Devil Blood (XBLIG): "A Blood Red Dance With The Devil"

Devil Blood is a 3D corridor shooter with gameplay that is similar to that of Doom, and Wolfenstein. This unique, and blood red take on the genre was developed by 'thelostone'. If you have ever played games on Nintendo's Virtual Boy console then you'll be prepared for what you witness when you start playing this game. Everything in the game is literally a different shade of red, and features different textures. You take on the role of a hero who is destined to kill all of the demons in the Nethermorne Citadel. With your Bane Rifle, Hellfire Shotgun, Runes, and Magic spells it's your duty to rid the place of it's hellish haunts.


There are 10 levels within 'Devil Blood'. Each of the levels have different types of demons (skulls with horns) to deal with. They gradually get more difficult to kill as you progress through the game. For the most part all the enemies in the game look the same, but their rendered patterns and attacks differ. Some of the demons move faster, and some take away your life much quicker. Your only weapons against these nightmarish beasts are your Bane Rifle, Hellfire Shotgun, Spells, and Runes that can be found from fallen enemies or within the levels. You can upgrade your weapons, and spells with the souls you collect from the fallen demons. It seems to be a kind of currency where you're at. It is definitely necessary to apply upgrades frequently, or you'll find yourself repeating levels many times. When you think you're ready, and your stats are maxed out you can try your luck at beating the giant boss that haunts level 10.

The levels in 'Devil Blood' feature an all red color scheme with CG renderings that accent the game quite well. The levels are also designed in a labyrinth/maze style like most corridor shooters are. As you make your way to certain areas you will encounter the demons that seem to appear from thin air. Locating enemies, and runes within the labyrinth is made easy by the use of an overhead map though. Pressing (B) on your controller will allow you to access the map. Once your map is open you will be able to see your location as well as the demons, runes, and soul beacon positions. This is a necessary tool in finding where runes are hidden, and for making your way back to the soul beacon (save point, transport...). I found in my playthrough that the levels don't actually have a definitive ending. You can visit them in an order you like, and as often as you like. This helps in the process of upgrading your weapons, and bullet enchantments (Vampire Bite, Stasis, Focused Shot, Soul Burn) in the game. The only ending that I did find in the game was at level 10 when you fight the final boss, and even after that the game still continues on.

Gameplay in 'Devil Blood' is pretty much like that of Wolfenstien, or the classic Doom games. You play in 1st person view as you make your way through the game's mazes. You can switch between 2 guns (Bane Rifle, Hellfire), and 4 different spells during gameplay. Guns in the game come with an unlimited supply of ammo that must be reloaded once you run out. Reloading at the proper times is the key to surviving some of the more serious demon encounters. The spells in 'Devil Blood' include 'Vampire Bite (absorbs life from demons)', 'Stasis (Slows demons down)', 'Focused Shot (deals extra damage)', and 'Soul Burn (deals continuous damage)'. In order to use the spells your 'mana' level must be filled to the appropriate level. The spells each use a specific amount of mana points (mp), so using them wisely will definitely help you out. Health is also a big part of 'Devil Blood'. If you ever run out of health you won't die, but you will be returned to the beginning of the level minus some souls. Learning to use your weapons, and spells efficientely will help you make it through some of the more difficult parts of the game.

Runes play a huge part in 'Devil Blood' as well. You can have up to 4 assigned runes at a time. The runes come in many different appearances, and yield a variety of results. There are runes that enhance your spells, your life regeneration, and your defense. You can even find special/unique runes in the game as well. In my playthrough I found that there are actually different variations of each type of rune (except for the special ones), ranging from 'lesser' to 'godlike'. These variations greatly effect how well the rune types perform. The lesser obviously produces the weakest effect, and the godlike the strongest. There are two ways of obtaining runes in the game. Sometimes demons will drop them after being killed, and other ones must be found throughout the levels. I found that certain levels require different runes to be assigned in order for you to be a more effective demon slayer.  Once you get the godlike runes though it doesn't really matter anymore.

In the end I found 'Devil Blood' to be a rather visually impressive game. I think it's the first corridor shooter I have ever seen, or played that was done in all red colors/renderings. The gameplay, and upgrading system was pretty cool. The game did have some issues though. Some of the issues that I had with the game were that the levels didn't really end, and you could literally visit any level you wanted to at anytime. It would have been good if 'thelostone' had made it where you had to unlock the next levels by killing all of the demons. I did end up thinking that the final boss battle was cool. There is a trick to beating it that makes the whole ordeal much easier though, and not much of a challenge. The message you get after beating this massive demon was another issue I had, and bit of a letdown. It didn't really seem to have any direct relevance to the game's story. I wish there had actually been some thought put into it, and a decent ending added. The way the ending went made all my efforts seem in vain. I can't honestly recommend this game. It definitely had the looks, and some brilliant ideas. The few issues it had kept it from being the great game it could have been though.

CONTROLS

L.Trigger = Fire Spellshot
L.Bumper = Cycle Spells
L.Thumbstick = Movement
R.Thumbstick = Aim
R.Trigger = Fire Gun
R.Bumper = Switch Guns
D.Pad = Select Spell
X = Reload
A = Select
B = Map/Cancel
Y = Inventory