Blood II: The Chosen

I won't make that common complaint that Blood-2 was'nt as Gothic as Blood-1 because I feel that the developers had enough great ideas in Blood-2 which were sadly, not implemented well enough. Blood-2 is extremely fun to play from start to finish and you do get a huge arsenal but the production values are somewhat low. The 3D Models have low polygon count and look unrealistic at times. The engine seems to be only slightly better than the original quake engine. Blood-2 also does try to squeeze in a bit of a story here and there but if you play as a character other than Caleb, there is simply no narrative. Overally, while it is fun and has great level design and sound, this game itself feels dead and could have been much better.

I felt like playing another fps again, and started looking through my collection. There I found both blood 1 (!) and blood 2. I completed both games ages ago. I finally decided to install blood 2, currently 10 years old, wondering if it would still be enjoyable today.

Well, it most certainly was. Unlike newer games that demand so much of my system to just end up being unplayably slow, this game was a rocket. It also brought back a lot of good memories, and I felt right back at home with this title. Unlike the latest VCR with 500 confusing options I'll never use and that just get in my way, this game is as it should be - a straight-forward, superficial shooter. Level designs are varied, some people bitch about the 'office' levels being bland compared to the zeppelin and cathedral levels but I couldn't care less, the game is fun and challenging and it has a bit of an attitude à la duke-nuke'em. Enemies are pretty varied as well ranging from standard soldiers to zombies, leeches and alien-like critters. Nice boss-fights, interesting and unusual weapons, and alternate fire and akimbo modes for some of them. I also appreciated the small strategic element with a limited inventory for storing weapons.

Completed it 3 times in a row, then uninstalled again. I'll probably have another go at it in a few years.

The first "Blood" game was really something amazing in the world of video games and FPS games in my opinion. It really left an impression on me. The game was a good mixture of horror and action with it's own brand of dark humor, but visibly different from Duke Nukem or Shadow Warrior, because there was some tiny resemblance of seriousness and brooding, tragic theme. Until this game appeared. The story is set in near future. Caleb and his companions are set to destroy the Cabal cult for a second time and stop it's leader called Gideon.

This game completely changed the looks of the first game. Sure, that is the idea of you are making a sequel. However I failed to see a connection between the two. When it comes to story, dialogue and characters, well... it is there. A bit more upgraded, but still there and it doesn't give you much. But that is with most of video games, especially old ones. This game relies much more on humor, which was not that funny. OK, maybe at some moments it was good, but not good enough to save the game. The graphics are better, the engine runs fast, dynamic and pretty smooth and that's it. Those are the couple of things in the game that are good. This game looks more like a SF game, rather than supernatural horror. Of course it is set in the year of 2028, and in my opinion, that doesn't fit into this "Bloodverse".

I would like to see Caleb roaming through levels similar to first game. Why not setting the game in the early 40s during the second world war, or perhaps at the beginning of 50s? I think that period would be appropriate and I think it would allow some retro creativeness from game designers. Yes, the change is expected, but the atmosphere and ambience of this game are just not there. In the first game, I could feel and enjoy the creepy atmosphere. It simply had sense, even though the game is old, the feeling was there. But, this one... there is nothing coming from the ambience. The game is pretty much visually dark, but that doesn't make it scary.

Let's check the weapons. Some weapons from the first game are making a return, and they are good in it's own way, while some weapons are joke and they are pretty much weak, or useless. The bug spray? Really? Get out of here... Caleb carries a knife instead of pitchfork, and I think that is a good addition. You also have guns akimbo for flare guns, sawed off shotgun and UZI. That's pretty OK and there is an alternate fire mode. Also OK. But not enough to save a game. Weapons design is OK. Though texture is somewhat ugly on certain weapons. Enemies are nothing special in design. We have zombies, which are pretty much dumb and not even dangerous in packs. Those... Shikari creatures, annoying and ridiculous. Some of them can give a decent challenge, while some are unfair. When you fight them, there are some glitches in combat. For example, wall glitches. You'll notice in the game.

The character of Caleb that you take control of, is much more positive fellow in this one which makes him, rather less interesting. I think he was much more interesting in the first game. His companions are now alive and maybe that is why he is somewhat more merry, less brooding and with no worries. Still filled with his dark humor and funny puns. Stephan Weyte, who voiced Caleb returns here to voice him again, and he is good at voicing Caleb, but, the lines were just atrocious, not that funny and not fitting. Here, we get to see Caleb with his love Ophelia (though in the first game she was killed), and two of Kaleb's friends Gabriela (in first game, it was Gabriel, don't know what happened there) and Ishmael. You can play with them two, but there is no big difference from each of them, they use some of their weapons, but again... nothing special. Caleb remains the best character to play with. This was really a missed opportunity not make other characters far more interesting and to give them more plausible abilities and that makes the game boring to only use Caleb over and over. Some levels (train level) are repeating themselves. For what reason? I don't know. Music score is nothing that special or eerie just like in the first game. I really don't recommend this game, not even to the real "Blood" fans. I really expect to see Blood 3, or something else, no matter if it were a sequel or a prequel, but I expect to be fun and haunting. This game does not offer any of that. Well, maybe just little fun...

I was a HUGE fan of the original Blood when it was released. Unique weapons and the bloodiest deaths seen in a first person shooter at the time. When I got my hands on this sequel, I was not disappointed. The game looks great. Although the game engine is dated by a few years, it looked fine at the time of it's release (and still looks good now).

The important thing is, the game has kept the heart and spirit of the original. Lot's of enemies that die bloody deaths, many cool and unusual weapons, and the sarcastic undead anti-hero Caleb returns. The story is decent, and follows the original closely, plus there are cool cut scenes in between the action. The game is also fairly long with a lot of levels and some impressive bosses. You can find find this game fairly cheap now (just check the bargain bins of any video game store), and I strongly recommend picking it up and giving it a try. It's a lot of fun!