Official PlayStation Magazine - 04.2020

095

REVIEW

INFO
FORMATPS4
ETAOUTNOW
PUBPAPERCULT
DEVPAPERCULT

BLOODROOTS

Lettingyourfists do thetalkingand paintingthetownred

T

here’sonlyonequestionyouneedto

worryaboutwithMrWolfandit isn’t

“What’sthetime?”Leftfordeadbyhis

fellowBloodBeasts,yourholophrastic

heroisona Western-stylequestforrevenge.

Takingtheformofa topdownviolence-’em-

up,á laHotlineMiami,you’lldie,die,and

dieagainperfectingthebestbreakneckroute

througheachstage.

A three-actstructurefilledwithzanybattle

arenasstandsbetweenyourbigbadwolfandthe

answertohismostpressingquestion.MrWolf’s

formercomradesdon’tcaremuchforhissingle-

mindednessorhisrefusaltostaydead,butthey

alsodon’tletthatstopthemfromvillainously

monologuinglikethere’snotomorrow.Thanks

tobrilliantlybananascharacterdesignandeach

boss’comicallyself-absorbedpersonality,you’ll

lookforwardtoeachshowdown.However,the

pathtoyournextface-offis filledwithmore

haplessgoonsthanyoucanshakea carrot–or

whateverelseisn’tnaileddown–at.

Ratherthanoverpopulatinglevelswith

enemiesfora cheapshotatchallenge(looking

atyou,God’sTrigger),Bloodrootsprovesthere’s

nosubstituteforgooddesign.

Whatsetsit apart,though,is

howfarit takestheimprovised

armouryangle.Fromgarden

warfarewithrootvegetables

toa memorablefish-based

takedown,combatis decidedly

slapstick.Enemies,too,are

moreinterestingthanyour

stereotypical‘Put’emup’punks.

Beforelongyou’llbetaking

noteofwhogiveschase,who

keepstheirdistance,andhow

youcanuseeverybehavioural

wrinkletoyourdeadly

advantage.Weaponshaveno

morethanthreeusesinthem

and,attheirbest,levelshave

a delightfullaying-down-

the-track-for-the-runaway-

train-you’ve-found-yourself-

strapped-to-the-front-of

momentum.Evenastheblood

flows,theactionhasa wacky,

cartoonviolencefeel.

BEWAREWOLF

A numberofbladesalteryour

movementandputextrapep

inyourstep,andeacharea

gradeshowwellyoucutyour

paththroughit (you’regiven

theoptiontoretryimmediately

fora betterscore).Mixingand

matchingweapons,figuringout

howtokilltwoguardswiththe

funkyvaseyoujustpickedup,

almostnevergetsold.

Checkpointingeasesthe

painofdyingoverandover,

puttingyoubackontrackfor

thatperfectrun,andis mostly

generous–evenbossfights

havemid-bust-upbookmarks.

Butwesay‘mostly’as,if you

dieafterkillingthelastenemy

inanareabutbeforemoving

on,you’llbesentbacktothe

beginningofthatstretch,and

it’snevernotbrutal.It’srare

buteverytimeit happens,it

exposesthenot-quite-there

platforming;thefixed,zoomed-

outperspectivemakesit tricky

tojudgesomejumpsandleads

toourdoommorethanonce.

Fora titlesotightlydesigned

elsewhere,it’sanoddoversight.

YES,AND... @KoeniginKatze

VERDICT

Catch your enemies in a

chain reaction and play it

off like that was part of

the plan all along.

This violence-’em-up’s

improvised armoury delivers

frenetic fights that makes you

feel like your favourite action

movie scrapper. A bloody great

time. Jess Kinghorn

“WHAT SETS IT APART IS HOW

FAR IT TAKES THE IMPROVISED

ARMOURY ANGLE.”