In the wake of games like Half Life, there has been an increasing demand for games with a 'story line'. Personally, I don't remember ever caring what was happening in Doom - I had gun, gun had ammo, room of monsters ahead ha ha ha. Sure, even antisocial games like the GTA series DO benefit from a plot and diverse gameplay. But Blood 2 is just so much simpler (as in: gun, ammo, monsters ha ha ha).
Yes, it's delightfully politically incorrect how you are actively encouraged to kill innocent bystanders to consume their hearts to gain health.
Enemies will explode into a multitude of organs and destruction of property is all in a day's work. That's right, destruction of property - there's no namby-pamby indestructible furniture here. You get plenty of ammo and a few shots will plough through most desks, computers, shelves, boxes. Find a decent room and you can send debris flying all around you.
Weapons include the usual fare of pistol, shotgun, machine gun, sniper rifle, rocket launcher types. Nothing wrong with that. But there are a couple original extras. Like the voodoo doll which will cause a small amount of damage to a targeted enemy and the flare gun. The latter fires a flare which will stick into enemies (and yourself) and slowly burn them to death.
It doesn't cause a great deal of damage on the higher difficulty settings but it's fun to see the monsters turn black and burn up.
And the speed: Doom was a fast game, so were the Quakes. Duke Nukem wasn't, but this is where Blood 2 beats its predecessor and several games since; the graphics look reasonable even by today's standards and it flies along so nicely on even the highest settings.
Extra features include the ability to play as one of four characters, with cut-scenes for just the main guy but one-liners for each of them. The night-vision goggles are a nice item (even if you only really need them twice) and you can throw a mystical eye around corners to spy on the enemies.
Now for the downsides: the game crashed every 30-40 minutes but as movement is so fast it never took long for me to get back to my previous position. Of more concern was that sometimes doors wouldn't open when they should and picking up items isn't always as simple as just running over them. Also, I found I couldn't pass a certain point as one of the extra characters which kinda makes her superfluous.
Blood 2 is easy to throw away but easier to pick up; the likes of HL2 require dedicated time whereas this is good to go the moment it loads - some current games could learn a thing or two from this.
Disclaimer: I do not condone the use of violence against people or property. If you feel the need to express any suppressed anger, consult a counselor or friend. This game is suitable only for those with a righteous heart who love fighting the forces of evil. And that's the official line.
Graphics 8/10
Gameplay 9/10
Originality 7/10
Overall 8.5/10
