Bloodroots was originally released in September 2019 for PC via Steam. On the 28th February 2020, it has been released to play on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC via Epic Games Store. The game has been both developed and published by Paper Cult. Paper Cult is quite a new developer and publisher. They were established in 2014 and have a focus on innovative and fast-paced action games.
Bloody and Violent
Bloodroots is a very fast-paced action platformer that is big on violence. It tells the story of Mr. Wolf, who was brutally betrayed and left to die. His enemies should have definitely double-tapped because he survives. After some time to rest and recuperate, he sets out to take his revenge. Everything in the world of Bloodroots can be used to cause death and destruction. Your weapons will vary from guns, swords and planks to rubber chickens, carrots and cooked turkeys. The possibilities are endless.
As you murder your way through each level of the game, you get one step closer to the main culprits that attempted to kill you. Each area offers unique surroundings, different environmental obstacles and a large number of enemies for you to enjoy destroying through very creative and brutal means.
Unique and Creative
As I have mentioned, Bloodroots offers unique environments and ways to defeat enemies. This creativity also extends to the characters within the game. The main culprits for your attempted murder are crazy and wacky in the way they look and in their dialogue. Because of all of these unique and creative factors for each part of the game, Bloodroots ends up being extremely fun to play. You never know what to expect as you make your way through the ever-surprising areas and levels in the game, making for an all around great and addictive game to play.
Simple and Challenging
I am not sure how the game plays for PC since I personally played Bloodroots on Nintendo Switch, but the control system for the Switch is extremely simple, and I can imagine that it would be the same for other consoles. On Nintendo Switch you can use the A button for picking up an item, the B button to jump and the Y button to attack. You also use the analog stick for movement. This makes the game easy to manoeuvre around each area.
Although the control system is extremely easy to grasp, the game itself can be very challenging. You will find that the first few areas are quite easy so that you can get used to the gameplay and so that you can try out a few different weapons. After those first few areas, the real challenge kicks in. The game becomes very difficult and can feel quite frustrating. After each full level you complete, you are graded on how well you completed it. You will, of course, lose points for dying. Throughout each level you will hit checkpoints, and if you die, you will be returned to your most recent checkpoint to start that area again.
With that being said, there is an option to make things easier if you are really struggling to progress through the game. You have the choice to make yourself invincible. This makes the game much easier because you will die less. The downside of using this option is that it removes you from the world leaderboard. With that in mind, you will need to choose whether you want the game to be challenging or whether you want to sail through it and just enjoy the violence.
Absolute Madness
As I have mentioned, Bloodroots is filled with creativity and uniqueness, especially when it comes to the weapons you can use to attack enemies. There is an issue with the number of weapon choices you have that tends to make the game feel a bit too crazy and a bit messy. Don’t get me wrong though, the number of available weapons to use makes the game fun to play.
There were times where there were so many items I could pick up to use against enemies, but some of them don’t actually kill the enemies, they just knock them back. So while I was getting surrounded by multiple enemies and struggling to stay alive and find a specific weapon to kill them with, I would find myself picking up the wrong items by mistake because there were simply too many non-lethal and ultimately unuseful items nearby cluttering the area up. This was frustrating because by the time I got the item I wanted, It was already too late. I was dead and ended up having to start that section of the game again.
I also found myself tidying up at times. If I knew I was about to face a lot of enemies, I would put all of the unuseful items in one place. By doing this, I knew the rest of the items I had would work in killing an enemy. Because Bloodroots is a fast-paced action game, you don’t really want to spend time tidying up.
Bloodroots Overall
Bloodroots is a crazy, wacky, fun, unique and creative game. I really enjoyed playing it, and I got plenty of laughs from the different ways you can kill the enemies. The environments and different areas are creative, along with the characters and dialogue. The only issue that I found with this game is that it can feel a bit too crazy and messy. Because it is crazy and messy, I guess this adds to the challenge, and luckily there is a way to make the game easier. With that being said, with a fast-paced action game like this, you don’t want to feel the need to tidy up and move items that aren’t very useful. It is great having a large variety of weapons to make use of, but some of them don’t do the job you need them to do, and you will quickly get tired of them being around.
With this being the only issue with Bloodroots, I would definitely recommend it. If you enjoy action-packed, violent platform games, then this may be the game for you.
Developer: Paper Cult
Publisher: Paper Cult
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: September 2019 (PC via Steam) 28th February 2020 (Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC via Epic Games Store)