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Blood Knights Review
There is a lot to love about hack and slash games and adding vampires into the mix only makes it that much better. Blood Knights tells the story of the conflict between humans and vampires and the struggles between that lead to an all out war. The game can be played through in single player mode, where the player will switch between the two characters, or co-op where a pal will take over one of the roles.
The game features two main characters, Jeremy, a vampire hunter, and Alysa, a vampire. The two are bonded together in the beginning of the game by a priest in an attempt to protect the world from the war that is raging between the two species by working together in combat. Jeremy wields two swords and does mostly melee and "in your face" attacks. Alysa comes complete with two
cross bows which come in handy for puzzles and traps throughout the levels as well as enemies who are too high up to reach otherwise.
Gamers will come in contact with various types of enemies, ranging from vampires, humans, werewolves, demons, etc. Learning the combat system is pretty simple, but I found it pretty difficult to manage during the first chapter of the game. Jeremy and Alysa are both capable of special attackswhich deal greater damage, such as a whirlwind attack for Jeremy and a fire arrow for Alysa as well as other attacks. The deeper into the game the player goes the easier it becomes to master the system and defeat enemies quicker. With each level up, you will also be able to unlock skills in exchange for perk points gained by levelling. Stats also have the ability to level by finding a certain number of blood tokens throughout each area and if you manage to collect all five, you're granted a stat upgrade for each character.
After battles, loot drops from the kills in form of health/blood orbs and money that you can use to buy weapon and armour upgrades from vendors. You may also sell loot that you no longer need. Throughout the levels,various chests can be found that also contain upgrades for these items. If you do not wish to wait to see a vendor (once you’ve upgrade your character(s) to their new armour), you can sell the older stuff instantly. Another perk for the game is the placing of save stations. There are several throughout each level which makes it more bearable when you die.
Friends and foes will come and go (and by go I mean turn their back on you) depending on the decisions you made throughout the game. You have the decision to become a vampire or return to being fully human, something that isn't too common in games that involve vampires. Your decision will influence the willingness of the people you encounter to help you out. And, if you find yourself being wishy-washy between the two decisions like I was, you will notice that the characters will mention your mix-ups in choices.
The controls for the game are pretty simple and straight forward, with the beginning level helping you to get to grips on each of the buttons actions. If you can't recall what a button does, the game is pretty good at giving reminders.
Graphically, Blood Knights is what to expect for a thrown-together XBLA game, and by that I mean pretty mediocre. I did get a pleasant surprise when I purchased or found new armour because when you equip the new pieces, it’s blatantly visible (similar to that of Torchlight). My biggest issue throughout the game had to be the voice over’s for the characters. They are pretty laughable at best and difficult to take seriously. Another downfall is that the game is glitch ridden especially when saving and on the odd occasion when loading the game. For instance, I started the game one afternoon only to find that each and every time I would launch it it would freeze my entire Xbox, therefore leaving me now choice but to power down and restart. After about the fourth try the game finally fully launched.
Overall, I enjoyed Blood Knights and would recommend others to try the demo at least. The gameplay is pretty smooth and with a co-op partner, there is fun to be had.
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7/10
Review By Jackie C
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