Back in the 90s, I played a lot of FPSes. Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Quake, Unreal...at least, most of the mainstream ones. So when I saw an advertisement of Blood on Computer Gaming World, I immediately dismissed it as YAFPS (Yet Another FPS). It looked interesting though - they featured screenshots of the voodoo doll, plenty of gore, gothic environments, and there was this caption that said "Humiliate your enemies with multiple ways to kill them". Sounded all very interesting, and I might have given it a shot, but I was too preoccupied with my backlog of games back then.
So, now GOG has Blood. So, I thought, you know I might just give this a shot. I missed it back in 1997, so why the heck not. I was really in the mood for some old school run-n-gun fun. I needed to shoot something. Badly. (was exam week...bleh)
And what did I get? Surprise surprise! Old school run-n-gun fun. This is one damn fine shooter. The shooter mechanics are all very tight, everything just comes together so nicely. Every weapon feels like it has an impact. The double barreled shotgun may be one of the first weapons you get, but its anything but weak. The resounding blast, followed by screams of dying cultists, is just so satisfying. The tommy gun feels so awesome to scatter-blast a room with. The flare gun is quite a novelty too - launching flares at enemies, then watching them desperately trying to get rid of it never gets old. Then there are the other weapons that are just a joy to work with, including the awesome napalm launcher that's like a rocket launcher, the juju staff, and the VOODOO DOLL! Weapons also have alternate fire too - this really is a game for sadists. So many ways to kill your enemies.
Because that's really the only thing you need to care about. The story is weak, but thank God it is. I don't need a story to sidetrack me on my killing joy sprees.
Graphics aren't great, especially since 1997 was the year when most games transitioned to polygons and full 3D already. It was definitely a bit hard to get used to the Build engine too, especially since I haven't played a Build game for so long. Even when I re-played Duke 3D, it was in the modified eDuke32 engine. So yes, if you haven't been playing 2.5D games for a while, you will definitely need to adjust to the graphics.
That aside, Blood has some of the most atmospheric levels I've ever seen. How does one combine gothic horror with gore and black humour? Well if you want the answer, take a look at Blood. For example, the Carnival level was eerie, but not scary, and the level design really makes you feel like you are in some surreal setting. It's great, it really feels like some twisted, sick carnival. Same with a lot of the other levels - the train level in Episode 1 is my favourite, with the whole "train to hell" feel; and I really enjoy the subtle touches in rooms with meat grinders, incinerators and the like. Very nasty stuff, very creepy, but it's so overdone that it's funny (to me, at least). If you have read Clark Ashton Smith and Lovecraft, some of the levels may evoke that sense of familiarity.
The sound, oh boy the sound. Music is creepy, you can hear children laughing in the background. It complements the atmosphere very nicely--sorry actually, I should say that it constitutes to the other half of the atmosphere. Without the music, the dread and nightmarish feel may actually be lost. It's just great. As for the sounds, well as I stated earlier on, they all sound loud enough to give that "oomph" when firing. Explosions are thunderous. I also like the enemies: how the cultists scream and yell their curses and invocations, the deep moaning of zombies, the roaring of the fishmen etc. Great stuff.
Apart from the graphics, there was the mouse issue that made the game nearly unbearable to play, if it wasn't for bmouse 0.6 (which is included in McTecman's fantastic One Unit Whole Blood launcher).
The game's also astonishingly difficult. Actually, this is quite possibly the hardest game I've ever played. Even on the 2nd easiest difficulty, you can expect to die a lot. I almost managed to plod through Episode 1 on Well Done (2nd hardest difficulty), and gave up at the end because it was just too difficult. In fact, playing it on a harder difficulty nearly ruined the experience for me; coupled with the mouselook problem, it made me really frustrated.
So, now I'm playing through the rest of the game on Pink on the Inside (2nd easiest), and am having a blast so far. If you really want a very solid FPS, look no further. Blood's your game. Heck, if this had an OpenGL port, I daresay my experience would have been even better than Duke 3D!