Bloodnet

[Discoalucard]

www.hardcoregaming101.net/bloodnet/bloodnet.htm

It's vampires in cyberspace in this RPG/adventure hybrid from Microprose.

We had featured this game in the Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures, though it was one of the shorter reviews. This is a brand new, much longer one, but it arrives at approximately the same conclusion (i.e. it's not very good).

[Maciej Miszczyk]

I remember that game. I could never figure out what I'm supposed to do.

[JoeQ]

Worth mentioning that the game is easily available on Steam and GOG should anyone want to give it a try.

[elektrolurch]

Sounds really fascinating and intersting, to say the least.
Where is the "Alternate Cover" from? I don't remember the american dos cover, but the alternate one shown in the article rings a few bells, maybe it is the european cover and I've seen it in advertisements back in the day?...

[jcrankin]

Oh I remember that one. Fascinating idea and okay art direction, poor execution however. The combat was especially bad.

[Tsimberov]

I really tore into this game. I'd known about it forever and have always found it really interesting, but never bothered to find out how exactly the mess operated. About a year ago I played a bit leisurely but ultimately lost patience with it. To write the article I told myself this time I'd go all the way through, get to know it inside-out. It ended up being a profoundly painful experience - I underestimated just how terrible it would be and just how much insanity I'd have to understand. The fact the game had promise made it worse.

Somehow it had slipped my mind to mention it was available on Steam/GOG. I guess subconsciously I felt like it was a given, since a lot of older adventure games seem to have made their way on there by now. The better ones, at least.

Sept 13, 2016 3:27:01 GMT -5 elektrolurch said:

Sounds really fascinating and intersting, to say the least.
Where is the "Alternate Cover" from? I don't remember the american dos cover, but the alternate one shown in the article rings a few bells, maybe it is the european cover and I've seen it in advertisements back in the day?...

The alternate cover is used pretty much everywhere but the U.S, IIRC. They all contain very slight variations, the one I chose was the cleanest.

[elektrolurch]

Sept 13, 2016 6:36:50 GMT -5 Tsimberov said:

The alternate cover is used pretty much everywhere but the U.S, IIRC. They all contain very slight variations, the one I chose was the cleanest.

Ok, so that I've seen it in magazine ads back then is likely.
Thanks for the clarification.

[i30817]

This is a really unfair article, since the game is more of a adventure than a rpg, and judging it like that will make it enjoy it a hell of a lot more for the ideas it brings to the table.

I really enjoyed that this game doesn't hold your hand in the least:
it has a time limit
it's fairly strict and you can only make it worse by behaving like the typical rpg murderhobo (i finished the game with literally seconds to live, quite a memorable experience)
It has literally 5+ companions, each gated by a (sometimes) complicated subquest, which is something i'd like to see more of.
A game that doesn't give a damn if you're stupid enough to kill a essential npc or lose a critical item (i believe it warns you you've been a idiot on the npcs)

the bad:
Combat is fairly bad but it has some highlights, such as using rockets against vampires. It's basically the only thing holding it back from flawed gem status. The coders obviously had some love for darklands type RTwP but managed to make a even worse version of its pathfinding and mechanics.
Inventory and using items on the world is a mess, the items themselves are sort of jarring for their 'pop' compared to backgrounds, probably a anti-pixelhunt measure (both bad and good).

BTW, the floppy version with the right kind of device music is much better than the cd version instrumental and bad voice acting.

[Discoalucard]

Actually, looking at the Classic Graphic Adventures review, it's quite a bit more generous. Here's the text.

by Ryan McSwain

BloodNet is an adventure RPG featuring themes and settings from cyberpunk and vampire fiction. You play as the customizable protagonist, Ransom Stark, who lives in a dark, futuristic Manhattan that is ruled by an evil Company. It’s right out of a William Gibson story. The main difference from your typical cyberpunk story: vampires are real. Stark has been infected, and the only thing keeping him from immediately losing his humanity is a neural implant. It’s only a temporary fix, and if he doesn’t find a cure, he’ll soon be a vampire forever.

While the game is an adventure at heart, it contains heavy role playing elements. Similar to the Quest for Glory series, you can choose which kind of character you wish to play and adjust skill levels accordingly. Stark and any recruited party members have strengths and weaknesses as seen on their character sheets.

The writing is surprisingly good. From the very beginning, you learn the background story of Stark and his world. Party members have interesting conversations, and they even lament the loss of party members that are lost in combat. Best of all, the story manages to combine cyberpunk and vampires without insulting either genre. There is also a strong sense of urgency, as Stark’s bloodlust grows over time and his humanity begins to seep away.

From the get-go, you have access to nearly every location in Manhattan. This can be overwhelming. There are methods to narrow down helpful destinations, but it’s still easy to end up surrounded by of vampires or vampire hunters. There are so many people that want Stark dead, it can be difficult to keep track.

Once you’re up and running, however, it becomes easier to follow the plot. Besides the main story, there are an abundance of optional sub-plots and side-quests to enjoy along the way. It’s this wide variety of possibilities, from opening stats to the choice of recruited party members, which makes BloodNet both interesting and replayable.

While the game has generally aged well, some components do show their age. For instance, the controls are somewhat slow and unintuitive as you explore. Combat, while generally avoidable, is also a chore. Besides traveling the city, you also need to jack into a cyber world, like in Neuromancer. Unfortunately, the game controls there are even worse. If you’re looking for a well-written adventure--especially one with cyberpunk or horror elements--BloodNet should be on your list.

