Jump to content

Bloodroots Review


Recommended Posts

255224885_Bloodrootslogo.jpg.629535ea8150aa7a717e650a1b8964f0.jpgPlenty of games let you go on a bloody rampage, destroying everything in your path, but few let you do it with every manner of weapon, from swords and guns to carrots and corpses. In the tradition of fast-paced high-score chasers, Bloodroots is a non-stop action experience where your only goal is to kill anyone you can see, and since one hit kills both you and enemies you need to be sure to strike first. When you're in the zone and deftly destroying everyone on screen, flying through levels in Bloodroots is a blast. Getting to that point can be a bit tedious though.
 
You play as Mr. Wolf, the leader of a vicious Old West gang of thieves and murderers known as the Blood Beasts. One day they betray him, shoot him, and leave him for dead, but Wolf survives and is now on a bloody quest for revenge against his former comrades. You wouldn't expect an action game like this to have much in the way of storytelling, and there isn't any within levels, but before and after each level there's a bit of dialogue or text that fleshes out the characters and their motivations for what happened, and it's a decent little plot. It's certainly more engaging than you might expect for a game like this, and even though the focus of Bloodroots will always be on the frenetic carnage, the writing does a good job of keeping your attention as well.
 
207910761_Bloodrootstable.thumb.jpg.e3fb8e5b5c4c2b865568b3a5e2e563a3.jpg
 
When you're in the action though, there's no time to think about anything aside from your next move, since one false step will see you dead. And that will happen—a lot. Since it's so easy to die, Bloodroots is really about using your initial attempts as a learning experience as you map out where enemies are and how best to approach them, especially since you'll eventually come up against armored targets or foes with long range weapons. Timing is everything as you dash through the game to execute enemies because every weapon has an appropriate range, and being off by even a tiny amount will leave you open to enemy attacks—there's even a "perfect timing" bonus that will net you some extra points when you strike at the exact right moment. All this is to say that it is really easy to die in Bloodroots, which can be frustrating, but it's also awfully satisfying when you perfectly take down one enemy after another like a whirling dervish of destruction.
 
The main quirk that Bloodroots has going for it is that virtually anything that you can pick up in the environment is a weapon. There are typical options like knives, swords, and guns scattered about, but you can also grab a carrot out of the ground, or a vase, or a fence post and club someone over the head with it. Any weapon will break after a few hits—and guns only have a few bullets—so you need to constantly find new weapons in the stage while maintaining your momentum (you can also punch enemies to death but this is much slower than using a weapon and leaves you open to enemy attacks). Picking up new weapons constantly contributes to the natural flow of the game, and mixing in some silly weapon options adds some cartoonish levity to what is otherwise a pretty brutal game. The only downside is that most of the wacky weapons are less effective than normal tools, i.e. a carrot might be good for only one hit while a sword can be used three times before it breaks, so even though the goofy options are there you're kind of incentivized to rely on the normal weapons anyway.
 
1156220877_Bloodrootsfire.thumb.jpg.3413654cd35565f37cf4bb35cad3838e.jpg
 
For a game that is so reliant on a smooth sense of flow from one kill to another, anything that throws off that flow can be extremely grating, and unfortunately Bloodroots has a few issues to that effect. For one thing, the frame rate is not as silky smooth as it really needs to be for a game like this. Any choppy animation in a game where you're constantly moving at top speed is incredibly jarring and makes Bloodroots hard to look at at times. The camera can also be uncooperative since it's in a fixed perspective that can make it hard to see enemies, hazards, or weapons sometimes. Collision detection can seem inconsistent at times as well, though that could also be down to just bad luck. Dying may be common but it's still annoying to die because somehow your sword just barely missed an enemy. And finally Wolf's fast-paced, slippery movements are great when you're zipping from one enemy to another, but occasionally the game throws a small platforming challenge at you that the controls and camera just feel utterly unprepared for, and these sections are just annoying instead of being fun changes of pace. Any kind of death that feels unjustified in a game like this will only leave the player frustrated and kill the momentum of the gameplay.
 
Bloodroots isn't a particularly long game, but since every level will likely take you numerous, numerous attempts, you'll spend more time with the game than you realize. Still, a single playthrough will only last around six or seven hours, but since earning a high score is such a big part of the experience (and there's an online leaderboard to track your best score) there's a decent amount of replay value to enjoy here.
 
377958602_Bloodrootsbarrel.thumb.jpg.d65ce4ac476aef5184ef3a9f05e87f3b.jpg
 
In the same way that the silly weapons help assuage some of the violent tones of the game, the colorful, cartoonish graphics help make the action feel a little more palatable. The visuals are stylish with a great use of color and shapes that have just enough detail to keep the gameplay clear without overwhelming the player with information, though as mentioned the distant camera does make small details hard to see at times. It's all wrapped up in a fun Old West motif as well, which still provides for a decent variety in environments and objects. The music has a lot of solid, action-driven tracks that keep you in the right mindset for quickly dispatching enemies, though the songs do feel a little repetitive after a handful of attempts.
 

Bloodroots walks a thin line between cartoonish violence and gory action, but it walks that line well. More importantly, getting into the flow of combat and smoothly dashing from one enemy to another with all manner of weaponry is awfully satisfying. It can take some slightly tedious effort to get to that point though, and some technical issues with the frame rate, camera, and controls mean the experience isn't quite as tight and polished as it really needs to be for this kind of game. But fans of fast-paced action and high-score chasing will still enjoy what Bloodroots has to offer.

 
Rating: 7 out of 10 Weapons
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...