Bringing the 80's back for a new generation
So, needless to say, I was pretty pumped about Blood Dragon. It seemed to have the neon colors, the retro synth music, and the crazy character designs all wrapped up in some deliberately corny dialogue and voice acting. This has to be perfect, right?
One of the first things that will stick out to you in Blood Dragon is the vibrant use of comedy that is intertwined with the core gameplay. Playing as Rex Power Colt, a cyborg with a taste for destruction, you will be treated to a wide array of one-liners, 80's pop culture references, and one outright hilarious sex scene. There are way too many comedic moments to mention, and I don't want to ruin any of them, but suffice it to say that Blood Dragon has a lot of laugh out loud moments.
I mentioned the game's theme, and it does a great job of portraying the feel of a B-grade 80's action movie. Models and colors look great, the gameplay is smooth as silk, and the musical tracks are spot on. Although most everything in the theme and presentation are what you would expect, I felt there were some touches that could have improved the game greatly.
One example is that the game could have benefitted from a different setting, in my personal opinion. I can only imagine what the game would have played like if it was based in an urban setting, instead of taking the island approach that Far Cry 3 did. That's not saying that the island setting is awful or bad, it isn't...but there was just so many possibilities with the theme that I felt could have been expanded.
As far as core gameplay goes, Blood Dragon is based off the Far Cry 3 engine, so if you've got any experience in that area, Blood Dragon will be a breeze. Almost everything Far Cry 3 does, Blood Dragon does in a more crazy and excessive format.
You will be throwing D20 (dice) to distract guards, ripping out cyber hearts from your enemies to feed to Blood Dragons, collecting old VHS tapes, and doing some amazing takedowns to name but a few of the game's hilarious and fun core features. The gameplay is smooth as silk, and I experienced very little technical problems at all. One small problem was with the game saving my progress, but this was more the fault of U-play, UbiSoft's DRM scheme for the game.
The main issue I had with the game was it's very short length. I finished the game in a little over 4 hours, and that is with some open world exploration mixed in with the main story. Just when the game starts to get good, you are abruptly sent to the ending with a screeching halt. Although it was definitely one of the game's funniest moments, the ending wasn't nearly satisfying enough for me. The main villain hounding Rex for the entire game is easily killed off in the end, and you don't have to do anything to accomplish it. You will see what I mean, but I was built up or a epic final battle, which falls flat on it's face.
Overall, Blood Dragon is a game that comes with a lot of hype, and most of it is well deserved. There is some good replay value, as you can go back and explore the world after beating the game, and the lite RPG elements give you the incentive to go back and level Rex up for some new skills. At 15$, Blood Dragon is a steal, especially if you are a child of the 80's like myself.