium right now. When Guts dons the armor in the game, the mechanics shift. Your health drains. Your speed skyrockets. You become a monster. It captures that terrifying trade-off of the manga perfectly. You feel invincible, but you can see your life bar ticking away, forcing you to kill faster just to survive.

The Technical Reality in 2026

Playing this on a PS5 via backward compatibility is the way to go. The frame rate stabilizes, and those long loading screens between missions mostly vanish. On a base PS4, you might see some chugging when there are too many explosions or magic effects on screen.

The game is also becoming a bit of a collector's item. Physical copies aren't exactly flooding the shelves of local game stores anymore. If you see it for a decent price, grab it. Digital is always an option, but there's something about having that box art on your shelf that feels right for a Berserk fan.

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Actionable Steps for New Players

If you’re just picking this up, don't just mash the square button. You’ll get bored in twenty minutes. Instead, focus on the sub-weapon system. Guts has his repeating crossbow, his cannon arm, and throwing knives. Weaving these into your combos is essential for keeping your "Frenzy" meter up.

• Focus on the "Death" stat: When upgrading your accessories, look for anything that increases your "Death" or "Obliteration" rate. It makes the crowd clearing much faster and more visually satisfying.
• Don't ignore the Behelits: Each mission has specific "sub-missions" (like "Kill X commander within 2 minutes"). Completing these earns you Behelits, which unlock pieces of the master image in the gallery. It's the only way to 100% the game.
• Save your Frenzy for Bosses: It’s tempting to use your transformation on a mob of peasants, but you’ll regret it when an Apostle shows up. The boss's guard gauge is almost impossible to break without being in Frenzy mode.
• Prioritize Schierke’s level: She’s weak early on, but in the late-game Endless Eclipse, her AOE (Area of Effect) spells are life-savers.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk PS4 isn't a perfect game. It’s repetitive, the environments are bland, and the roster is small. But it captures the spirit of the series. It’s a game about struggling against overwhelming odds and coming out the other side covered in the blood of your enemies. For a fan of Guts, that’s usually enough.

To get the most out of the experience, play in short bursts. Tackle a few story missions, dive into five or ten layers of the Eclipse, and then step away. Treating it like a marathon will lead to burnout. Treat it like a tribute to Miura's world—a place to vent some frustration by swinging a massive sword—and you'll find it's one of the most cathartic experiences on the console.

Check the PlayStation Store during seasonal sales, as the game frequently drops in price, or keep an eye on second-hand markets for the physical disc to ensure you have a permanent piece of Berserk history in your collection.