From
the first moment you swing your weapon, Bloodborne will suck into its world and
never let you go.
A Game Review by Hank:
STORY:
The
player assumes the role of a lone hunter, seeking a powerful blood known as
Paleblood. Upon arriving in the city of
Yharnam, the hunter discovers a plague that is turning the city's inhabitants
into beasties. The only way to obtain
the Paleblood is to navigate the horrific city streets and defeat every damn
thing in the way. Humongous creatures,
spilled blood, tremendous sound effects, confusing lore, and the most
unbelievably addicting gameplay ensue.
THOUGHTS:
There
are video games that have remarkable stories.
This is not Bloodborne. There are
video games that have fantastic open worlds that allow you to choose your own
adventure. This is not Bloodborne. There are video games that offer competitive
online modes that turn into world competitions.
This is also not Bloodborne. Then
there are video games that beat you down and make you yearn to create the most
badass, most violent, most heavy-hitting character you can, so you can go back
to the foe that pounded you into the ground and destroy them, thus creating the
greatest feeling of accomplishment you can get out of a video game. This—my joystick fondling friends—is
Bloodborne. There is no doubt about it,
once you finally beat Bloodborne, you will sit back for a moment and digest the
amazing achievement you have just obtained.
Then seconds later you will pick up the controller and venture right
back into the game on New Game Plus.
Why? Because From Software has
created an outstanding addictive game that can only be understood if played.
"Seriously guys? I wander off for a few minutes and already you've broken into my liquor cabinet?
What will they say at the next PTA meeting?"
WANDERING
WITHOUT DIRECTION:
From
Software is known to never hold the player's hand throughout a game. And if you've played their previous titles,
such as Demon's Souls or Dark Souls you'll know exactly what you're in for. Would you like a map? Tough.
You'll have to wander the streets like a drunken sailor looking for a
cozy night with a soiled dove. You want
to know you're next objective? Up
yours. You'll have to figure that crap
out on your own. Bloodborne doesn't hold
your hand and help you across the street.
It lets you get hit by cars a few dozen times until you finally learn to
look both ways.
But
can this be discouraging for the player?
Early on…yes. You will wander
around wondering just what your objective is as you strike down every foe in
your way. But once you defeat the first
few bosses and move on to the next couple of areas, you'll come to understand
why the game doesn't hold your hand.
When you discover a new place or a new disgusting boss and then walk
away with a shiny new badge for taking them down, that's when you'll realize
having your hand held, defeats the purpose of the game. With a map or objectives, you'd instantly
lose that amazing sense of accomplishment you just felt. And on top of this, wandering around is half
the fun. Exploring every nook and cranny
in the game leads you to amazing trophies, extra weapons, fantastic beasts, and
unique gothic environments. So why not
just sit back, relax, swing your sword, and see where the grimy brick road
takes you?
"Alright...I'm gonna be totally honest with myself here. I have no frigging idea how I got up on this
roof. And those goddamn directions the bath messengers gave me make
no sense. Little f*ckers were probably drunk again."
COMBAT:
Oh
baby…the most fun you'll ever have in Bloodborne is swinging whatever unique
weapon you chose as your favorite. From
the first time your character lifts a heavy axe or sword or gigantic block of
stone and pounds a foe into the ground, and you feel the weight of the
character's weapon in your controller, you'll never want to stop swinging. You'll beat the hell out of foes, bosses,
lamps, coffins, birds, vases, books, crates, candlesticks, and whatever else you
feel like demolishing. Why? Cause it’s just so much damn fun. But that's not the only thing great about the
game.
The
combat is perfectly balanced. The
weapons you choose in the game are considered trick weapons. Each one comes in two forms: fast attack with
less damage and slow attack with more damage.
It's up to the player to choose how to utilize these forms of brutality
for each individual foe, but allows you to customize how you'll play the
game. Some players will run around with
a gun in one hand, blasting away and hoping for those visceral attacks. And other players will continually run around
with a heavy weapon, looking for an opening to do the most damage. Either way, you'll evolve as a player and the
combat will become second nature. If
you're wondering whether your character is responsive during the game...allow
your mind to be at ease. Every movement,
dodge, swing, and blast feels exquisite in Bloodborne, because every button has
a purpose and is perfectly positioned on the controller. Nothing ever feels like a chore during any
battles.