[Bobinator]

I wonder how hard it would be to give this game a "remake" in Shadowrun Returns. Seems like it might actually be a lot more fun, that way.

[Tsimberov]

Sept 13, 2016 8:44:49 GMT -5 i30817 said:

This is a really unfair article, since the game is more of a adventure than a rpg, and judging it like that will make it enjoy it a hell of a lot more for the ideas it brings to the table.

I really enjoyed that this game doesn't hold your hand in the least:
it has a time limit
it's fairly strict and you can only make it worse by behaving like the typical rpg murderhobo (i finished the game with literally seconds to live, quite a memorable experience)
It has literally 5+ companions, each gated by a (sometimes) complicated subquest, which is something i'd like to see more of.
A game that doesn't give a damn if you're stupid enough to kill a essential npc or lose a critical item (i believe it warns you you've been a idiot on the npcs)

So I know in my last post I said "I really tore into this game", but the truth is I tried extremely well to be objective. I want to love this game, want to see it's positives outshine its negatives, but the more time I spent with Bloodnet the more I realized doing that would be unfair.

Addressing your first point, I actually came into it entirely with the perspective of an adventure gamer. The RPG part was foreign and warranted extensive research on my part. Turns out it doesn't matter how you approach Bloodnet, because Bloodnet approaches you as an RPG. There's no way around it. And even if I did judge it on an adventure-game basis, the story is terrible. It completely falls flat on any narrative front. Any occasional stylistic feats it pulls off with its writing are overshadowed by pretty much everything else about it.

A game letting you roam free and not holding your hand is okay, even good, but doing it as radically as Bloodnet does it is a huge detriment. It having dead-ends is certainly not a good thing. And as far as I know, it does not give you any feedback when you get one. The fact the game makes it look like you can play it different ways is an illusion, because you're essentially forced to play as a mercenary to beat it.

As with the rest of the game, the companions and their sidequests are good only conceptually.

I'm open to hearing anyone who disagrees, but the conclusion I've come to is that Bloodnet is not "good" by any stretch of the imagination.

[alphex]

Sept 13, 2016 8:44:49 GMT -5 i30817 said:

This is a really unfair article, since the game is more of a adventure than a rpg, and judging it like that will make it enjoy it a hell of a lot more for the ideas it brings to the table.

I really enjoyed that this game doesn't hold your hand in the least:
it has a time limit
it's fairly strict and you can only make it worse by behaving like the typical rpg murderhobo (i finished the game with literally seconds to live, quite a memorable experience)
It has literally 5+ companions, each gated by a (sometimes) complicated subquest, which is something i'd like to see more of.
A game that doesn't give a damn if you're stupid enough to kill a essential npc or lose a critical item (i believe it warns you you've been a idiot on the npcs)

the bad:
Combat is fairly bad but it has some highlights, such as using rockets against vampires. It's basically the only thing holding it back from flawed gem status. The coders obviously had some love for darklands type RTwP but managed to make a even worse version of its pathfinding and mechanics.
Inventory and using items on the world is a mess, the items themselves are sort of jarring for their 'pop' compared to backgrounds, probably a anti-pixelhunt measure (both bad and good).

BTW, the floppy version with the right kind of device music is much better than the cd version instrumental and bad voice acting.

In summary:

Pros:
Is an adventure game set on a timer
Has dead-ends

Cons:
Bad combat

I'm not too convinced, honestly.

I wanted to try the game for it atmosphere (as the review correctly assumed), but decided to check out a longplay first. THANK GOD. The writing is way overdone IMO, as early as the intro, everything seems to try a little too hard, there is basically no direction as to what to do next, the combat is downright awful, you have to kill NPCs from time to time but will dead-end yourself if you kill the wrong ones, there's barely any puzzles (and a couple that don't make too much sense), the art direction is all over the place (the main character has three different hairstyles alone), half of the stats are useless and/or bested by the group (which is why the "large amount of party members you can gather" actually amounts to mostly trial & error)... so yeah, I side with the reviewers opinion on this one.

Which cyberpunk adventure game IS actually good, by the way? DreamWeb, I suppose, as well as Blade Runner - is that really it?

[Bobinator]

Beneath A Steel Sky has to count, and there's a handful of Wadjet Eye games that have a cyberpunk setting, like Technobabylon. Also, Rise of the Dragon which... isn't amazing, but it's probably better than Bloodnet.

[alphex]

Oh yeah, Technobabylon! Forgot that this was a thing.

If ROTD counts, wouldn't the Tex Murphey games, too?

[Tsimberov]

Sept 13, 2016 13:29:20 GMT -5 alphex said:

Which cyberpunk adventure game IS actually good, by the way? DreamWeb, I suppose, as well as Blade Runner - is that really it?

Dreamweb would be my first pick. Other than the ones mentioned above, there's Synnergist, which I also reviewed and found strangely enjoyable. Wadjet Eye has Gemini Rue, which a lot of people liked. And if you count more VN-type adventure games you could include Snatcher as well as its spiritual successor, Read Only Memories.


Has anyone played Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy? That's the only one I have yet to play, and it looks fairly mediocre, but fingers crossed that it could be decent.