Blood II: The Chosen

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Blood II The Chosen box art
Blood II: The Chosen

Developer: Monolith Productions

Publisher: GT Interactive

Designer: James Wilson III

Engine: LithTech (1.0)

Version: 2.1

Released: October 31, 1998 (demo), November 20, 1998 (retail)

Genre: First Person Shooter

Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer

Platforms: Windows

UPC/A7: N/A

ISBN-10: N/A

Media: CD-ROM(1)

Blood II: The Chosen as rated by the ESRB


"In a time of turmoil and decay, a dark organization with a dark purpose casts its shadow over the world. As their cause begins to reach fruition, an even greater evil pushes its twisted being at the bindings of reality. But across a century of pain, through an army built on hate and fear, and over the bodies of those he loved, Death has never died. In 1998, Caleb returns. And this time he's not alone." — Blood II: The Chosen Website

Blood II: The Chosen is the sequel to Blood, released on the PC platform for Windows operating systems. Like its predecessor, it is a first person shooter developed by Monolith Productions and distributed by GT Interactive; GT owned the Blood franchise and commissioned for the game to be developed. It was initially released on October 31, 1998 (Halloween) and featured the new fully 3-D Monolith engine - LithTech - which was previously used in Shogo: Mobile Armour Division.

Details[edit]

"Blood 2 starts off in the year 2028 in a dark city seemingly trapped in time. Deteriorating Brownstones reach to the sky, crumbling from the weight of time. Wires and pipes crisscross the sky, the only evidence of a futuristic setting, they hold up the city like the strings of a marionette. Caleb, Blood’s ill-tempered anti-hero, has walked the Earth for nearly a hundred years, trying to discover a way to resurrect the original three Chosen: Ophelia, Gabriella, and Ishmael. United they can retake the Cabal by force and help Caleb return to his former position of power as the Cabal’s supreme leader, a position which he feels is rightfully his." — Blood II: The Chosen website

A Blood II logo

Blood II was released as a single CD-ROM. An expansion pack, The Nightmare Levels, was released the next year which contained a new single-player episode consisting of six levels, some new multiplayer options, and bug fixes. A European-marketed combo pack called The Blood Group containing both the original game and its expansion pack was later released; the same name was also adopted for the GOG.com release of Blood II in August of 2014. This followed the game's launch on the digital distribution service on April 29, 2010 originally under the "Blood 2: The Chosen + Expansion" title. This is still the title used for the Steam release, first made available on July 14, 2014 alongside the original Blood, and the one used when Blood II is sold directly by Atari from its website.

The game takes place in the year 2028, a hundred years after the events in the first game. Many of the fantastical and mystical elements of the first game have given way to a more realistic dystopian environment. The Cabal has gone from a mystical cult to a world-wide corporation. Many of the weapons reflect their Blood counterparts, but have been reinterpreted in more scientific and technological ways. The locations, instead of being largely temples and mountains, have changed to run-down factories, office buildings, and gritty urban environments, with only a few more mystical levels. The music has even changed to reflect this new style, having a dark techno-industrial feel only slightly laced with the occult. However, the game's signature graphic violence and gore have not changed, as well as its dark sense of humour.

Unlike Blood, Monolith released some of the game logic source code for Blood II (and the LithTech engine) under a restrictive license, which did nonetheless encourage mods and conversions by the Blood community. The program even had a user interface for loading mod files, called "rezzes" for the extension ".REZ". However, the stylistic change and the rushed release of the game meant that most mod projects concentrated on bug fixes or adding features which were either promised during the game's development or that the mod authors thought should have been included the final product. As with Blood, a guide book was released for the game entitled Blood II: The Chosen Strategy Guide by Jamie Madigan.

