Omega Force has a weird reputation. They’re the "Dynasty Warriors" people. Most folks think if you’ve played one of their games, you’ve basically played them all. But then 2016 happened. That’s when Berserk and the Band of the Hawk dropped, and honestly, it’s still one of the most polarizing entries in their massive catalog of licensed "Musou" titles.
It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s incredibly violent.
If you grew up reading Kentaro Miura’s legendary manga, you know the stakes are high. Fans don't just "like" Berserk; they live and breathe the tragedy of Guts. So, when Koei Tecmo announced a game that would cover everything from the Golden Age Arc to the Falcon of the Millennium Empire, the hype was massive. But did it actually capture the soul of the Black Swordsman? Well, it depends on what you're looking for. Some people wanted a Dark Souls-style challenge, while others just wanted to swing a slab of iron through five hundred demons at once.
The Feel of the Dragon Slayer
Let’s get one thing straight: the weight matters. In most Musou games, you’re playing as a graceful general or a mystical warrior. Here, you are Guts. Guts doesn’t do "graceful." When you swing the Dragon Slayer in Berserk and the Band of the Hawk, the screen shakes. The sound design is a disgusting crunch of metal meeting bone. It’s satisfying in a way that’s hard to describe to someone who hasn't spent hours grinding through the Eclipse.
The game uses a "Frenzy" system. You kill enemies, fill a meter, and then go absolutely ballistic. Once you're in Frenzy mode, Guts becomes a blur of carnage, and if you’ve unlocked the Berserker Armor later in the game, the mechanics shift entirely. You stop feeling like a guy with a sword and start feeling like a force of nature. It’s power fantasy at its peak, though it can get repetitive if you aren't a fan of the genre's "one-versus-thousands" loop.
Honestly, the best part isn't even Guts. It's playing as characters like Nosferatu Zodd or Wyald. Seeing the scale of these Apostles compared to the tiny human soldiers is a trip. You realize just how lopsided the world of Berserk is.
Bridging the Gap Between Manga and Game
One major point of contention for fans was the use of movie footage. The game pulls a lot of its cutscenes directly from the Berserk: The Golden Age Arc film trilogy. For some, this felt lazy. For others, it was a great way to maintain the high-quality art style that the 2016 anime series... well, let's just say the 2016 anime struggled with.
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The transition from high-fidelity movie scenes to in-game 3D models can be jarring. You’ll be watching a beautiful, hand-drawn cinematic of Griffith looking ethereal, and then suddenly you’re back in the game engine where everyone looks a bit more like plastic action figures. But to be fair to Omega Force, they nailed Guts’ face. The grit, the missing eye, the scowl—it’s all there.
Why the Story Mode Is Actually Massive
Most Musou games have a "Musou Mode" that lasts about six to eight hours per character. Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is different. The main campaign is surprisingly long because it tries to cover so much ground. You start as a mercenary in the Golden Age, meet the Band of the Hawk, go through the horror of the Eclipse, and then venture into the Conviction and Millennium Falcon arcs.
That’s a lot of lore.
- The Golden Age: This is where the game feels most like a traditional Dynasty Warriors title. You’re fighting in large-scale medieval battles.
- The Eclipse: Everything changes. The game turns into a survival horror action hybrid. The sky turns red, and the enemies become nightmare fuel.
- The Black Swordsman Era: The gameplay shifts. It’s less about armies and more about surviving waves of demons (Apostles) while Guts is on the run.
The inclusion of the Millennium Falcon arc was a huge deal back then because we rarely see that part of the manga adapted into any medium. Fighting the Pishacha and the massive, monstrous forms of the New Band of the Hawk gave us a glimpse of what a modern Berserk adaptation could look like with a decent budget.
Endless Eclipse Mode: The True Test
If you finish the story and think you’re done, you’re wrong. Endless Eclipse is where the real "meat" of the endgame sits. It’s essentially a survival mode where you descend through layers of the Abyss. Every 20 layers or so, you hit a checkpoint or a boss.
It gets hard. Like, actually hard.
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You have to manage your health and items carefully because they don't replenish between every floor. It forces you to actually use Guts’ sub-weapons—the cannon arm, the crossbow, the throwing knives—rather than just mashing the square button. If you want the best gear and the most powerful "Behelits" to upgrade your stats, you’re going to spend a lot of time in the dark.
