Posted on: June 7, 2021
nferno
Verified ownerGames: 183 Reviews: 17
Review from a fresh blood
I tried playing Blood many moons ago, but got turned off by its initial difficulty spike. What made it click for me this time is that I now approached the game differently: instead of running and gunning, I played it a lot slower and more methodical. Blood often gets paired up with Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior as "the holy trinity of Build engine games". There's a lot of similarities among the three games: tongue-in-cheek humour, a protagonist that talks in catchy one-liners, creative level design with lots of interactivity and explosions, ... The mistake I made was thinking that Blood would also have a similar play style as D3D and SW, i.e. you can usually run around guns blazing. I tried, but the cultists got me fast! (They're the hitscanning enemies littered throughout the entire game + they react very fast + throw explosives.) The game becomes really enjoyable once you figure out how each weapon works, which weapons to use in which situations .. and peek around every. single. corner. The enemy placement can be pretty sadistic sometimes :) With this in mind, there still will be an initial difficulty spike, so you'll be quick-saving & -loading a lot at first. A big part of it is that you start out with some unconventional weapons: a pitchfork, dynamite, and a flare gun where you have to wait a few seconds before your shot has any effect. (Oh, but once it takes effect, it's supersatisfying!) The game doesn't explain anything, so it takes some trial and error to get the hang of these weapons. Once you make it through the first few levels though, you can make it to the end. Apart from the uneven difficulty curve and some small quirks, I enjoyed Blood a lot; satisfying gameplay loop, great level design and atmosphere. A cultist classic.
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