Technical Specifications[edit]

See also: Installation

Minimum CPU Required: Pentium
Minimum OS Required: Windows 95
Minimum RAM Required: 32 MB
Minimum CD-ROM Drive Speed Required: 4X
Minimum DirectX Version Required: DirectX 6
Input Devices Supported: Keyboard, Mouse, other DirectInput device
Multiplayer Options: Internet (TCP/IP)

Gameplay[edit]

"Blood started it all with its blend of not-so-nice monsters, powerful and plentiful weapons, undeniably awesome multiplayer action, and enough macabre humor to get a mummy cackling. Blood II: The Chosen improves upon the realm of Blood in more terrifying ways than you can imagine, combining a cutting-edge 3D game engine, horrifyingly nightmarish creatures from another dimension, and more blood than Blood." — Monolith website

"Blood II: The Chosen - Full Game - Longplay Walkthrough No Commentary" (SvalPlay) - YouTube

Blood II is a first person shooter, meaning it is played through the eyes of the protagonist. Basic gameplay deviates very little from its predecessor or from contemporary games. The player must navigate through areas to reach the end, while battling enemies. There are fewer key puzzles, but many doors and other obstructions need to be "activated" in order to progress, usually by finding a switch or similar toggle elsewhere in the level. Areas are vast, like water canals and medical facilities, but hardly bear resemblance to any real place.

Fighting a Drudge Priest on a train in Blood II single-player
Ophelia fighting Caleb in BloodBath

Blood II has many more weapons and each has an alternate fire mode. However, the player can only hold nine of these weapons at any one time when excluding the knife, which is undroppable, causing an element of strategy and ammo management to come into play. In addition, some weapons can be carried two-handed, further increasing the player's possible firepower without using up more of their allocated weapons slots. Otherwise, there is very little puzzle-solving or complex navigation.

The game is fairly linear, with the player needing to get from "Point A to Point B", where the challenge is staying alive. There are no marked secrets or secret levels, and no way to deviate from the intended path, although there are powerups and hidden areas strewn throughout the levels. Through the use of cheat codes you can also sometimes skip levels; for example, you can go from "C1L2: Pickman St. Station" to "C1L11: The Cathedral" by no-clipping to the path you use later in the game.

Single-player[edit]

Single-player starts by first choosing a difficulty, then a character. The player can play as any of the four Chosen (Caleb, Ophelia, Gabriella, Ishmael) who each have their own strengths and weaknesses. However, only as Caleb can the player experience the storyline. If the player chooses one of the other Chosen, all of the cutscenes will be skipped.

The game is divided into chapters instead of episodes, each of which is accessible only if the previous one is completed. Cheat codes can allow the player to access different levels, but through normal gameplay, the levels must be accessed one after the other.

Multiplayer[edit]

Multiplayer returns in Blood II, again called BloodBath, but only features the Deathmatch mode (as in most other contemporaries). The goal of this mode is to kill the other players before the player himself is killed. Gameplay takes place on an specially designed level with power-up and weapon caches and strategic areas. To end the level or match, a time limit or 'frag limit' has to be reached. New Internet technologies allowed easier ways to find multiplayer servers, but due to the relatively small number of players, few people were available to compete with.

Players have the ability to customize their character, choosing one of the pre-loaded models of the Chosen, or customizing a player.

Story[edit]

"Visit a dark near-future world reminiscent of Blade Runner and The Crow but populated by hundreds of bloodthirsty enemies." — Monolith Productions

Opening Cutscene

In 2028, a hundred years after the events in Blood, the world has changed. The Cabal has been transformed from a cult to a megacorporation. It has succeeded in seizing control of the world through economic and political power, rather than overt bloodshed. The person responsible for this is Gideon, the leader of the Cabal. He has taken the cult into the 21st century, but still yearns to destroy Caleb, now known as the Great Betrayer. Only by doing this can he assume full control of the Cabal and become the next incarnation of Tchernobog.

What Caleb has done during these hundred years is relatively unknown. Unbeknownst to him, he has inherited the power of Tchernobog, the power to bind the dimensions. The promotional material says that Caleb is seeking a way to resurrect the other Chosen, but the in-game story makes most of this moot, and does not reveal Caleb's current motivations, besides his hatred of Gideon and the Cabal. Gideon says that he has tooled around the world, doing relatively little with his time. At the start of the game, Caleb is taking a Cabalco train to an unknown destination. Gideon announces his presence on the train, and the Cabal attack Caleb.

Chapters[edit]

The introduction cutscene depicts Caleb walking menacingly along some subway tracks while Gideon narrates.

