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| The whole game is in first person, but usually the player has to get up close and punch out enemies like this one, instead of using firearms. |
Ethan Thomas, the protagonist of Criminal Origins and former forensic investigator, is called in to help with the investigation of the murder of Malcolm Vanhorn, an ally of Ethan’s from the previous game. Helping with this investigation and further investigations leads Ethan to discover the source of what is causing the homeless to become violently insane, and his own terrifying hallucinations.
Bloodshot is broken into several levels. In each level Ethan has to traverse some creepy dilapidated area, like a rundown hotel or cabin out in the woods, to reach a goal. Along the way he has to fight off several psychotic homeless people. Once Ethan reaches his goal he uses his abilities as a forensics investigator to search for clues.
The big challenge is from fighting off the crazy homeless enemies. Ethan knows several different punches and kicks to fight off his enemies. The player controls Ethan’s attacks with the shoulder buttons on the controller, left button for left fist, right button for right fist, both to block. Pressing the buttons in certain combinations without interruption, plus manipulating the control stick in certain ways, results in Ethan pulling off more powerful attacks that do more damage to enemies. But the enemies can block and dodge attacks, and are usually about as strong as Ethan, so killing them is not easy.
Frequently Ethan can find or improvise a weapon, like chair leg or a pipe, which are more effective in killing enemies. But the weapons fall apart the more they are used and eventually have to be discarded. Even more rarely Ethan will find a firearm that can take out enemies from a distance. But the weapons usually have little ammunition and have to be used sparingly.
The combat is the most fun part because of how complex it can be. The player cannot merely press one punch button over and over again, or use one weapon. The player has to take into account how many enemies Ethan is fighting, where they are hiding, when to block, when they block, instead of merely slaughtering them like in other games.
The other part of the game is investigating crime scenes. Ethan will walk into a crime scene, or start the level at a crime scene, and use his all purpose forensic tool to gather clues, like blood spatter and forms of identification. Then, he will send the clues back to his coworker Angel Rosa, who will in turn ask Ethan questions about the crime scene that the player has to answer. Doing so yields the player a grade, that is almost worthless except for unlocking some hidden content, but it still presents a fun little challenge.
Bloodshot is a scary game, but is unique in how normal and down to earth its scariness is. Ethan is usually just running through some abandoned building, with only his flashlight for light. The only scary things are crazy homeless people that keep attacking, though they do look more inhuman as the game goes on. But it is the way that they run out of the darkness screaming and getting in Ethan’s face that makes them so terrifying. Plus Ethan’s own vulnerability makes them more threatening. And the broken down buildings that serve as levels only add to it.
The biggest problem with the game is the story. In the first game, in addition to the normal scares from the hobos, Ethan experienced hallucinations. The second game explains the source of the hallucinations, the cause of the crazy homeless people, and the back story in general. Not only is it a bad explanation, it makes the rest of the game less scary and more silly.
The other problem with the game is that along with the story, the levels themselves become less scary; specifically it stops being scary in the level where Ethan breaks into a museum and fights off crazy homeless people with swords. That, plus the revelations about the back story in the next level make it impossible to take the game seriously anymore and it loses its entire atmosphere.
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