Just as Lone Wolf 2100 was finding its rhythms beyond that of a thinly veiled, in-name-only, not-so-much a remake of the original Lone Wolf and Cub – just as it was finding its charm and personality, it comes to an end. Now that I’ve witnessed what Eric Heisserer could have done with this book from the get go, I want more.

The book is post outbreak, in which humanity is transformed into violent creatures and a robot samurai is tasked with the job of protecting a girl who carries the antidote in her blood. The creatures never seem to pose a threat, but other humans are desperate to get their hands on the girl for their own reasons.

Why create a world with monsters in which the monsters are never used, I don’t know for sure; it’s just sort of background noise.

The first two chapters were bogged down by exposition and left little time for character development. So, once the exposition was out of the way, there was room to build upon the thing that mattered more than understanding the intricacies of why everything was happening: he could focus on who they were happening to.

Because of this shift more than halfway through the game, I never became fully attached to really feel what Heisserer wanted me to feel in the finale.

Despite its very human moments, underlying moments of intelligence, and very sincere leanings, the story couldn’t get out of the way of itself in enough time to allow life to be breathed into the proceedings.