Wales Interactive have set the standard for everyone to re-examine the Full Motion Video (FMV) game. With each iteration from their publishing house, they have targeted different genres and had shockingly good results. Bloodshore is the latest release and, according to the press kit blurb, it is from the producers of their best two releases: The Complex and Five Dates.
While The Complex was a Sci-Fi thriller, and Five Dates was a rom-com, Bloodshore tackles being an action movie and largely succeeds.
The premise of Bloodshore is centred on a reality TV show called Killstream – a Battle Royale game that takes the likes of Big Brother and Survivor to their most violent extreme. Fifty contestants are dropped onto an island and are expected to kill each other in an attempt to win 100 million dollars. As it is explained, the Battle Royale started off only involving convicts. However, as the show developed and the advantages of being a winner became apparent, it enticed anyone desperate enough. The newest cast is filled with bloggers, e-celebrities and washed-out movie stars looking to increase their cultural cache.
Much like previous releases this involves the player watching cutscenes and then making choices at pivotal moments that change the course of the story.
Nominally, the player controls Nick Romeo and the game gravitates around how he handles himself on the show. Each of the choices made will affect whether the viewers like him, whether the people around him trust him, his strength, romantic connections, and insight into the overall game plan.
The interplay between Nick and the other contestants is where most of the drama is derived. How far will Otto and Scarlett make it? Will the nut-job conspiracy theorist Ari get under Nick’s skin? Will Dev, the stand-in for Bear Grylls, eat human flesh, again?
I will say that the actors lean into the camp/macabre script and make the most of their lines. As the game twists between bawdy social commentary, gory nastiness, and goofball comedy, the actors lend themselves to the scene as best they can. Standouts are Michael Phong Le as the video game obsessive, and James Palmer who is tasked with holding the whole story together as Nick Romeo.
The plot itself, however, does not stand up to scrutiny. The conclusion of one of the ‘happy’ endings is reassuringly naïve. That the world would care about the ‘truth’ behind Killstream and that it would change anything comes from a more optimistic time. Not one wherein the current political climate has shown that lying on camera, and being caught, has no impact whatsoever on a person’s popularity.
Similarly, the stitching between some scenes, to make everything segue correctly can be a bit jarring on the second run. For example, a character must die so they stand on a mine for no real reason, another person is shot in the chin because of one choice and is paralysed with fear in another but regardless the outcome ends up being the same and can feel forced.
The thing is, if you turn your brain off and go along for the ride it really doesn’t matter. Everyone appears to be having fun and that gusto carries some of the weaker moments. This becomes the crux of what makes Bloodshore great, it isn’t aiming for high-minded art but a larger-than-life entertainment with energy and gusto. As long as you, the audience, are game then you will have a blast.
Conclusion
Bloodshore despite some of the uneven moments is a loud and bloody fun romp.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox Series S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
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