About

Blood is a first-person shooter video game series developed by Monolith Productions. In the game, the player assumes the role of former cult member Caleb, who must fight against the demonic forces of the Cabal who worship the dark god Tchernobog. On May 9th, 2019, a remastered version of the game was released.

History

On March 5th, 1997, shareware version of first-point shooter Blood was released by Monolith Productions.^[1] The game follows the story of Caleb, a former top commander of a cult called The Cabal, betrayed and killed by dark god Tchernobog. Arisen from his grave, Caleb begins a quest for vengeance. On May 31st, 1997, a full version of the game consisting of four episodes, was released.

I've taken your live. Now I will take your life.

Gameplay and Features

Blood gameplay is similar to other shooters of the early FPS era such as Doom and Quake. The game was one of the earliest shooters to feature a secondary attacks on weapons, as well as an ability to dual-wield weapons.

The game, set in an unspecified time period of early 20th century, featured elements of Western, horror and science fiction. The game had abundant violence, with Caleb being able to gib enemies into pieces, shoot off and kick heads of certain opponents, etc., which eventually prompted a censored re-release of the game.

Expansions and Sequel

On June 30th, 1997, Sunstorm Interactive released Cryptic Passage, the first expansion pack for Blood which included additional singleplayer and multiplayer missions. In September 1997, Monolith Productions released Plasma Pak which included new eneimes and weapon mods, new multiplayer maps and a new single-player episode. On July 15th, 1998, One Unit Whole Blood edition of the game was released which included the updated game and all its expansion packs.

On October 31st, 1998, sequel Blood II: The Chosen was released.

Blood: Fresh Supply

On December 7, 2018, a remastered version of the original Blood, developed by Night Dive Studios under license from Atari, was announced. On May 9 ,2019, the game was released on GOG.com and Steam.

Reception

Blood received positive reviews from the critics, with the game maintaining an 82 score on Metacritic.^[2]

PC Gamer wrote (final score: 8.5):

An excellent implementation of the BUILD engine that makes for a tuly wicked shoot-'em -up.

GameSpot wrote (final score: 8):

It's derivative, it's violent, and definitely tasteless at times – but it's almost always fun…If you like 3D shooters, give Blood a try. You might find that being totally evil – at least in a game – can feel pretty "damn" good.

Impact

In 1998, manhwa series Priest, inspired by Blood, was started by South Korean artist Hyung Min-woo.^[3] The manhwa shared a similar aesthetic of a horror western and contained multiple references to the game, including an undead protagonist.

Fandom

In 1997, Blood fan website Planet Blood was launched,^[4][5] formerly used by fans of the game as a place for discussion of Blood-related topics. On January 12th, 2008, Blood Wiki was launched, collecting various information about the game.^[6]

Through the years, a number of fan modifications for the game have been released, including The 13th Realm, Blood Slaughter Files, Tiny Town and other mods. Notable modifications for the game continued being produced as far as 2011, with large-scale projects of the late period including The Carnage Continues, Bloody Pulp Fiction and Death Wish.

On July 27, 2017, YouTuber Civvie 11, started a series of videos on Blood II: The Chosen, with the first part of the series gaining over 194,600 views in two years (shown below, left).^[7] On November 11th, 2018, Civvie 11 started a series on the first installation of Blood, with the first episode receiving over 367,000 views in nine months (shown below, right).^[8]

Search Interest

External References