Bloodroots – from the creative minds at Paper Cult – tears down the cloud covers and “Pow! Bam!” bubbles that censor violent brawls and fist fights in family friendly cartoons and Adam West’s Batman to reveal a short, bloody, mayhem-fuelled indie title that stylishly brings together eccentric, over the top violence with fast-paced action. While it revels in its own blood soaked carnage and simplicity, following in the tracks of the likes of Ape Out and Hot Line Miami, Bloodroots has a lot to live up to if it wants to join their ranks as a true indie gem.
Left for dead and betrayed, Bloodroots is a chaotic hack-and-slash revenge tale in which Mr. Wolf – hideously outnumbered and outgunned, bearing only a simple wolf hide upon his head, Herakles style – paints each stage red with the splattered blood and indiscernible intestine tracts of his enemies. It’s an ultra-violent, relentless action title that sprawls across a twisted Western setting, with spectacularly choreographed ultra-violent combos, and makeshift weaponry. Even though you may be outgunned, each stage is littered with a plethora of items that hold the potential to disembowel, from hatchets, cutlery, and ladders, to ye ol’ faithful carrots and cabbages: someone at Paper Cult takes their five-a-day messages very seriously…
Like The Revenant set in a cartoonish, cel-shaded backdrop, this revenge tale requires you to improvise on-the-go, or else die a bloody death, fighting to uncover the mystery behind why Mr. Wolf was betrayed by his old gang. The story is really secondary to the gameplay though, boasting a satisfying combat system that will likely require several retries to get through certain stages. Along with creative traversal methods, including riding barrels over spiked floor traps or pole-vaulting to clear canyons, there’s an almost puzzle-esque nature to understanding how each weapon functions, and which ones are best for clearing enemies most effectively and brutally before they break.
As you progress, you’ll come across new enemy types, using various weapons that will push your strategy to the limits – some armed with guns and other ranged weapons, including cannons, others with a preference for up close and personal. While it only takes one hit for most enemies to combust into painterly showers of clot and gore, there are also armoured units who can deflect ranged weaponry and will need you to rethink your usual approach. That being said, Bloodroots enemy design flourishes with its boss fights. Many of these are large-scale and memorable and test your understanding of the core gameplay mechanics in fun and creative ways, leading to entertaining cutscenes that progress the story. Admittedly, the gameplay can also be a little repetitive as you will be repeating levels over and over again: additionally, you’ll come to realise the gameplay doesn’t deviate much from stage to stage.
For those more competitive minded players, there is a worldwide leaderboard, but even if you’re not too engaged with getting the top-spot you’re still left with a mildly addictive gameplay style that boasts humorous and inventive methods of butchery to explore, including stuffing a fish over someone’s head, or even hurling chunks of slain corpse meat which make for surprisingly effective projectiles!
However, the gameplay itself isn’t without flaws. Hacking and slashing your way through swarms of mindless goons may be fun, and at times challenging, however each handcrafted map also requires a deal of platforming and navigation. The platforming is far from perfect, often being more a cause of frustration, even more so when in the heat of a bloodbath. There are some otherwise harder to reach areas that may require the use of one of the various makeshift weapons carelessly left lying around each area, including pole-vaults, grappling hooks, ladders, and even certain fire arms that can propel you across gorges. Creative as this may seem, it can be harder to control the direction you’re aiming to land than you might want, often resulting in Mr. Wolf taking an anti-climactic tumble into the abyss of a bottomless ravine, or straight into a horde of unsuspecting, but quick to react enemies, who are otherwise death fodder to be maimed by your hand. Or weaponised carrot.
While it may seem every human character Mr. Wolf comes across is out for his blood, the camera can also act against you – especially during the ensuing carnage – occasionally panning out too far to see what’s happening. This frequently makes it difficult to improvise when there is a group waiting to ambush you, making Mr. Wolf hard to distinguish from the crowd, or when part of the scenery (usually intended to be platformed across) blocks you or potential pitfalls from sight. Considering Bloodroots is a fast paced, combo-based action title, the panned-out camera, which had the potential to create some truly cinematic moments, makes it unnecessarily frustrating.
Despite poorly utilised camera design and thick sheets of blood and gore, one of Bloodroots most appealing aspects lies in its visuals and art design. It has a cartoony appeal, recalling a cel-shaded Saturday morning cartoon approach, allowing the fast-paced gameplay and action to be brought to the forefront. Even more so it compliments the humour of the nonsensical ultra-violence, all the while traversing forest enclosures, fully destructible towns, high-risk chasms, and mountain tops. The colouration is truly eye catching and conveniently allows enough space for Mr. Wolf to creatively redecorate the drab nature canvas flooring with red Jackson Pollock splatters… of blood!
Realistically, you will likely find yourself replaying each stage multiple times, sometimes to a frustrating degree, but at least you’ll be in the company of a pretty solid soundtrack, with catchy tunes to accompany the merry massacre! Somehow, this keeps it from being as macabre as the promised violence might otherwise inspire – though the gamer rage resultant from recurrent deaths might say otherwise…
Despite a problematic camera, lengthy load screens, and less-than accommodating platforming, Bloodroots offers a free flowing gameplay style that will pull you in thanks to a compelling gameplay loop, creative world design, and nonsensical, over the top violence. Experimenting with the world around Mr. Wolf to balance creativity and efficiency when dispatching enemies will likely keep you coming back. Regardless of its flaws, Paper Cult have delivered an entertaining experience for indie lovers – or anyone with a penchant for bathing in the blood of would-be betrayers. Just imagine what he could do with a bunch of bananas or a string of noodles…!
