Bloodborne Preview

The Souls games have made quite the impression on the gaming audience, with their brutal difficulty and various monsters oft recalled in the stories of those that have faced them. From Software created Demon’s and the Dark Souls titles precisely to make life as difficult as possible for players, even using that fact in the ad campaigns for the games. Now the studio is returning to that style of play again with their new IP, Bloodborne, set for release on February 6th next year. The setting is different though, with a much more Victorian Gothic feel about the city of Yharnam, where players will battle all sorts of monsters and men.

My hands on time was rather short, but the demo managed to showcase what the basic game will be like. Before beginning the game there was a choice of four character builds to play with, from a standard sword bearer to one that used heavy weapons, a mix of those two classes, and a more agile character that used much lighter weaponry allowing for faster movement. I chose that last build and entered the city of Yharnam for the first time, waiting to see how quickly death would come to claim my character.

The first thing you notice about Bloodborne are the visuals, and it does look very good. The section I played was a mix of dark colours with a few fires piercing through to add light in a world that’s otherwise muted in its colour palette. The way my character’s tattered robes shifted around while moving looked natural, flowing with his movements and following the changes in direction closely. The area that the demo was set in was dark and really gave off a rather foreboding tone, with streets emptied of normal life and filled instead with giant men and monstrous creatures. Before my inevitable death, I ran into similar enemy types who were rather strong, but could be dispatched rather easily.

However the same could be said for my character though, and that’s where the challenge lies. Running into a fight with more than one enemy with blades swinging will result in almost instant death. In these scenarios you have to be much more methodical and adapt to the different ways the enemy is trying to kill you. For example, I ran through a couple of enemies who had pitchforks while another a flaming torch, but I didn’t manage to make it out the other side alive because they swarm you if you don’t keep moving. I became trapped being prodded by pitchforks, and even set alight, just to add insult to injury.

The fire animations were good as they flames enveloped my character, but I kept on trying to fight through it all. Fighting did feel more fluid at least compared to the Souls games, though that may have been down to using a more agile build with the smaller weapons, and I did manage to get a few kills out of it. However, I can’t say how the heavy weapons will feel, and my limited time meant that, though the area was explorable, I didn’t get too much of a chance to look around and grab extra loot. That loot will certainly play a role in how long you can survive the city of Yharnam and its crazed, dangerous inhabitants too.

 

In terms of whether Bloodborne will translate to a scary game remains to be seen. There was a moment that could be considered a jump scare but other than that I didn’t feel outright fear. This is a game where a small demo doesn’t do much justice to what Bloodborne is trying to aim for, and I believe an extended playthrough is required to really immerse yourself in the world. The section I played was more like a deadly game of chess rather than a journey through a scary street system, but who knows what horrors are being kept secret.

At its core Bloodborne feels like a Souls game, so if you were a fan of those then definitely keep an eye on it. Conversely, if you didn’t get along with Demon’s Souls or either of the Dark Souls titles then Bloodborne will probably not be for you, while if you’re undecided on the style of game, I’d suggest that you pick up one of the Souls titles cheaply to help make up your mind. Bloodborne looks great and plays well, but the short demo wasn’t immersive enough and I’d personally wait for more impressions before hitting that order button.

12 Comments

  1. I loved it so much I played the demo twice, first time round I played as the first character set up who had a convertible saw and shotgun. I managed to get past the bonfire with its dozen or so enemies, diving them into smaller groups and using a few moltov cocktails. I then found a large mini boss, using light stabs and rolling away every one or two hits seemed to work well, with some patience from me he went down. I died a few minutes later though as I charged someone with a one shot slow loading rifle, he shot me in the head just before I got to him. In hindsight I should of kept using roll to get to him.

    Second time I used the same character as you with the dual blades and pistol. I became quite confident with the game leaping around enemies like an acrobat and rolling constantly. Not noticing in the mean time a different group of enemies had slowly circled round me. Suddenly I was surrounded and I was torn to pieces. Ouch.

    Lovely stuff, definitely my game of EGX and this is a pre-alpha build of the game, so it can only get better!

  2. Ohhhhhh I do love a good hack n slash, button basher.

    • Have you played any of the Souls games? Bashing buttons won’t get you very far!

  3. Great read, during my playthrough of Demon’s Souls about 2 months ago I could not belive the level of immersion I felt. The game was dripping it, more than any other title I can remember. Have Dark Souls in my backlog but want to space these games out so BB may not be day 1 for me.

  4. Although I own both Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, I’ve yet to put much time into them. Hopefully I can get through them before I end up buying this.

    Was this another demo made easier for the press so people could finish it, or the real deal?

    • Real deal. Played the game on the show floor.

    • You’ll need 200+ hours if you plan to get the best out of both of those, so you’d better get to it! ;-)

      I’ve loved all of the Souls games – currently on NG on the first two games, but I skipped the final boss of the DLC in Dark Souls as I found him too tough. I’m currently on the final boss of Dark Souls 2 but have the DLC, all the memory flashbacks and all the covenant stuff still to do (having already sunk 70 hours into the game). In terms of atmosphere, story, gameplay, longevity and sheer fun I’ve yet to play a better series.

  5. Oh , I love this game very much. But the largest pity what i think is that we need an hdmi converter for our xbox 360 or ps4 when we play this game.

    http://www.hdgenius.com/HDMI-to-AV/S-VDIEO-HD-Video-Converter-compatible-with-APPLE-TV3-XBOX360—HDGENIUS-p-96.html

    • Yes because on 360 it will be so excite with hdmi converter!!!!
      But you are indeed correct, the largest pity is what you think.

  6. I’ll probably have to give it a miss as i didn’t get on well with it’s predecessors but damn it looks good.

  7. This looks amazing and sounds like a great game. I just can’t get past the impression that this game is crazily hard to play. I prefer something I don’t have to try 10 times to beat a simple boss. I think I’d get too frustrated with the difficulty level.

  8. Got my alpha code today! Looking forward to giving if a go

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