Blood: Fresh Supply

its blood man, if you're here you know whats up

This review does not cover the Fresh Supply version of the game, as I played it on various source ports instead. The Fresh Supply version is perfectly decent, however, and can be used to run some source ports, should you be so inclined. Blood is an intense game, sometimes utter bull, and now one of my favorite shooters of all time. It demands a level of attention uncommon even for its era, featuring combat mechanics that reward fast, aggressive play without drawing attention to themselves. It's at its hardest in the first few levels, and if you're going to bounce off of the game early, it may well be before level 4. The majority of deaths tend to come from the standard Cultist enemies with hitscan weapons. They are not your typical DOOM rifle grunts. They will delete you within a second if not spotted and promptly dealt with, but what the game doesn't tell you up-front is that running, jumping and ducking will slow their reactions and reduce their accuracy. Every enemy has their own weaknesses and counter strategies to discover, leading to some seriously frantic on-the-fly thinking and target prioritization. It is an old game, however, and has its share and a half of unfair traps and key hunts. I had to go search for walkthroughs more than once to figure out what I was missing. In traditional shareware fashion, the first episode has the more intuitively designed levels, and the lost feeling becomes more frequent the further along you go. The raw combat is sufficiently punchy and satisfying that it was never a deal-breaker, though, and I can't recall ever thinking it got "bad". The levels all have a lovingly crafted, spooky atmosphere, even when it returns to a gothic castle setting for the fourth time. They include creepy carnivals, haunted mansions, city warzones and just straight-up [place] from [movie]. Many of them are highly detailed and have a sort of "lived-in" feel, giving them a great deal of character in their own right. It would do the game a serious disservice not to talk about Caleb, the undead anti-hero. This is one of the big Build Engine three, next to Duke Nukem and Shadow Warrior, so of course the player character is primarily a vessel for old movie quotes. What sets Caleb apart is the highly enjoyable performance by Stephan Weyte, who delivers the lines ripped from horror classics with an authenticity that at times sounds more natural than the source material. He plays Caleb with such campy, edgy menace that it makes him feel...

A solid classic done justice by a proper up to date version. Get it.

As a fan of the original Doom and Doom II, this game is GREAT! It's not at the level of the original Dooms, but it's pretty close. I enjoyed it a lot.

Blood was Monolith Production's first game, and it certainly made a great first impression back in 1997. Blood is also regarded as the third game in the Holy Trinity of Build Engine games, and for good reason. The gameplay is fun, challenging, exploration is rewarded, and just like Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior, parts of the levels can be blown up to either reveal secrets, shortcuts, or simple process through a level. The game was fantastic back in 1997, and it's still brilliant today. Nightdive Studios are known for bringing classic games to the modern era, and Blood: Fresh Supply is no exception. The Devs have use their own KEX engine to add new features to Blood, such as higher resolutions, Vulknan, DirectX 11, and OpenGL 4.2 support, improved online multiplayer, including co-op, and more. If you haven't played Blood yet, it's your duty as a gamer to play it.

A build engine shooter classic. Featuring a memorable protagonist thanks to a dynamite performance by Stephan Weyte. Blood has varied and connected environments/level design that respect continuity and are filled to the brim with conniving cultists who you will love to hate... but your bloody good boomstick will decide their fate. Yet more trouble awaits, from tiny rodents to pestering Gargoyles, you will need to stick to more than your guns to get out alive.

Blood is a very special game in my book, it is definitely the best of Build engine games and also aged way better than Shadow Warrior and Duke Nukem 3D. I have my own problems with this port/remaster. While far from being lackluster, keep in mind that official support for Fresh Supply has been long discontinued thanks to Atari, so unless there's some sort of community push, don't expect any new major updates. I originally bought this at launch and while the overall package has gotten better since then, unfortunately I'm a bit divided whether I would call Fresh Supply as the best way for players to experience Blood. I do believe it does a fine enough job, if you don't necessarily care about 100% accuracy, but the random freezes/stutters, especially during quick saving can feel grating and I genuinely wish there was some fix for this matter. You honestly can't go wrong with Blood Fresh Supply. For the asking price, you also get two expansion packs, plus you can inject any fan-made mods into the game, including the fan favorite, Death Wish, which is the true Blood 2 experience we only got years after the original game. I do believe you get the original MS-DOS version as a bonus if you buy this game on GOG, so keep that in mind. Blood is a brutal, aggressive, pump-action boomer shooter that is a must play for goreheads and retro FPS fans.

Blood is one of the most memorable FPS from my earlier years. With some very innovative weapons, even by today's standards, great enemies and oftentimes stellar level design. I was happy to see it retouched and rereleased along with its expansion packs. The atmosphere has lost little of its old edge, the dark, macabre humour of the game still delivers a punch and even if some of the many cultural references have become more obscure with age, the overall package is perfectly serviceable. This remains a very fun game to play. Having said that, do note, it is also a very challenging one. In anything but the lowest difficulty, you will die. A lot. Thankfully the game supports custom difficulties that allow you to tailor your experience in many different ways. For any fans of old-school FPS games, this is an excellent choice. For fans of Blood it's a treat. Recommended.