Blood: Refreshed Supply (Switch)

We are fully aware that Retro 101 is in danger of becoming a Nightdive Studio review site. It seems there is a new revival almost every week. But then we can’t argue with either the quality (most of the time), or the fact that a studio is bringing so many classic FPS games from yesteryear to a new audience. The latest of these is the obscure Blood, which originally came out on the PC in 1997.

Blood is a gothic horror themed game that is set out stylistically across the 1920’s 30’s and 40’s. You play as Caleb who is set on taking revenge against his former master and will need to blast through a host of cultists and demons to gain his vengeance.

The weapons here are not your standard fare such as flare guns and pitch forks.  Most have secondary uses (unique for the time), and there’s even a powerup that lets you dual wield. The flare gun is a particularly satisfying weapon as once you have hit a target they will then burst into flames a few seconds later. Theya re all pretty brutal though.

One thing to say about the game is it’s incredibly difficult. We struggled to get off the first level for quite a while and that was with quick saves. There is little ammunition around for guns and even the most basic of enemies can take down your health very quickly. Enemies with projectiles are also deadly accurate, even on the default difficulty settings. This means the game can be a bit stop and go, sometimes you’ll be tearing around at super speed, while others you’ll keep getting cut down by the same annoying cult member you can’t see. There are plenty of settings to paly around with if it all gets too much.

As always with Nightdive releases this is a pretty complete package. The expansions for the original game have been included along with a new episode and even a host of unreleased levels can be found and played in the archive section. Multiplayer is also here and previously removed graphical flourishes such as weather effects have been added back in. As usual, there has been a lot of care and attention spent on this.

Blood is not a game we’ve played before, but it has a cool retro horror vibe and a unique atmosphere which sets it apart from most of the other FPS’s we can think of. It’s somewhere between Hexen and Doom but somehow much crazier than either. It could well be one of the most overlooked and underrated games of the genre as it brings a lot of innovations and fresh ideas.

Overall, this is another excellent remaster of an obscure game from Nightdive. It’s hard to see this selling massively, which is a shame. The lack of awareness or big name associated with the game may well see people skip it but it’s an entertaining spin on the genre. Anyone who has been steadily making their way through the continual FPS output should certainly check this out and for anyone out who has fond memories of it back in the 90’s, this won’t let you down. It just might be a bit tougher than you remember.

Overall 7/10