You are probably familiar with the term ‘Battle Royale’. A term that traditionally refers to a fight with many combatants that last until there is only one fighter left standing. For a long time two absolute giants have been dominating this genre. Fortnite and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds. The competition between those titles is fierce and their success has inspired other developers to start developing similar games. While there are many copies out there, only few have the courage to try to innovate. Among such innovators are Housemarque’s Stormdivers and the game we will be talking about today, Dying Light: Bad Blood.
Before we delve into the aspects of what innovations Dying Light bring to the table, allow us to explain to you more about the franchise itself. Dying Light is an open world survival horror game that focuses heavily on melee combat and Parkour as a way of traversal. These elements became hallmarks for the franchise and will be featured in its recently announced sequel, along with a branching narrative based on the player’s decisions. Bad Blood is not that sequel however. It’s a completely new experience based on the Battle Royale type of gameplay but aims to keep the core gameplay of Dying Light intact. Melee combat and Parkour make sure this game is brutal, more up close and personal. And for that very reason, Bad Blood has been dubbed a “Brutal Royale” game.
The rules are simple. Twelve players enter the battlefield (an 8 square kilometers map) and only 1 will be able to escape by helicopter extraction. A helicopter extraction can only be requested when the player has gathered a sufficient amount of blood samples. Those samples can be acquired in a number of ways; by killing competing players and stealing theirs or from high risk-high reward zombie infested areas. This mixture between PvE and PvP type of gameplay opens up a completely new level of strategic gameplay. Will you team up with other players to kill as many zombies as possible? Or will you ambush them at the extraction point instead? Either way, development studio Techland is confident the experience will be like no other. And a changing experience too. They are planning to support the game for three years with regular content updates, adding new vanity items and game modes.
We had the opportunity to give Bad Blood a spin at Gamescom and we liked it. The problem with PUBG is that you will spent most of the game looting and in a matter of seconds, you can be killed. The most frustrating part is that sometimes you have absolutely no clue where the fatal shot was coming from. Bad Blood tackles that problem. There is no shrinking “storm” so you can hide wherever you like. The blood samples that are scattered around the map and the single extraction point will make sure players will face each other anyway. The big change is that you need to get up close and personal. Any melee weapon will do in a face-off with your enemy, but their condition combined with your stamina (for example; each slash drains your stamina bar. So you can’t go berserk.) are important to emerge victorious. If you are running low on health, you could opt to break free, escape and hide. Guns are also part of your accessible arsenal but ammunition is so scarce, that you are usually better off having a few baseball bats with you.
Currently in Early Access, Dying Light: Bad Blood will set you back only 19 euros. An excellent price for a new and innovative multiplayer game. Better yet, when it leaves early access it will be free to play. Although you’ll miss out on some vanity items that are part of the “Founders pack” exclusively for backers of the project.
