#Blud Review (PS5) – Are Vampires real? What noise would it make if I hit one with a hockey stick? Both of these very valid questions can be answered by playing #Blud from Exit 73 Studios and Humble Games.
This quirky little title has you and an eclectic cast of schoolchildren defending your town against blood-sucking fiends.
You play Becky, half-time regular schoolkid and half-time vampire hunter, she is full of sass and will not hesitate to go to town on anything in her path. Fearless and humorous in equal measure, she is by far the star and never failed to keep me entertained.
#Blud Review (PS5) – Fangs For The Memories
Whack Those Blood-Suckers
You come from a long line of vampire hunters and in the early game you find a grimoire and start to uncover your destiny, latent magical skills and learn about what’s happening to your beloved town.
While quite well-trodden, the narrative is incredibly well-written and entertaining. It had me laughing in places and #Blud is full of in-jokes, video game funnies and meta-references.
There’s a tech company growing in the town, very much like Twitter or X or whatever we call it these days. Shocking no-one, a stereotypical creepy tech-billionaire style character runs it.
Not only does this feed into the game’s narrative but it’s also used by Becky, taking pictures and posting them to your feed drives side-quests and the narrative forward. You also use it to track what quests are available at any given time.
A Quest Feed?
It’s a very clever system that’s woven into the game. You unlock a new quest, it gets added to your feed and updates to it are posted as replies from other characters. It works tremendously and adds character and witty exchanges to what is in other games, just a drab list of quests.
Every NPC you come across has personality, is brimming with character and talking to them was always entertaining. In some games I skip dialogue or walk past people but in this, especially early on, I loved soaking up all the irreverent dialogue and banter.
From a pure gameplay perspective, #Blud is a light RPG. Upgrades come from the likes of upgrading your dormant magical skills and upgrading your trusty hockey stick. There are other unlockable tools such as a grappling hook and pencils you can throw.
All of this combines into a game that while being quite simple, is amplified massively by it’s art-style and writing.
Linear, with Rewarding Exploration
#Blud is a semi-open world game, you can return to previous areas – sort of. It all depends on the time of day and what’s cracking off.
You have side quests to complete, shops to peruse and coin collectables to find. You know, usual fare for this type of game. There are a few secrets to discover, a few different paths to take but on the whole, it is quite linear. I did however feel you were rewarded for deviating slightly from the beaten path with collectables and consumables.
Combat started out very simplistic but got better as the game progressed and more do-dads were unlocked. Throwing projectiles and upgrades made combat increasingly amusing.
You start with an attack button and an evade button and things evolve from there. Most battles though boil down to hit and evade when necessary. Some of the hideous bosses that broke this trend in both size and scope, were gigantically appealing.
Simply Beautiful
The presentation in #Blud is something else, it has an over-the-top Saturday morning cartoon art style that drips with 90s charm and character. The way the characters are animated, the grotesque bosses and the colour palette all come together to make something pure and unique.
#Blud’s visuals are, in my opinion at least, truly spectacular.
The sound work is also well done. I would have preferred voice acting, don’t get me wrong but what we have in its place fits the style and theme of the game aptly.
Each character makes funny noises as they talk and it matches up with the weird and uncanny animation style. The music is also catchy and fits the style the game is going for.
Unfortunately, I did have a few issues. Firstly the lag on the menu system was annoying. There is a second or two between pressing L1 or R1 and the menu changing screens.
It did not happen all the time but was irksome nonetheless, I am sure this can be patched out but it got increasingly aggravating as the game went on. Especially when I needed to check the map regularly.
I also found Becky’s roll to be inconsistent when fighting bosses and I sometimes got stuck under limbs or ended up getting in a damage loop I could not get out of.
Luckily this issue happened rarely and got less noticeable as I adjusted to it and as I was aware of it when in combat.
90s Joy, Modern Mechanisms
Playing #Blud was like playing an interactive cartoon from my youth. It was like navigating a grittier Rocko’s Modern Life or Ren and Stimpy. The art style is bright, bold and very well executed. The writing is on-point and constantly entertaining.
Exploring this world was rewarding and never got dull, with just enough to distract you from your main goal. The side quests were worthwhile and entertaining and upgrading Becky was rewarding.
A few little quibbles aside I think most players will find something to enjoy here. Whether it be the striking visual feast or the bubbly characters and evolving gameplay, you can do far worse than help Becky club the undead with a hockey stick.
#Blud is available for PS5 and PS4 on June 18th, 2024.
Review code kindly provided by the publisher.