When I originally reviewed Bleed a few months ago, I hated it. It was not a complete disaster, but it was far from anything spectacular. Having spent a good deal of time with the sequel, Bleed 2, I feel like the complaints I had on the original were taken to heart and the follow-up was made specifically for me.

The story picks up after the ending of the original, with an alien terror attacking the unnamed city that our heroine Wryn resides in. Quickly running head first into battle, she’s faced with 7 new levels of platforming and shooting shenanigans. Each level features a style reminiscent of the Super Nintendo era filled with bright colors and much more inspired enemies. While there’s not a huge selection of standard baddies to battle, there are a number of new boss battles which make up the meat of the game, as each level features a few bosses to tackle. This mode is much more accessible than the previous entry due to unlimited lives being offered and a very forgiving checkpoint system, with some boss battles featuring mid battle checkpoints. That being said, the normal difficulty here is more akin to the easy mode on the original. With a total of 4 difficulties, each with their own associated unlocks and leader boards, there is a decent amount of replay value here despite the short campaign which can be completed in under an hour.

If you’re looking for more of a challenge there is an Arcade mode, which only offers one life; a 3 vs 1 boss battle option; and a rogue-lite mode that features randomized levels/enemies, each with a boss to finish them out. While some games shoe horn this mode in, with Bleed 2 it works beautifully, although it is a bit more difficult than the main game. These randomized levels look and feel like you are playing a Mega Man mod and feature traps that are nowhere to be found in the main game. This is by no means a bad thing, though it will take some serious practice to make any type of progress as there are no continues. Add in the ability to use different weapons or additional characters you unlock and the replay options are endless.

The new characters and weapons that you’ll unlock change up the game in some pretty fun ways. Some characters are limited to their stock attack and feature new abilities, and there are new weapons that The Rival or Wryn can use. Each variation will require you to play a little differently, with each character or weapon excelling at specific situations and will make others a bit more difficult. I personally had a great deal of fun speed running through the game with the rocket launcher, which essentially makes most of the bosses powerless, even beating a few ignoring their battle specific mechanics entirely.

Bleed 2 controls much better than the original, as I was able to easily get into the habit of jumping multiple times and was soon using the slow motion ability like a pro. I did struggle a bit at first, as the pop up tutorials are not always as in depth as I would prefer.  My biggest issue is the requirement to go into the menu and manually change your character’s weapons, as there is no easy option to do so during gameplay. While this is not overly cumbersome, it does ruin the sense of momentum that shines throughout the rest of the title.

Couch co-op is much more enjoyable than in the original game, partially due to the game being less reliant on the platforming aspect and focusing more on shooting, making it much easier to keep track of the second player. I did get mildly frustrated playing as one of the bosses, as it can be hard to determine which of the characters is the player and which is the boss. While these instances are few and far between, it does make the experience slightly less enjoyable.

With Bleed 2 fixing a number of the annoying aspects from the original, I wholeheartedly recommend this title for anyone who is looking for a new bullet-hell type shooter with loads of replayability.

10 out of 10

Pros

• Great Boss Battles
• Loads of Gameplay Options/Modes
• Beautiful Pixel Art Style

Cons

• A Bit Short
• Awkward Weapon Management

Bleed 2 was developed by Bootdisk Revolution in conjunction with Nephilim Game Studios and published by Digerati Distribution. The game launched on PS4 February 6th, 2018 and X1 on February 9th, 2018 for $14.99. It was previously released on PC in 2017. The PS4 version of the game was provided to us for review. If you’d like to see more of Bleed 2, check out the official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

 

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