Bloodroots Review: Kill or Be Killed

If you were to ask me for a list of my top ten all-time favorite games, you’d find Hotline Miami pretty close to the top. I loved the visceral thrill of systematically working from room to room, destroying never-ending waves of bad guys in some of the most brutal ways ever expressed in an old school digital format. Needless to say, when Jason handed me a code for Bloodroots I was giddy with anticipation. The title looked like a Samurai Jack skinned version of a series that I have been longingly hopeful we’d see a third entry for in my lifetime. Maybe my expectations got the best of me, but this was not the murder sim I was looking for.

Overall, the presentation is immaculate – the throwback visuals to one of the best non-Adult Swim related shows that Cartoon Network ever produced is spot on and kind of makes me sad that Paper Cult isn’t involved in the upcoming Samurai Jack videogame that hasn’t impressed me with the prerelease footage as of yet. From the start, I was in love with the style and was eating up the revenge tale like I was a fat kid in front of the TV on a Saturday morning with a mixing bowl filled with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Don’t let this description turn you off from the game because despite the cartoony happy go lucky visuals, this is an uber-violent game that is every bit as gory as the title that clearly inspired it. It’s everything I had hoped Creepy Road would have been and then some, going as far to end each wave of enemies with a custom fatality-esque ending that varied depending on the weapon you have equipped.

The first few levels take it slow, easing you into the controls that task you with using any means necessary to end your foes – swords, hatchets, firearms, and even carrots are at your disposal, and thanks to the (almost) fully destructible environments, you can pick up debris and even your fallen enemies corpses as an offensive tool. Some of the weaponry goes as far as to include secondary benefits, such as pole vaulting or lunging forward in the attacks to close the distance between you and your foes. Throughout my time with the first few chapters, I was having some of the most fun I have had in recent memory as I stylishly mowed down the enemies with a gleeful smile from ear to ear… that was until the issues started popping up.

Having the ability to use pretty much anything as a weapon is a blessing and a curse, one that is only worsened by the fact that more often than not, I ended up picking up a different item than what I intended. In some cases the input would be completely ignored, leaving me in a bad position for taking out the immediate threats. You see, most of the arsenal you have at your disposal can be used a limited number of times before you have to grab something new. Success requires you to plan each small encounter to ensure you don’t run out of attacks, as stopping to pick up a new tool o’ death mid-battle is an almost guaranteed way to wind up dead thanks to the one hit and you’re out style mechanic; sadly, our hero’s unarmed melee attack has the reach of an amputee who lost everything from the elbow down, so weapons are essential.

At first, this was a frustration I could live with, as I’m no stranger to BS deaths thanks to Hotline Miami. I like a challenge and can forgive the occasional blip or bug, but the game often feels like it’s lagging behind the player’s actions at the absolute worst time possible. The issues both design and bug related alike began piling up early into the first act. In order to successfully connect an attack, you have to wait for this faint green circle to signify that you locked onto an enemy, and similar to the occasional unresponsive commands that occur, it fails to trigger from time to time; when every hit counts, this opens the flood gates for frustration which is only trumped by the game’s excuse for platforming.

Overall, the game follows an isometric viewpoint that pans in and out at times, but rarely when you need it too. Much like Darksiders Genesisthe game has its fair share of platforming from this viewpoint, which isn’t overly terrible when you’re just jumping about as the protagonist. However, once pole vaulting became a requirement instead of an option, I had to tap out. I am currently stuck in an open area that has tons of small areas at different elevations while someone is taking potshots at me off-screen with a rocket launcher. I will in all likelihood never make it past this encounter, as I don’t see myself signing up to die further than I already have (100+, thanks to the Trophy I earned for achieving this. Should this be rewarded?). If the lock-on or lack thereof doesn’t kill me, I end up missing my jump entirely and fall off the edge. The most annoying of deaths come from being shot off-screen, with only an out of place thick red line signaling that I am being aimed at from parts unknown.

Hotline Miami encourages experimentation and rewards perseverance, whereas Bloodroots takes a different route, almost requiring you to follow a designated path through the enemies that the developers seemed to have built the game around. I’m not saying it’s an impossible game, but the frustration outweighed the fun for me early in and I really don’t see myself revisiting the game to see out its conclusion. If you found Dennaton Games’ masterpiece to be too difficult for you, this one will probably result in you pushing the thumb sticks through your controller and taking a bath with your TV while it’s plugged in. I would only recommend this to someone who has masochistic qualities or thought a trip to 80’s Miami was too soft-core and if that’s you, you have my utmost respect.

6 out of 10

Pros

  • Immaculate Presentation
  • A Wide Arsenal of Weaponry

Cons

  • Clunky, Unresponsive Controls and Mechanics
  • Pole Vaulting Isn’t Fun Outside of the Olympics
  • Cheap Deaths Galore

Bloodroots was developed and published by Paper Cult. It is available on NS, PC, PS4, and X1. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Bloodroots, check out the game’s 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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