Thoughts on Blood

I created a thread about the build engine but it turned into a discussion on Blood so I thought a better idea would be to create a thread entirely to it.

I think it's a really solid FPS with a bunch of equipment that's equally useful and I recently played it for the first tiem actually. The best episode was the 2nd, the worst is the 3rd

So what do you think about it?

29 minutes ago, MeetyourUnmaker said:

I created a thread about the build engine but it turned into a discussion on Blood so I thought a better idea would be to create a thread entirely to it.

 

I think it's a really solid FPS with a bunch of equipment that's equally useful and I recently played it for the first tiem actually. The best episode was the 2nd, the worst is the 3rd

 

So what do you think about it?

I'm playing it right now. I haven't finished it yet, but I like it so far. There are times when I kept going on YouTube to search for "Infuscomus", which is my favorite track of the game so far. It makes me think of how a world can start out so innocent and pure, and quickly go corrupt and dark as time passes.

I've only ever played a little bit of it on DOSBox, which it runs terribly on. I'll definitely try out the GDX port of it at some point down the road. 

Blood is a game that I still have not played! It looks good too. 

Been a while since I played it, but as I recall it was okay, but never felt like it deserved the level of worship some people give it.  As good as Duke 3D and Shadow Warrior?  Sure.  Better than?  Not really.

It's a game that allows you play as a Red-eyed cowboy.

As far as I know the meme history, in Russia the first "Blood" videogame was even more common than Doom, Wolf3D or Duke3D (the Shadow Warrior was not so popular here).

{wat}

I just want a real non-Java source port.

My thoughts on blood? It's sticky, it scares people and it has something of a crass taste. It's also annoying because it means you have to stop what you're doing and instead spend valuable time trying to stop the bleeding.

Oh.... you're referring to... the game...

...

Right, the game! I really liked the dark, but crazy humour and at a time when I normally didn't care for alt fire modes in FPSs, some of them did eventually grow on me a lot, particularly the shotgun's. I was surprised by how satisfying I found the combat - made Duke Nukem 3d's combat seem a little sucky by comparison (still good combat in that game). I particularly loved blasting zombies with the shotgun's double-barreled discharge.

One of the things that I will probably continue to find hilarious until I die, are the voice lines of the cultists; I know the meaning of what they shout is supposed to be all kinds of nasty, but the voices and how they pronounce them never fail to crack me up.

I do find the cultists annoying with how quick and accurate they are with their fire - basically all the other enemy types feel really easy to deal with by comparison.

Loved the music (ranging from funny to cool to suspenseful) and the level design, not to mention the horror movie references.

I find that it's a great blend of Wolfenstein and Doom and a bit of Duke Nukem 3d thrown in. Oh yes, and crazier than all three, but in a good way :D

The game is the best Build engine game yet its been treated the worst as far as official support. Warner Brothers refuses to allow the source code to release, they refuse to sell the IP rights (at least not without a huge amount of money) and they refuse to do anything with it at all. Jace Hall(who worked on the original) has talked to them, Devolver Digital tried to get it, and Night Dive wants it too.

Its real unfortunate because the game is great and could really benefit from a modern day source port ala EDuke32.

Blood GDX is good but its still just an approximation and not the real deal.

It seems like every game from this era's first episode were always the best, and Blood is no exception. You start in a morgue, fight into a train station, ride on a train, go through a carnival, explore a horror themed water ride, explore some cathedrals/temples, and end on a boss fight on an altar.

Also, using TNT against a horde of enemies and seeing them go flying is the most satisfying thing.

22 minutes ago, dsm said:

One of the things that I will probably continue to find hilarious until I die, are the voice lines of the cultists; I know the meaning of what they shout is supposed to be all kinds of nasty, but the voices and how they pronounce them never fail to crack me up.

CRUEL TOMATO SORBET!

Yeah, they sounded pretty ridiculous.  Funnily enough you got something of the opposite in Rise of the Triad, where El Oscuro had a rather creepy sounding voice but was supposedly really just saying things like "Eat your vegetables" in Latin.

4 minutes ago, wheresthebeef said:

It seems like every game from this era's first episode were always the best, and Blood is no exception. You start in a morgue, fight into a train station, ride on a train, go through a carnival, explore a horror themed water ride, explore some cathedrals/temples, and end on a boss fight on an altar.

I discussed this back when we had the Bio Menace thread, but I'm convinced this was a failing of the episodic shareware model.  Devs were incentivised to put their best stuff forward in the demo version to draw in the registrations but slacked off on what you got when you registered since by then it was already paid for.

What I think about Blood?

Well, that it's easily the most fun and enjoyable Build engine game with demented weapons and top notch voice acting. But...

1 hour ago, Nevander said:

I just want a real non-Java source port.

I'm will be going to repeat what was allready mentioned hear but i really like the dark, creepy maniacal atmosphere. Still waiting for proper source-ports because i was having everytime some technical problems and so on.