Alongside
attacks you'll have buttons to also consume blood vials (health) and buttons to dodge out of the way. And after hours, upon hours of playing,
dodging inside an enemy and chopping them down to the ground will become
instinct. And with the game being viewed
in third person, it allows the player to virtually see all around them…because
there is one place you don't want to be in Bloodborne: stuck in a corner,
surrounded by multiple enemies. The only
disadvantage about the third person view is the sometimes wonky camera angle
and locking system.
CAMERA ANGLE:
When
dodging or striking, the combat system makes it easier on the player by
offering a lock-on system when pushing the R3 button. This places the camera directly behind the
player and facing the enemy at all times.
Ninety nine percent of the time this works like a charm, but there are
finicky spots in the game, where if you're not close enough to the foe, the
camera will instead, spin around and have you facing the opposite
direction. Oops. This leaves you open for an attack right down
your backside. While this doesn't happen
all the time, it does pose a slight problem if you're not paying attention to
the enemy, or have multiple enemies coming toward you. Another wonky problem with the camera is its
position in tight areas or those silly corners you accidentally find yourself
stuck in. In these magic moments the
camera takes on a life of its own and flies anywhere it damn well pleases, leaving
you spamming the dodge button to avoid danger like a madman with a nervous tick
on crack. Fortunately, both of these
problems do not pop up nearly enough to hurt the mechanics of the game. Just once in a while to get your heart
pumping and the curses flying. Most of
time the camera is right where you need it: covering your beautiful backside.
"Crap. After all that...I forgot my frigging rowboat."
STRESS, ELATION,
AND LEVELING:
No
other game, currently, will stress you out as much as Bloodborne, but then
leave you open to such elation once the battle is all over. You will constantly be scrambling for lost
echoes, but gaining those back is like being kicked in the nuts and then
promised the greatest roll in the hay of your life. Stress…elation. Aggravation…accomplishment. This mechanic of the game adds to the
addicting gameplay. But what happens
when you finally have a gigantic bucket of echoes? Well, you get to turn those in for a
prize. What's the prize? Leveling up of course. Here's where RPG elements erect themselves
within the game. You can basically build
whatever type of character you please, or whatever type of character fits your
play style. Do you enjoy swinging heavy
weapons and crushing foes into the ground?
Then you'll be leveling up strength and stamina. How about pulling a trigger and blowing holes
in a creature's face? Well then, skill
and blood tinge is probably where you'll want to drop your blood echoes. The point is...both the feeling of elation
and being able to level your character to your liking, fuels the addiction of
having to play Bloodborne and virtually grow your character from nothing.
GAMEPLAY:
As
stated above, the point to Bloodborne is growing your character into a wrecking
ball and taking down the foes that are the size of mountains. There's nothing better than getting your ass
kicked and then coming back, stronger, faster, and more powerful and taking
down the enemy that was giving you trouble.
And remarkably, Bloodborne allows you to do that simply. The only thing you'll have to somewhat enjoy
is farming for blood echoes. Can you
possibly make it through the game without farming? Maybe.
More than likely though, you'll die too many times and get discouraged
and put the game down. But with the
perfect combat and variety of enemies that Bloodborne provides, farming isn't
as dull as you would think. It's
actually quite fun running through a level a couple more times and taking down
the foes. Not only will you gain
precious blood echoes for leveling, but you'll also become very, very good at
the game…to the point that you'll take down almost all the bosses the first
time you meet them, even the last boss.
On top of all this, if you do happen to lose all your blood echoes to a
boss or a creature that caught you unaware, the ability to go through the level
and retrieve them by either finding them on the ground or killing the foe that
killed you, pushes the player forward, instead of discouraging gameplay. This system is perfectly balanced and without
it, many Bloodborne players would have stopped playing a long time ago.
"I came. I saw. I destroyed."
"Quiet! Some of us beasts are trying to sleep."
"Sorry. Didn't think anyone was still around. Just practicing some cool lines, while looking cool."
"Beat it, moron."
"Ew...rude."
ART DIRECTION,
SOUND, AND LEVEL DESIGN:
Bloodborne
is gorgeous in a disgustingly horrific way.
From creatures that crawl around on their bellies and throw up on you,
to gigantic spider-like bosses that fall from the sky, to unbelievable gothic
architecture, Bloodborne will never cease to impress in the art
department. And along with the
aesthetics, there's also the inventive level design. Are you going to push forward with a boatload
of blood echoes? Well, you may only have
to worry for the next couple minutes or so, because every level comes with
wonderful shortcuts that allow you to make it safely back to a lantern (lanterns allow you to go back to home base
and level up or buy stock in whatever you need to continue) to rest. On top of level design and art direction,
comes the characters and creatures.
