Blood Alloy: Reborn Review
When we received this titles for review, I secretly hoped that everyone else on the team would be busy working on something else so that I could have an easy excuse to justify me reviewing it despite me having a pretty tight schedule. After spending some time with the game however, I can comfortably say that my hopes for it were completely unwarranted.
Developed by Suppressive Fire Games, and published by Nkidu Games Inc. The game’s steam page refers to it as:
“Become a hyper-agile, cybernetic machine of robot death in an ultra-fast 2D acrobatic shooter/slasher. Boost, slice and shoot your way to the top of the score rankings in Blood Alloy: Reborn, rendered in glorious cyberpunk pixels upon a pulsing synthwave soundtrack.”
All of which sound great however…………..
If you listened to Buttonsmashers Podcast 131, you will have already heard my disgruntled thoughts for this title, and mind you I really wanted to give this game a chance to impress me. I held off from writing the review until I was fairly certain that my thoughts about it would not change, thoughts which haven’t changed after a month with the game. During that time it has gone through numerous updates, but none of them have fixed the main issues I have with the game, which happen to be related to the controls and the progression in the game.
If you looked at the trailer you’d probably assume that the game is a fast paced, 2D, skill based platformer akin the likes of games like super meat boy, but it’s nothing like that. The gameplay requires the player to control the character with the keyboard, while aiming their weapons and attack with the mouse. Which to me was a big shock, because If you ask any fan of 2D platformers, controls like these are a big “no, no”. These game benefit from the ability to multitask, switch direction, and aim all at the same time via the use of a controller, and though the game can be played with a controller it is very, very clear when using one that the developers did not intend for the game to be played with one, and may have in fact added in the compatibility for them as an afterthought. I say that because of though using a controller makes it easier to navigate the stages many layers, it makes aiming a chore, a clunky chore, and with the game being a score based title, it’s almost impossible to progress past the first stage without precise controls.
Blood Alloy: Reborn is what I would call a “bloody mess” of a game, with only two redeeming characteristics. A futuristic sounding soundtrack, and the art style. That being said, no matter how good the game looks, it plays terrible, and you can’t have style without substance. As for the soundtrack I’ve checked, and it can be purchased by itself on steam for $9.99, featuring 14 wonderful techno futuristic songs from the game, some of which you probably will never hear if you played the game with the expectation of hear them all.
Final Verdict
Though this game looks good in videos, it is a terrible mess when playing it. Had I written this review closer to release I would have said, “buy it and wait for the developers to patch the controls for controllers”, but after waiting a month and not getting any significant controller support. I can safely say that you should avoid this title.
If you want anything related to it, then get the soundtrack, and hope that the developers use that money from your purchase to make a better game in the future.