Ohh those flashbacks about how many endless time i just decide to f*ck this game and was playing football with zombies heads :D

I don't think Blood's 1st episode outshines the other episodes. It starts strong but after dark carnival it loses a lot of the wackiness. Other episodes have way nicer themes that stick around the whole time, although Episode 4 might not be everyone's cup of tea with how weird some of the maps are. Most monsters don't even make an appearance in it, nor most of the homages to the horror genre. 

8 hours ago, Ajora said:

 

I've only ever played a little bit of it on DOSBox, which it runs terribly on. I'll definitely try out the GDX port of it at some point down the road. 

"I live again!!" to die in DOSBox... Yeah that is my issue too so I haven't got far in it. It seems like something I would enjoy though!

Why does everyone here hate Java so much, by the way?

I personally don't get along with Java because it seems to be remarkably inconsistent with memory usage and will jump from smooth to clunky at complete random.

I'm more than willing to accept that it might be my "hardware" doing that though.

And that is the major problem I have with Blood, it is the only FPS game from the 90's I can't run reliably (that actually includes Alien Trilogy, believe it or not).

For October, I have two of the cultist death sounds as text message alarms: either "it burns! IT BURNS! burns! (anguished wailing)" or the one that's especially loud regardless of how far away he is.

The spiders, though. Fuck them, the creepy chitter they make when they see you and the mother that spawned them in. I'd burn them up with the spraycan more often if it didn't have pitifully short reach and small hitbox, and its secondary attack wasn't so overkill and dangerous in the tight quarters they are often found in.

Hearing this makes think of walking alone in the forest at night, searching for a mysterious whisper that compels me deeper into the darkness. Suddenly I trip on a root and stumble down an unseen slope, sending me crashing into the cold packed dirt and withered leaves. As I shake my head from the fall, I see a clearing ahead where cultists have gathered for what looks like a bonfire. But no, no. The bonfire is the portal of a summoning ritual, and right when the MIDI version of this song starts, the stars above dim and an overwhelming feeling of fear and hopelessness floods my mind like fog. An otherworldly being emerges from the smoke, with an outstretched tentacle ending in a pincer that points at me. The cultists begin chanting in their unintelligible tongue as they heed the direction of their eldritch master. I freeze in place for a few seconds, despair closing in on me faster than the cultists. Then panic strikes, and before I know it I'm running back up the slope I tripped down before. With each whimpering wheeze I breathe out from my aching chest, I pray it is not heard by the pursuing cultists, whose chanting has taken an unsettling sing-song tone.

2 hours ago, Ajora said:

Why does everyone here hate Java so much, by the way?

Security vulnerabilities, some pretty massive. Plus it leaves shit all over your computer and iirc doesn't even auto-update.

Despite being java based the GDX Blood port is actually really good.

i liked it so much that much my upcoming doom project is going to be heavily blood themed, with this being the start of e1m1: 

14 minutes ago, bonnie said:

i liked it so much that much my upcoming doom project is going to be heavily blood themed, with this being the start of e1m1: 

Wait, what...

But this is not the "BlooM" project?

3 minutes ago, DeXiaZ said:

Wait, what...

 

But this is not the "BlooM" project?

i mean, it's in boom

im not cool enough for bloom :(

15 hours ago, tempdecal.wad said:

It's a game that allows you play as a Red-eyed cowboy.

More precisely he's an undead cowboy. ;)

https://forums.duke4.net/topic/10456-release-nblood-blood-port-based-on-eduke32/

In terms of pure gameplay, I think Blood at its best is the greatest shooter of the 90s. It's got tons of atmosphere, fantastic level design and one of the best arsenals ever to grace an FPS.

But I agree with whoever mentioned thinking that the front-loading effect of shareware is also present here.  The other episodes are still good on the whole, with some excellent levels here and there, but there's a drop in quality for sure.  The Shining theme in E2 sticks around a little too long but Breeding Grounds in E4 I think is the real low point of the game for me. Those water beasts are an irritating enemy to begin with and a blight on any level they appear in.

Blood Deathmatch is also ridiculously good fun.  It's unbalanced and totally brutal because of the devastating weapons,  but I don't think I've enjoyed plain deathmatch MP more.

For anyone looking for more content, play Bloody Pulp Fiction. I can't recommend it enough without using force. It's not only often better than the original campaign, it's also more consistent. One map, Cultists of the Corn is a masterclass in level design, one of my all-time favourites. 

Quote

Thoughts on Blood

It's very important thing. You can't live without it.

7 hours ago, Matthias said:

It's very important thing. You can't live without it.

Indeed.

We need more Blood in our lives.

Should I get rid of my BloodGDX and play NBlood?

I love the Blood series. I really wish someone would make Blood 3. I would lose my mind.