The "Warriors" Formula vs. Berserk’s Dark Tone
There is a fundamental clash between the "fun" nature of a Musou game and the "suffering" nature of Berserk. In the manga, every kill is a struggle. Guts is usually bleeding out, his bones are breaking, and he’s barely hanging on by a thread. In Berserk and the Band of the Hawk, you’re a god. You can rack up 1,000 kills in five minutes without taking a scratch.
Does this break the immersion? Kinda.
If you’re a purist who wants a tactical, punishing experience that mirrors Guts’ internal struggle, this isn't it. This is a game about the external power of Guts. It’s about the myth of the Black Swordsman. It ignores the vulnerability for the sake of the spectacle. However, there’s something cathartic about finally being the one doing the bullying after reading hundreds of chapters of Guts getting put through the wringer.
Character Variety (or Lack Thereof)
One legitimate critique is the roster. Compared to Warriors Orochi or Hyrule Warriors, the character list here is slim. You’ve got:
- Guts (obviously)
- Griffith
- Casca
- Judeau
- Serpico
- Schierke
- Zodd
- Wyald
That’s it. For a Musou game, eight characters is tiny. You can’t play as Pippin or Corkus. You can’t play as Skull Knight (which is a crime, honestly). Schierke is probably the most unique character to play as because she uses magic, which fills the screen with elemental effects that feel totally different from the sword-swinging of the others. But if you aren’t a fan of Guts, you’re going to run out of variety pretty quickly.
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Technical Performance and The "Censorship" Debate
When the game launched, there was a lot of chatter about censorship. Berserk is known for being incredibly graphic. While the game is definitely "M" rated and features plenty of blood and dismemberment, some of the more extreme elements from the manga were toned down for the game’s "Cero D" rating in Japan.
Specifically, some of the more horrific scenes during the Eclipse were handled via cutscenes or slightly obscured. It doesn't ruin the game, but if you’re expecting the "unfiltered" Miura experience, the game pulls its punches just a little bit.
Performance-wise, the PC port was notoriously hit-or-miss at launch. On modern hardware, it runs like a dream, but back in 2017, people were struggling with frame rate drops during the more chaotic Apostle fights. If you're playing it now on a Steam Deck or a high-end rig, you can crank the body count to the max without much issue.
Is It Still Worth Playing?
Absolutely. Especially since Berserk media is so rare. We have the 97 anime, the movies, the ill-fated 2016 series, and a couple of older games on the Dreamcast and PS2. Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is the most accessible way to play through the story today.
It serves as a digital museum of sorts. It collects the music, the voices, and the imagery of the series in one package. It isn't a masterpiece of deep mechanical complexity, but it is a love letter to the fans who just want to see Guts swing that sword one more time.
If you’re going to jump in, here’s how to get the most out of it:
- Don't rush the story: Take time to talk to the NPCs in the camp menus between missions. There’s a lot of flavor text that fleshes out the relationships between the Band of the Hawk members.
- Master the sub-weapons: Guts’ cannon arm isn't just for show. It’s your best friend against shield-bearing enemies and bosses like Grunbeld.
- Focus on Schierke’s upgrades: Her magic becomes game-breakingly powerful at high levels. If you're struggling with the Endless Eclipse, she’s your "easy mode" button.
- Listen to the soundtrack: It’s surprisingly good. It blends the orchestral sweep of the movies with the heavy metal energy you’d expect from a Musou game.
The legacy of Berserk and the Band of the Hawk isn't that it's the "best" action game ever made. It's that it exists at all. In a world where Berserk fans are constantly starving for content, having a solid, 40-hour slaughter-fest that respects the source material is more than enough. Grab the Dragon Slayer, put on some metal, and start swinging. Just don't expect your thumbs to feel great after a four-hour session.
To maximize your experience, focus on unlocking the "Transformation" mechanics for characters like Guts and Griffith early on. This completely changes the flow of combat from a standard slog to a high-speed massacre. Also, keep an eye on the Behelit collection requirements in each mission; they function as the game's primary achievement system and provide the necessary materials for high-end crafting. Once you hit the level cap, the game shifts from a story-driven brawler into a gear-grinding RPG, which is where the most dedicated players find the most longevity.