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Koko Ricky

How should a "Blood" remake be handled?

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Considering Duke Nukem, Wolfenstein, Rise of the Triad, Shadow Warrior and Doom all got reboots (to varying degrees of success), it's not entirely out of the question that "Blood" may one receive the same treatment. The question, then, is simple: How should it be approached?

 

Obviously we're not going to see a 1:1 recreation with HD textures and 3D models. That's not only an unrealistic expectation, but boring. However, all the core things from Blood, at least to me, seem ripe for reinterpretation. The enemies, weapons, maps, sound design, morbid humor and art direction, not to mention the constant homages to the horror genre, could make for a fantastic shooter. It could also result in something generic and uninspired. Balancing true horror (Blood is, at times, legitimately scary and the overall atmosphere is quite dark) with the slapstick tongue-in-cheek moments (particularly the one liners and setting cultists on fire, followed by that unforgettable scream) could work wonders given the right development team. There's even room for new school mechanics such as upgrades and heavy environmental interaction. And let's not forget, the vagueness of the backstory could make Caleb a more compelling character. Thoughts?

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With absolute care and a high attention to detail.

 

Personally, I always thought it would be great to see the events that led up to Caleb finding the dark cult through his eyes. He used to be an infamous gunslinger and a criminal by only 17 years old. The backstory says he was born in 1847, so by 1864 he was a total bloodthirsty lunatic. In 1871, he came across a burning homestead with only a women still alive. Her name was Ophelia, and the backstory says when Caleb found her she had "gone mad" and was rambling about "a dark cult called the Cabal, the dark god they worshiped called Tchernobog, and her cowardly husband trying to leave the cult" which led to the Cabal burning their house down, killing the husband and their young son.

 

Caleb fell in love with Ophelia, and they started to travel and be together. Eventually, she was his gateway into the dark cult of the Cabal. Her, Caleb, and two others who went by Ishmael and Gabriel rose through the ranks to become the Chosen. The elite guard of Tchernobog and his protection for when he finally decides to throw the world into darkness and take it over. Caleb's quick rise in rank annoys Tchernobog's other allies like Cheogh, the leader of the gargoyles.

 

It then says sometime after 1871, Tchernobog betrays the chosen. He summons them to see him, tells them they failed, and begins having them killed off one by one. The intro cutscene to the game shows this. We see Shial, the mother of spiders, come down and take Gabriel away. We see Cerberus burn Ishmael alive and begin to consume him. We see Cheogh take Ophelia away (and later see he sacrificed her in-game). And we see Tchernobog cast Caleb into a bottomless pit.

 

It isn't until 1928 Caleb suddenly awakens and finds himself entombed. His anger from being betrayed, and having his lover taken from him, causes him to rise up and exact revenge on the entire cult and Tchernobog himself. The bosses of Blood being each "lieutenant" that killed his lover and fellow Chosen. Cheogh, Shial, Cerberus and finally Tchernobog himself.

 

I feel like with a reboot, they could include these elements in the game instead of shuffling it off into a booklet that most won't read. Have the player start off as that 17 year old Caleb, killing other thieves, criminals and cops. Lead up to him finding the burning home with Ophelia, and her introducing him to the Cabal. Then, have a portion of the game be you doing dirty deeds for the cult itself. Have there be a connection between you and the cult, so that when Tchernobog finally does betray you, you as a player feel betrayed too. The last half of the game can be an absolute romp of vengeance, as you storm the cult's hideouts and completely slaughter everyone in your way. Innocent or not.

 

Oh, and have Stephan Weyte voice Caleb. If you can't do that you've already failed.

 

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What Blood needs is the source code released, not a remake, Blood 2 on the other hand, could use a remake, but knowing the situation the Blood ip is in, it's not gonna happen.

 

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How? Don't do it. I'm tired of seeing these poorly executed rehashes. Give me something new, and quit botching classic franchises!

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Step 1... is it famous enough for a remake?

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To reiterate what Pencil said, I'd rather they just release the damn source code already. But if they were to make a remake, I wouldn't mind either having upgrades in the vein of Doom 4 or Shadow Warrior. They could also include some of the stuff that was planned, but removed from the original game, like being able to transform, and being able to play as the other Chosen. Blood 2 did that but they kind of botched it by not having any of the cutscenes play for the other characters. Another thing is that it should retain the original's play style. As in, it is a fast shooter at it's core, but you have to be more cautious than in like, say, Doom or Duke Nukem. In the original Blood you couldn't just jump into a room guns blazing, as that would usually get you killed. So in short, fast but more methodical. I also feel like a bullet time gimmick would be mandatory given Caleb's gunslinger background. Maybe as a special move or something.

