Just to get it out of the way; this is better than Fresh Supply in every way. Does that make it worth $38.99 if you already own Fresh Supply? No, not really. But was it worth the preorder discount cost of $13.49? Yes, I believe so. This version comes with lots of stuff that I feel justified that upgrade cost (which was for a limited time only, for some reason? Real scummy move there, guys.) such as the redone cutscenes, the, to my knowlesge, exclusive two new episodes of Marrow and Death Wish (at some point), and of course the vault full of alpha levels and such. Supposedly, we will also be getting some pre-release builds of Blood too at a later date, though those are only going to be running in DOSBox and not a part of this actual remaster. Still, you're going to get them with it. Apart from that, you also get what basically amounts to a total overhaul of Fresh Supply, this time armed with the original game's source code, whereas Fresh Supply was nearly entirely guesswork on Nightdive's part. Now, while I thought that would mean this was going to be the most accurate version of Blood leading up to launch, it still falls short in a few aspects, mostly audio-related to my surprise. A few sound effects or voicelines that should play at parts just don't, I've noticed a few instances of popping or crackle-y audio, stuff like that. The gameplay, on the other hand, feels (to me at least) pretty much perfect, or something nearing perfect. The only real issue I've noticed as far as that's concerned is some performance issues, there are some strange instances of stutter or hitching which really shouldn't be happening or an issue for a game from 1997. Still, in the places that count, Refreshed Supply does well, and we've gotten confirmation from the devs in the Discord that there will be patches for this game, so that's good to know. If you missed the pre-order window as a previous owner of Fresh Supply, then this is probably not for you at it's current undiscounted $38.99 price tag. Again, it was a real shady move to make the Fresh Supply discount limited to the pre-order window, but I can't say I'm that surprised when this is Warner Bros. and Atari we're talking about. It is what it is. But, even if you're a new player, $38.99 is a bit insane for what this release is. I'd personally wait for a discount, but you would not have been better off with Fresh Supply which I think is the main thing that matters with this release. It is better in almost every way. They should really sell the original DOS One Unit Whole Blood separately, though, for those who just want to play one of the numerous source ports available for this game without paying $38.99 for it.
This release is exactly what I wanted for these two games. Some source ports got close, but nothing ever provided exactly the type of experience I wanted, which was vanilla gameplay and feel with modern quality of life improvements. The mouselook system, for example, is the perfect modern approximation of the way these games originally played with the keyboard freelook system. You're able to look up and down, but auto-aim is still enabled and it perspective warps. It's perfect. But it doesn't just end there, TWO NEW campaigns, a full remix of the soundtracks by Andrew Hulshult, online co-op and deathmatch capabilities and a community mod browser on top of all of that. Absolute cinema. Perfect.
