Bloodthief Review

Sometimes you want a game that offers a deep and complex storyline with moral questions aplenty. Other times, you want a title that is more about skill and improvement, which are the types of players that developer Blargis’ latest title, Bloodthief, wants to draw in. The question is whether this is a 5K run you want to take, or if it would be better to have a rest day? 

Bloodthief’s plot is, for the most part, quite simple: you take the role of a vampire tasked with saving the world from a host of undead foes. It’s not super complicated, and there aren’t really any characters that you’ll interact with; instead, it simply sets the stage for why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Bloodthief classifies itself as an ultra-fast melee dungeon runner, where you’ll sprint through levels by sliding, wall running, jumping, and more. Thankfully, you’re a vampire who can enhance your abilities through collecting blood (of course). When you have ichor, you can charge across large gaps or slide on any surface while beating any opponent, but there is a risk.

 See, you collect blood from killing enemies, and you’ll usually have enough that you won’t need to worry too much about managing it. However, you’re not invincible: if you don’t have any of the red stuff, then a single hit will kill you, whereas being hit when you do have some will drain it. 

To get this kind of design to work, the game needs to be simple to understand and easy to control; you don’t want a host of controls the player needs to memorise. Thankfully, Bloodthief manages that tricky space of being easy to learn, but hard to master. The controls feel fluid to the degree that I never felt stressed trying to remember what to press next. Although I will say that the combat is pretty forgettable, just spam the hit key; that’s about it. There are other weapons and runes you can find that change the gameplay a bit, but not enough that it ever feels like a choice you need to make. 

There’s also a levelling system, but it’s more based around progression rather than changing how strong or fast your character is. See, certain stages are locked behind a level cap that you need to reach to progress through the campaign. However, the only way to do this is to go back to older levels and replay them for a better completion time.

On the one hand, this does provide a good reason to play older stages, allowing you to experiment with different techniques to progress more quickly. On the other hand, there’s really only one route through most levels, so it can get a bit tedious when you want to progress to see what else the game has to offer, especially as the initial sections aren’t the most fun.

Interestingly, Bloodthief’s gameplay loop is a perfect representation of the overall experience. When it works, it works really well with everything feeling fluid while you, as the player, feel powerful. However, the minute there’s a bit of a hitch, then it all suddenly stalls out, becoming slightly frustrating and leading you to having to restart the whole thing. 

Graphically, Bloodthief has gone with a retro look, with the environments and character models all being reminiscent of some older run-and-gun shooters. With that being said, the actual stages are designed in such a way that you never feel lost, plus there’s no yellow paint to show you where to go. Instead, Bloodthief uses different textures or colour palettes to give you an idea of what to jump on. The music is similarly retro that, while it isn’t something I’d listen to while I walked (not wall run) to the shops, I wouldn’t turn it down either. 

Bloodthief is the perfect game to turn your brain off for a bit while you enjoy the experience. The controls, atmosphere, and retro feel all come together to make the experience a genuinely fun one. However, if you’re looking for something a little deeper, this might not be the game for you.