Have you ever played the original Doom, and thought “what this game needs is a lot more speed and a bucket of gore thrown over it”? You have? Well, I’d say it is your lucky day, as Bloodhound from Kruger & Flint Productions may well be right up your alley.
Billed as a “arcade horror FPS game inspired by the legends of the 90’s”, Bloodhound sets its stall out early, drawing you in with the promise of some hyper violence and a breathtaking pace through the various levels. But, is it all mouth and no trousers?
We are a member of the Keepers of the Gates, and we are entrusted with a sacred duty – to keep the portals to Hell nice, safe, and closed! Now, most right thinking people wouldn’t mess with said portals, but sadly the Cult of Astaroth aren’t right thinking, and have decided that it is time for a little light armageddon. Of course, someone has to show them the error of their ways, and who better than you?
Bloodhound takes inspiration from the 90’s FPS scene, and this is fully on display in the way the game is presented. It looks great, working as a series of interconnected areas separated by portals. And whilst the areas are large, they are never so big that you feel like you need a map.
The enemies look all suitably hellish, from flying demon babies through cult members with various firearms, right up to winged enemies and demons with swords – not to mention the bosses that you find every now and then. Those foes are well designed, nicely animated and come with just the right amount of pixelation to make it clear that this is a homage. Even then, the action moves so fast that it really is surprising. The guns we can find and wield look great at the foreground of the screen, and all in all, Bloodhound is capable of providing a warmly nostalgic glow that we all love.
The sound is bang on period too, with a thumping rock soundtrack that matches the action perfectly. It picks up pace when enemies appear, before dying back as you thin their numbers. The squeals and growls from the enemies, the reports from the guns – everything here is a love letter to the 90’s, and I for one am here for it.
Of course, Bloodhound could literally drip nostalgia, but if the gameplay was pants, no one would care, right? Well, luckily the gameplay isn’t pants!
One thing I will say at the start is that the controller sensitivity is overdone and so you may wish to dial things down a bit. I had to turn it down to minimum to get the crosshairs of the weapons to go anywhere near where I wanted to aim, so bear this in mind. My son played the game and ended up running around with only the machete, as it didn’t require any aiming. Course, kids these days have reflexes like scalded cats anyway, but I couldn’t deal with the initially sensitive nature.
Basically though, if you played Doom back in the day, you’ll be right at home here. As we explore and get further into the game, access to more and more weapons comes to the fore, and swapping them is done using the traditional weapon wheel. The weapons range from a pistol to a shotgun through to a rocket launcher, via a crossbow and some big pistols that hit like a train. There’s even a chainsaw to find!
Now, a nice touch is that each weapon has a secondary attack that can be triggered by pressing the LT button – anything from whipping out a second machine gun to really chew through the enemies, to the chainsaw working a built-in flamethrower. There’s no doubt that the weapons are well thought out in Bloodhound. Of course, ammo for the weapons is scarce, so make sure you stock up when you can – otherwise it’s a machete and harsh language for you!
The blasting action is fast and furious, and there seems to be a never ending supply of enemies on the screen at any one time. This means that shooting while moving soon becomes second nature, mostly as if you are mobile, it is harder to be hit, and this will stand you in good stead for the boss battles, as they do like to try and get up close and personal with you; running away is never a bad idea. More distance equals more life and that is a good general rule of thumb for this game.
You’ll enjoy it all too, unloading on anything that moves, as Bloodhound helps you out by throwing achievements at you almost constantly. In fact, you get an achievement for killing an enemy with a weapon for the first time, and the tenth time, as well as pings of Gamerscore for killing foes for the first time, and so on and so forth. On my very first day of playing, beating the first boss, I had upwards of thirty achievements ticked.
Bloodhound claims to bring “a fresh look and old fun” to the gaming scene, and this about sums it up perfectly. Forget overblown stories, forget angst and self doubt – blow seven shades out of a range of demonic foes with powerful weaponry and I guarantee that you will be left with a smile on your face.
Aside from the overzealous controls, I’m struggling to think of too many drawbacks. Just give Bloodhound a go. You’ll come out the other end more than happy.
Buy Bloodhound on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/bloodhound/9n3cggckjs4w