Customer Reviews

Blood: Plasma Pak

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PLASMA PAK is a game-expansion disc designed for those of you whose BLOOD-lust was unquenched by the original BLOOD. BLOOD, as you probably already know, was an absolutely brilliant, horror-themed first-person shooter of the mid-1990s which is now sadly half-forgotten...but I am here to tell you that it was, shot for shot, probably the finest and most laugh-out-loud brutal PC game ever made.

In a nutshell, the story of BLOOD was of Caleb, a member of the cult of the evil god Tchernobog, who was betrayed and murdered by his former lord. Ressurected by means unknown, Caleb embarked, over the four chapters of the original game, to get some very serious payback on Tchernobog and his minions by any means at hand -- pitchfork, shotgun, flare gun, napalm launcher, voodoo, you name it. There was nothing really special about the plot, which was just an excuse for mayhem; what sold the game was it's smooth playability, addictiveness, and over-the-top violence, not to mention its creepy, horror-movie atmpsphere of graveyards, temples, abandoned buildings, etc. The last chapter ended with a confrontation between Caleb and the god itself, but anyone who played that far was bound to have an unquenchable thirst for the sight of zombies fiery entrails flying through the air and such Calebesque bits of wisdom as, "Allright, shebitch, let's go!" Or, "I'm gonna have to PUT...YOU...DOWN."

PLASMA PAK was the transfusion we Bloodheads craved. Not only did it offer eleven more levels of carnage combined into a new, fifth chapter, it introduced seven new types of bad guy as well as some new weaponry to do your bloodletting with. The best part was that the add-od is so seamless with the original that once you've loaded it in, you rapidly forget there were ever only four levels.

The fifth chapter takes Caleb on another journey of meaningless but highly entertaining destruction, but this one is a bit harder than the others due to the new baddies, which include a plant which barfs balls of fire at you and a Boss monk who transforms into a virtually indestructable werewolf when you shoot him. As always, the various levels are well thought-out, with many subtle references to great horror movies and pop-culture moments, and the enemy numerous and persistent. Your trigger finger will tire before the parade of monks, gargoyles, hell-hounds, strangling hands, and overweight zombies do. Best of all, the game's trademark combination of wit and sadism is inact: Caleb may lose a limb or two, but he never loses his sense of humor!

It is true, of course, that the fifth story really has no purpose, since you've already put down Tchernobog...but when a long-lost friend shows up on your doorstep, you don't ask how he arrived, you just let him in. Even if he looks like Caleb.