I wouldn't mind it having some Lovecraftian influence as well. I mean, it's only fitting considering all the cultists, and the fact that the final boss is a dark god.

 

1 hour ago, DoctorGenesis said:

Someone on Moddb is making one; http://www.moddb.com/games/blood-fan-remake

God bless them for doing what they enjoy, but I don't think it looks very good..

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16 minutes ago, HorrorMovieGuy said:

God bless them for doing what they enjoy, but I don't think it looks very good..

Yeah, I honestly have to agree with you there. I do believe the guy said he is using Unity. And Unity games (from what I have seen, don't misinterpret this as something offensive) usually look pretty horrible.

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2 hours ago, HorrorMovieGuy said:

God bless them for doing what they enjoy, but I don't think it looks very good..

It does look rather crude

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I'd start by giving the Blood IP to a developer that knows what they're doing. Flying Wild Hog is perhaps the best choice for a remake, given the kind of game Blood is, but I would also suggest avoiding the Painkiller formula and using a more freeform survival horror structure with twisting paths and backtracking.

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The Storys told in the Episodes of Blood would work quite good for a remake. But I guess it's not as popular as the other Build-Engine Games to get a Reboot. I would be happy though.

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It's a commendable effort, but there's something odd about the use of fancy new-school shaders juxtaposed with fairly amateur modeling and texturing. It looks good, but not great. A bit mid 00s I suppose.

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On 5/26/2017 at 0:51 PM, GoatLord said:

Considering Duke Nukem, Wolfenstein, Rise of the Triad, Shadow Warrior and Doom all got reboots (to varying degrees of success), it's not entirely out of the question that "Blood" may one receive the same treatment. The question, then, is simple: How should it be approached?

 

Obviously we're not going to see a 1:1 recreation with HD textures and 3D models. That's not only an unrealistic expectation, but boring. However, all the core things from Blood, at least to me, seem ripe for reinterpretation. The enemies, weapons, maps, sound design, morbid humor and art direction, not to mention the constant homages to the horror genre, could make for a fantastic shooter. It could also result in something generic and uninspired. Balancing true horror (Blood is, at times, legitimately scary and the overall atmosphere is quite dark) with the slapstick tongue-in-cheek moments (particularly the one liners and setting cultists on fire, followed by that unforgettable scream) could work wonders given the right development team. There's even room for new school mechanics such as upgrades and heavy environmental interaction. And let's not forget, the vagueness of the backstory could make Caleb a more compelling character. Thoughts?

 

"Blood" doesn't need to be remade.

 

It needs its source code released so it can be properly supported outside of DOS and in Eduke32.

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5 hours ago, Master O said:

 

"Blood" doesn't need to be remade.

 

It needs its source code released so it can be properly supported outside of DOS and in Eduke32.

Blood 2 does though.

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I quite enjoyed Blood 1 and 2. And the creepy soundtrack of The Chosen is pretty awesome.

 

Personally I want to see a remake with mix of the two. I want extreme dark humour with inspirations from horror pop culture and nods to classics. Meanwhile I want the gore and killing to be questionably dark as well. Shooting zealots limbs off and having them scream about and zombies able to be shot apart, limb by limb (and heads kicked around).

 

What I'm saying probably sounds way over the top, but I always loved Blood for its dark comedy style. Of course the gunplay and mechanics needs to really stand out too. Fluidity in movement is important and the kills must be satisfying. It's also important to have interesting levels with great decor within many of the beloved themes such as carnival, cemetery, churches, trains / networks, boats, snow etc to keep. I hope I'm not alone in this. I definitely would love this Blood to happen.

 

btw, a couple years back wasn't there a small piece of news of many classic blood developers gathering again for a project?

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On 5/27/2017 at 1:11 PM, nxGangGirl said:

It does look rather crude

Well it isn't even in the alpha stage of development.

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12 hours ago, MrD!zone said:

Well it isn't even in the alpha stage of development.

That's not really the problem. The artists simply aren't talented enough to make something that looks professional. It actually looks pretty good considering it's a home-brewed affair, but it reminds me of how attempts at HD textures and 3D models for Doom never quite looked right; there just wasn't the level of skill required for it to really work. 

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A Blood remake should be handled by a modder once the source code is released and a real source port is made and said modder makes an HD overhaul pack for said source port.

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44 minutes ago, Nevander said:

A Blood remake should be handled by a modder once the source code is released and a real source port is made and said modder makes an HD overhaul pack for said source port.

Is the source code going to be released?

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2 hours ago, HorrorMovieGuy said:

Some time after the heat death of the universe, yeah.

So when Source engine will be made open-source? Awesome.

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