Bloodshore ruins its own potential
Bloodshore, an FMV game from developer Wales Interactive (Maid of Sker, Late Shift) comes across as having the best of intentions – an odd thing to say maybe considering that it’s an action game about a televised battle royale where a good group of the contestants are absolutely fine with murdering anyone that crosses their path. But who am I to judge?
Starring well-known faces like Max George from The Wanted and James Palmer as the game’s lead, Nick Romeo, it’s clear to see that Wales Interactive have really upped the budget this time around to try and make this FMV appealing as much as their previous standout games. But really? Bloodshore feels like a dud. A really shallow, uninspiring and at times, borderline offensive, dud.
The main premise for Bloodshore is simple: you play as Nick Romeo, a washed up actor who enters the games with a mysterious goal that he keeps close to his chest. However, with allies that might as well be enemies, players will have to navigate Nick’s actions and keep him alive to fulfill his task all while keeping the audience at home happy with him and his actions.
An overall cheesy-sounding plot, but an interesting one all the same. If only the game could stick the landing – which it very much doesn’t for numerous reasons.
Despite having a somewhat diverse cast, this game immediately falls into putting its main players into stereotypical roles and the only one who is, somewhat, free from this is the player character – and that’s because Nick is in your hands. The first instance of this transparent stereotyping is Rhea, the game’s only black woman who is immediately aggressive and competitive with everyone she meets for no apparent reason. One could argue it’s good that she speaks her mind and isn’t meek, but to immediately paint the black woman as an aggressor? Yeah. It doesn’t feel all that great, especially when you’re also later introduced to Calvin, a silent, masked black man who never speaks but is used as a pawn by a white, cannibalistic explorer called Dev. These are the only two black figures in the game, and yet the right-wing conspiracy character who treats people like crap is somehow given a redemption arc throughout one of the scenario’s in the game? Why? How? What? It is mind boggling.
Then there’s the facade of choice. I’ve played plenty of games, and throughout my years writing I’ve come to realize that the illusion of choice can still be a rewarding experience. But in Bloodshore, with 250+ scenes to unlock throughout your numerous playthroughs and stats that can be accessed through the Pause Menu that lets you know how Nick is doing with the audience, his team, his romance options, etc, the choices you’re presented with feel utterly useless in the grand scheme of things. No matter how much I prepared, that one character was going to die, that one will still betray you, etc. I understand a FMV game is a huge undertaking, but the illusion of choice in Bloodshore was so transparent that it made each playthrough feel like a slog.
Yet, there are instances where you can almost see something great about this game. For one, Wales Interactive have added romance and you all should know that I’m a sucker for romance. And while you’re probably thinking that nobody’s got time to kiss and get into relationships while fighting for their life, your two love interests (Tish and Gav) do offer a reason to keep fighting the good fight against a corrupt organization, and I’m all for it. Even if Tish has the personality of a wet wipe, where her personality is just pointing out things are misogynistic while also being written in a way that her character growth is non-existent. I’m all for pointing out misogyny when it’s there, but Tish doesn’t get any points from me because like everything else in this game, she’s riddled with stereotypes like the ‘ice queen’ and ‘tough girl’ with nothing else to offer. Then there’s… a certain scene and yeah, she absolutely sucks, actually. A big 0/10 for Tish.
One highlight in this misery is Max George’s character, Gav. Much like everyone else, Gav comes from the streaming/blogging world and fancies himself as being a bit of an extremist. Not a racist extremist though, just an adrenaline junkie who does the things he does for a rush. However instead of his relative fame making him completely unlikeable like the rest of his god-awful cast, Gav is a humble, kind person who finds the games distasteful for the most part, but enters anyway because of something that happened in his past that he can’t bare to face.
I like Gav. Gav is a genuine, authentic character that isn’t bogged down by stereotypes, nor is he squeaky clean to the point that he seems a bit of a bore and, more importantly, his a love interest for Nick that offers gay players a chance to see themselves – so that’s nice! And then… Gav dies. Because no matter what you do, Nick is unable to be happpy with either of his love interests, but Gav’s death feels particularly mean spirited as Gav and Nick’s short time together is broken up by homophobic slurs from other characters, and Gav coming to the realization that there might be hope in his future. It’s just not a good experience, and it’s a shame that the gay romance option comes with such heavy baggage.
But even with all of the aforemented negatives of Bloodshore, what I find most unforgiving about this FMV game is how much it wastes its own potential. Seriously, it could have been a game that looks at the power of social media, the lengths people will go to get those all important clicks (even if it means their death) in order to support themselves and their family, as well as how in the end it the blame all lies at the feet of the leaders whose love for money, money and more money has caused thousands of deaths.
Instead, we’re left with a Bloodshore that’s a shambling corpse of trying to convey something – anything – meaningful, and failing spectacularly.
Score 1.5/5
A copy of Bloodshore for Nintendo Switch was provided to Gayming Magazine by PR.
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