Review Mazinkaiser 4/5 · Oct 17, 2022
Blood: Bloody Good Time
Note: this is a playthrough of the remaster of Blood, Fresh Supply.
Blood stands out from other Build Engine games in well-designed ways, with humor and aesthetic that ages well and difficult combat that keeps the trigger finger ready for several episodes.
The player character is Caleb, looking his love Ophelia after being kidnapped by the gargoyle Cheogh. Fighting through …
Note: this is a playthrough of the remaster of Blood, Fresh Supply.
Blood stands out from other Build Engine games in well-designed ways, with humor and aesthetic that ages well and difficult combat that keeps the trigger finger ready for several episodes.
The player character is Caleb, looking his love Ophelia after being kidnapped by the gargoyle Cheogh. Fighting through 4 episodes + 2 bonus episodes Caleb searches for keys, flips switches, and finds a variety of weapons to destroy enemies.
Ammo will be sparse at first as the player gets creative. Forking enemies, careful timed use of the flare gun, and alternate forms of fire for base weapons soon leads to bigger and better guns and PLENTY of explosives. Whether it's the Tesla Cannon or the Voodoo Doll the player won't be searching for ammo for too long with every weapon at their disposal. Some weapons like the spray can and life leech aren't as usable but those don't detract from the experience.
Enemy variety and difficulty tends to vary, with many base enemies having hitscan capabilities that can be more difficult to avoid than the hardest enemies in the game, but handy crouching, dynamite behind corridors, and an itchy quicksave finger will help get the player through. Puzzles aren't too complicated and level design is filled with variety and charming horror references. Shining hedge mazes, disembodied hands wanting to "swallow your soul", Elvira calendars, and so much more. Music is also appropriately creepy alongside the gory and ghoulish visuals.
Blood, while getting quite the overhaul in Fresh Supply with different engine and quality of life settings, still manages to be a lot of fun and while difficulty spikes can seem odd in places the difficulty scaling and flexible means of dispatching enemies keep this shooter in high regard.
