How I Imagined Blood 2 Would Play Like
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:07 am
I didn't get to play Blood 2 until some years recently. Although there's much of its gameplay that I appreciate, such as some of it weapon effects and character animations, it was a far cry from how I initially imagined it. For a long time, I had only imagined how the game played based upon the screenshots and reading the walkthroughs. I remember playing the demo before and after my dad installed a Voodoo Graphics Card into our Windows 95 or 98. I could hardly play it without cheats before the card, because it kept skipping. After the card, it looked beautiful from the smoke effects and smooth animation. Years later, when I got to play it in full, it didn't look as good as I remembered. For awhile, the GOG version didn't work so well until I got my recent computer, and I'm glad I could play it with the WSAD keys and the mouse.
I appreciate the texture work in the weapons and some of the levels, I appreciate some of the enemy design, I appreciate the fluid character animation, I appreciate some of the enemy behavior, and I appreciate some of the level design (some of Transfusion's maps which are borrowed from Blood 2 made me appreciate them a little more). There are even some aspects to the story which grabbed my interest, like the characters speculating whether the Reality Beta are in league with the Cabal or not. On the whole, it is rather unfinished, and doesn't live up to the original ambitious design for Blood 2.
I've been revisiting some of the old games from the late 90s, and it got me thinking about stuff that I would have expected from Blood 2. (My list also includes movies, too).
1. Quake 1:
When I first saw a shot of the Shikari, I somehow thought it resembled a Shambler. It then got me thinking that the game could be a fusion of Quake's gameplay and Blood's. I thought that the gameplay and the monsters would be Quake-like while the art-style remained the same.
2. Interstate '76
There's something about graphics and terrain of Interstate '76 that makes me think of Blood II. That game didn't have any in-game polygonal characters (except in cutscene) but when I look at the Texan terrain of the game, the Quake-like moving skies, and the car gameplay, I think: "Blood II could have used that."
3: Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
That classic Activision vehicular combat game which SHOGO would've topped if it had the time. I know it's a single textured game with old polygons, but it's still got an impressive futuristic atmosphere to it. The futuristic sound quality and the vast environments are what I'd want to see in Blood 2.
4. Half-Life 2
I totally see Half-Life 2 as being a more successful take on the plot which Blood 2 was going for. Both games involved main characters emerging in a future they are unfamiliar with in a gritty urban setting, deal with another freakish species from a different reality, face some familiar old foes in new forms, are allied with new characters whom the hero knew, and are up against a villain who is a mad CEO who think themselves prophets and use interdimensional critters on the city's people. I could see Gideon being obsessed with getting Caleb like Dr. Breen getting Freeman: following your progress and constantly taunting you without breaking into cutscene.
5. Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Levels like Double-Cross on Nar Shadda, The Lost Disc, Into the Dark Palace, Palace Escape, and Fuel Station Launch all have that scale which I expected from Blood 2's city levels. Especially in Double-Cross on Nar Shadda, in which you tread through a trashy futuristic city environment, and encounter thugs and innocent bystanders along the way. The way the levels are designed, and the player's choice in approaching civilians, was something I see fitting in Blood 2's setting.
6. No One Lives Forever
I've explained before why NOLF would fit with Blood 2 in another thread.
7. Batman, Batman Returns, Ghostbusters, and The Crow
I imagined Blood 2 as having settings, weapons, and enemies which paid homage to all those films.
8. The Matrix
This film which has a cyberpunk take on 1999 just makes me think of Blood for some reason. The Agents make me think of the Cultists, and the corporate buildings make me think they belong to Cabalco. (There was a time when I thought The Matrix was an alternate interpretation of Blood before I saw the movie, just because of the gothic atmosphere and Trinity saying "They're after you.")
I appreciate the texture work in the weapons and some of the levels, I appreciate some of the enemy design, I appreciate the fluid character animation, I appreciate some of the enemy behavior, and I appreciate some of the level design (some of Transfusion's maps which are borrowed from Blood 2 made me appreciate them a little more). There are even some aspects to the story which grabbed my interest, like the characters speculating whether the Reality Beta are in league with the Cabal or not. On the whole, it is rather unfinished, and doesn't live up to the original ambitious design for Blood 2.
I've been revisiting some of the old games from the late 90s, and it got me thinking about stuff that I would have expected from Blood 2. (My list also includes movies, too).
1. Quake 1:
When I first saw a shot of the Shikari, I somehow thought it resembled a Shambler. It then got me thinking that the game could be a fusion of Quake's gameplay and Blood's. I thought that the gameplay and the monsters would be Quake-like while the art-style remained the same.
2. Interstate '76
There's something about graphics and terrain of Interstate '76 that makes me think of Blood II. That game didn't have any in-game polygonal characters (except in cutscene) but when I look at the Texan terrain of the game, the Quake-like moving skies, and the car gameplay, I think: "Blood II could have used that."
3: Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
That classic Activision vehicular combat game which SHOGO would've topped if it had the time. I know it's a single textured game with old polygons, but it's still got an impressive futuristic atmosphere to it. The futuristic sound quality and the vast environments are what I'd want to see in Blood 2.
4. Half-Life 2
I totally see Half-Life 2 as being a more successful take on the plot which Blood 2 was going for. Both games involved main characters emerging in a future they are unfamiliar with in a gritty urban setting, deal with another freakish species from a different reality, face some familiar old foes in new forms, are allied with new characters whom the hero knew, and are up against a villain who is a mad CEO who think themselves prophets and use interdimensional critters on the city's people. I could see Gideon being obsessed with getting Caleb like Dr. Breen getting Freeman: following your progress and constantly taunting you without breaking into cutscene.
5. Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Levels like Double-Cross on Nar Shadda, The Lost Disc, Into the Dark Palace, Palace Escape, and Fuel Station Launch all have that scale which I expected from Blood 2's city levels. Especially in Double-Cross on Nar Shadda, in which you tread through a trashy futuristic city environment, and encounter thugs and innocent bystanders along the way. The way the levels are designed, and the player's choice in approaching civilians, was something I see fitting in Blood 2's setting.
6. No One Lives Forever
I've explained before why NOLF would fit with Blood 2 in another thread.
7. Batman, Batman Returns, Ghostbusters, and The Crow
I imagined Blood 2 as having settings, weapons, and enemies which paid homage to all those films.
8. The Matrix
This film which has a cyberpunk take on 1999 just makes me think of Blood for some reason. The Agents make me think of the Cultists, and the corporate buildings make me think they belong to Cabalco. (There was a time when I thought The Matrix was an alternate interpretation of Blood before I saw the movie, just because of the gothic atmosphere and Trinity saying "They're after you.")