Never once will you be bored traveling around in Bloodborne. Every new area has wonderfully nasty new
ghouls for you to discover. And when you
finally do pull out your favorite trick weapon and swing for the fences, the
sound will make you feel like you're right there in the action. From footsteps, to groans, to squishy flesh,
to breakable vases, Bloodborne's sound design is impeccable. From Software wanted a chilling experience
with a feeling of despair around every corner and with all the above wrapped up
in a nice tight bow, they delivered exactly what they set out to do.
"I swear to God, these doors get harder and harder to open as I go. Next door I come across, I'm
calling the maintenance man first, so he can give it a good oiling."
CHALICE
DUNGEONS, NEW GAME PLUS AND MULTIPLAYER:
So
you put sixty hours into Bloodborne. You
know almost every level by heart. You've
taken down all bosses, side bosses, and various other hunters roaming the
landscape. You've even managed to
acquire every awesome weapon in the game, along with every piece of secret
armor. Now what? Well that's where the fun begins. You could go back and start a whole new
character and run through the game, leveling up different attributes or...you
could just keep the one you have and give New Game Plus a try. New Game Plus keeps the game exactly the same
way as you remember it, but you'll have tougher enemies and much, much tougher
bosses. But fortunately for you, you get
to keep all your leveling and weapons and inventory and everything you learned
to help conquer the new challenge. And
you never stop leveling up. So you can
now try out that mysterious magic offered in the game if you'd like by dropping
blood echoes in those attributes, effectively making your character not only a
heavy hitter, but also a ranged opponent.
On
top of New Game Plus are Chalice Dungeons.
These are dungeons found in Bloodborne that can be randomly generated
and run through if you have the proper items in your inventory. Some items will drop in the main game to get
you started, but most items are found within the dungeons themselves. But why should you try out the dungeons, when
they're just the same thing as the main game, right? Wrong.
The Chalice Dungeons have unique enemies, bosses, and items to acquire,
effectively making them a whole new game in and of themselves. What more replay ability could you possibly
ask for? The only problem with the
dungeons is learning how to navigate through them. Just like the main game, you get no help, no
map, and no idea how they even work. So
a little Internet reading may be in store if you want to tackle these bad boys
and earn yourself the precious Platinum trophy.
To
add to the fun, Bloodborne even has co-op multiplayer and player versus player in
its arsenal. Now, most people will
prefer to take the adventure alone, but if you so choose, you can have a buddy
or stranger help you defeat a certain area or a certain boss in both the main
game and Chalice Dungeons. Or you can
challenge other players to a duel if you’re feeling frisky. What could be better than that? Actually…many things, because attempting to
do any kind of multiplayer in Bloodborne is so convoluted and confusing it may
discourage some players to even try. For
example: instead of entering a lobby or something similar, you get bells for
multiplayer. Say what? Ring this bell for this thing, and ring that
bell for that thing...oh and this bell helps you do this and that…again, some
Internet studying may be required. Now,
on top of ringing all the different bells for different things, the person
you're trying to play with has to be in the exact same area to link up. What does this all create? A ridiculously confusing system that
absolutely requires an overhaul. Why not
just have the ability to link with a friend in the very beginning and be done
with it? Or go to a lobby and find other
people trying to fight through the same area as you? If there's one facet of the game that needs
work, sadly, it's the multiplayer aspect.
Fortunately, since the game has been released, From Software has already
improved the online aspect a tad, so that means anything listed above can be
improved with an update if the developer sees fit. So here's hoping for the future.
"Listen, I know we haven't known each other that long, but you complete me. See, Doll...you
have blood echoes and I need them..."
"Be still my beating heart. Please, don't stop there. Tell me more my sweet Hunter."
"Um...that's it really."
CONCLUSION:
Bloodborne
is an outstanding exclusive for Playstation.
There's no other way to put it.
With fantastic combat, addicting gameplay, unbelievable art direction,
chilling atmosphere and only a few minor hiccups in the camera department and
multiplayer, Bloodborne easily falls into one of P&P's 2015 game of the
year candidates. What does that
mean? It means, if you own a PS4 this
game should not be missed under any circumstances.
4.5
out of 5 Stars (minus a ½ star for confusing
lore, atrocious multiplayer and wonky camera)
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