As a kid, I played every classic FPS game that I could get my hands on, from forgotten gems like Heretic to bizarre relics like Redneck Rampage. Despite my love for the genre, however, I never got past the first level or two of Blood - for whatever reason, I found its gothic aesthetic to be off-putting, and its array of bizarre weapons confused me.
Now that I've finally played and beaten it, I can say for certain that I thoroughly misjudged Blood. Unlike the army of Doom clones that it was competing with, this is a legitimately unique game with a lot of interesting design choices that stand out even today. Protagonist Caleb isn't a badass soldier strapped to the gills with rocket launchers and flamethrowers - though the Thompson and your shotgun get a lot of use, they're often not the most effective weapons for the variety of situations that the game puts you in.
The most common enemies in Blood are prowling cultists with hitscan weapons that can tear you apart easily even on the default difficulty setting. Since ammo for your stronger weapons is relatively scarce, you have to think ahead and set traps to survive. My most used weapon after the Tommy Gun (its ability to stunlock the cultists is unmatched) was actually the default dynamite sticks - once you get the hang of their throwing arc, you can kill two or three bad guys at a time with it. The flare gun is also surprisingly useful, since its accuracy means you can use it to set targets on fire from afar, and its alternate fire can mess up a group of cultists in a hurry.
Though it does feel thoroughly modern in some aspects, Blood is still a retro game at its core. My biggest complaint with the game is that its difficulties feel a bit unbalanced and poorly-implemented - unlike other games of the era, higher difficulties boost enemy health and their response time, which means you can get torn to shreds by 2 or 3 cultists in a second or two if you aren't careful. I played through most of the first episode on Well Done (UV equivalent) before giving up due to frustration. I restarted on the default Lightly Broiled setting, which is a stout enough challenge, but was definitely a bit too easy in parts. It's worth noting that I played on the source port NBlood for the "authentic experience" but the Steam remaster of the game has a custom difficulty setting that allows you to fiddle with some of the options for a better experience, so I would recommend that if you're interested in the game.
Another minor complaint: the first boss of the game (the stone gargoyle) is by far the hardest, and I'm not sure the designers of the game realize that. I managed to beat the big bad final boss Tchernobog in about ten seconds, which was a bit underwhelming. As a whole, though, Blood is a thoroughly creative game with shockingly good level design and one of the best arsenals in a first-person shooter. If you're interested at all in the genre, I definitely recommend it. It does show its age in spots, but it's still a great experience.
Now that I've finally played and beaten it, I can say for certain that I thoroughly misjudged Blood. Unlike the army of Doom clones that it was competing with, this is a legitimately unique game with a lot of interesting design choices that stand out even today. Protagonist Caleb isn't a badass soldier strapped to the gills with rocket launchers and flamethrowers - though the Thompson and your shotgun get a lot of use, they're often not the most effective weapons for the variety of situations that the game puts you in.
The most common enemies in Blood are prowling cultists with hitscan weapons that can tear you apart easily even on the default difficulty setting. Since ammo for your stronger weapons is relatively scarce, you have to think ahead and set traps to survive. My most used weapon after the Tommy Gun (its ability to stunlock the cultists is unmatched) was actually the default dynamite sticks - once you get the hang of their throwing arc, you can kill two or three bad guys at a time with it. The flare gun is also surprisingly useful, since its accuracy means you can use it to set targets on fire from afar, and its alternate fire can mess up a group of cultists in a hurry.
Though it does feel thoroughly modern in some aspects, Blood is still a retro game at its core. My biggest complaint with the game is that its difficulties feel a bit unbalanced and poorly-implemented - unlike other games of the era, higher difficulties boost enemy health and their response time, which means you can get torn to shreds by 2 or 3 cultists in a second or two if you aren't careful. I played through most of the first episode on Well Done (UV equivalent) before giving up due to frustration. I restarted on the default Lightly Broiled setting, which is a stout enough challenge, but was definitely a bit too easy in parts. It's worth noting that I played on the source port NBlood for the "authentic experience" but the Steam remaster of the game has a custom difficulty setting that allows you to fiddle with some of the options for a better experience, so I would recommend that if you're interested in the game.
Another minor complaint: the first boss of the game (the stone gargoyle) is by far the hardest, and I'm not sure the designers of the game realize that. I managed to beat the big bad final boss Tchernobog in about ten seconds, which was a bit underwhelming. As a whole, though, Blood is a thoroughly creative game with shockingly good level design and one of the best arsenals in a first-person shooter. If you're interested at all in the genre, I definitely recommend it. It does show its age in spots, but it's still a great experience.