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This is one of those games that make it damn near impossible to flesh out a cohesive and well-structured review, thanks to the fact that it’s so mind-numbingly mediocre. It’s just there. Unlikely to change the world in any way, shape or form, but thoroughly inoffensive – it would be cruel to slag Blood Will Tell off within an inch of its life, but it would be ridiculous to hail it as anything special.
Can you see the dilemma?
The fact of the matter is, this type of game has been done numerous times over, and in much more interesting and varied ways. Devil May Cry got there years ago, ridiculous borders on the PAL version or not, and there are many more (and better) third-person-me-do’s available to the discerning player. Put bluntly, Blood Will Tell is not worth spending £40 on. Wait until it’s in the bargain bucket, as it will be, or rent it. Then you can have no real complaints.
With that out of the way, we can get down to business. The story behind Blood Will Tell is pretty much insane – the player takes control of the samurai Hyakkimaru on his quest to recover 48 stolen body parts, which were taken from him as a child. As in, his eyes, his digestive system, his arms, his legs – that kind of thing. The man doesn’t start off as a rolling torso, mind, as he has rather helpfully had his arms made into swords, a machine gun fitted in one elbow, a bazooka in a knee and a number of other things that are all available for the player to use. Like I said, it is mental. However, the story is actually one of the game’s real standout points, offering an interesting tale that follows Hyakkimaru and his faithful sidekick Dororo as they quest to defeat the fiends that hold the body parts, along with saving villages and souls on the way. It certainly offers something interesting to play for, and really draws the player in by making them interested in the story, even if the game isn’t that great.
The main problem with the game is the intense monotony in the majority of play. It’s just boring to hack through vast numbers of identikit enemies, and the few challenges that are thrown the way of the player just annoy you, rather than require any real test of skill. For the first hour or two it’s a fair bit of fun, albeit nothing special, as the bizarre story unfolds and players are eased into the first couple of boss battles (in black and white, as Hyakkimaru is yet to regain his true sight at this point of play). Sitting back and hammering the square and triangle buttons can actually be fun for a while, and it could have even extended to the whole game if things had been spiced up a little as the game progressed. The story holds things together and will push some people on to finish the game, but the majority will just be bored by proceedings.
Adding to the overbearing mediocrity is the in-game presentation – it’s just not up to scratch, with graphics that look like they come from a four-year-old PS2 game, not the generation of GT4, Tekken 5 et al. As with everything else, it just isn’t as good as it should be. Voice acting isn’t that bad, but can easily be lumped in with the ‘must try harder’ group. One element of presentation that does shine is the cut-scenes, but some nicely rendered scenes to accompany the mental story isn’t enough to save the game from mediocrity.
Despite all my negativity towards the game, it really isn’t that bad. It just isn’t that good either. If you see it in the good ol’ bargain bins then by all means give it a go, just don’t expect your world to change as a result. It really is the epitome of mediocrity, and with such a great story it’s a real shame.