We are the Cabal. I, Gideon, am its sinister genius leader. We have always lurked among you... like maggots in the bloated, stinking corpse of a diseased rat. Servants of The One That Binds, the dark god... Tchernobog. Until a century ago, everything was going according to our... evil plans. We never expected to be betrayed by one of our own. His name was Caleb. He destroyed our god and absorbed the power of Tchernobog. But what did he do with that power? Nothing. Just spent his time hanging out in dive bars, swilling cheap beer, smoking bad cigars, starting brawls over women of dubious moral character. Meanwhile, I dragged the Cabal into the 21st century. We've become a multi-billion dollar corporate empire with our claws in everything from adult entertainment products to daytime television. Yet all of this is nothing compared to the power I will wield when I suck the marrow from Caleb's diseased bones and absorb the essence of Tchernobog. I and I alone will restore our Dark God. I will destroy Caleb. I will mash his intestines beneath my feet like rotten grapes. And then I will throw a party to celebrate... an evil party for all my evil minions and you are not invited. And Caleb will die for the last time. — Gideon, opening Blood II narration

Note: Blue text indicates dialogue cut from the final game.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter One[edit]

Caleb fights his way to the front of the train (C1L1: Cabalco Transit System). Finding no one in the conductor's booth, the train collides with another, knocking Caleb unconscious. He awakens in an urban area of New Town and chases Gideon through the streets (C1L2: Pickman St. Station), never getting close enough to engage in actual battle. Caleb breaks into a museum (C1L3: Lafayette Museum of Antiquities) where Gideon, along with the Mad Scientist and a Prophet bodyguard, are waiting for him. The Prophet fires his weapon, a prototype Singularity Generator, that creates an inter-dimensional vortex. However, instead of killing Caleb, Gabriella (formerly Gabriel - "it's a long story"), one of the Chosen, is pulled through the rifts. Gideon and his party retreat due to their failure to destroy Caleb. After a brief conversation, the same portal reappears and takes Gabriella away. Caleb continues his pursuit of Gideon by entering some abandoned apartments (C1L4: Condemned Tenement). More vortexes appear, with otherworldly invaders pouring out and attacking anything that moves. Unknown to Caleb, these creatures are entering from another reality. Caleb finds that he must deal with these as well as the continued pounding from the Cabal's own forces. In the steam tunnels (C1L5: Steam Tunnels), he accesses a cargo elevator to a CabalCo medical facility where they have been experimenting on these creatures (C1L6: Center for Disease Management). Caleb takes the elevator up to the roof (C1L7: Movin' On Up) where a Cabalco airship, the CAS Revenant, is threatening to leave, apparently with Gideon. After defeating a Prophet guarding the ship, Caleb stows aboard (C1L8: CAS Revenant) and sets off the self-destruct (C1L9: CAS Revenant (Interior)). He then safely parachutes into a construction zone in New Town (C1L10: Hard Hat Area), but discovers that Gideon was not on-board when it exploded and is instead heading to an ancient cathedral (C1L11: The Cathedral) to present a speech. Caleb traverses the rooftops and enters the old church. In the basement, Caleb finds a great hall, where a giant vortex opens and deposits the Naga - the boss of chapter one. After Caleb defeats the creature, the back wall explodes, revealing Gabriella. She asks Caleb about the origin of the strange monsters, to which Caleb has no good answer. Gabriella then expresses her concern over Caleb's ability to handle the ever-worsening situation. Caleb tersely reiterates his determination to her.

Chapter Two[edit]

Caleb boards another CabalCo subway train (C2L1: Cabalco Transit System 2) heading to the industrial sector. He finds that this too has been setup to crash. Caleb climbs out of the wreckage, and travels through a subway station that leads to a degraded apartment complex (C2L2: Cabal Safehouse). On the roof, Caleb finds Gideon, the Mad Scientist, and the Prophet getting ready to board a helicopter. The Mad Scientist assures Gideon he has fixed the Singularity Generator, and the Prophet uses it against Caleb. This time it is Ishmael that appears, and in the confusion, Gideon escapes aboard the helicopter. Ishmael warns of the damage that Caleb is doing by not using the power of "The One that Binds" to seal the ever growing rifts. Caleb refuses to act, and Ishmael closes by saying that Ophelia has also been resurrected. He then disappears through a portal. Caleb exits the building and moves underground through a wastewater collection facility (C2L3: Sewage Treatment Plant). Many of the otherworldly creatures inhabit this place, and once he emerges, Caleb enters a food processing complex (C2L4: Cabalco Meat Packing Plant). He blasts through to another part of New Town, and finds access to another train station (C2L5: Horlock's Station) through the wall of a diner, which Caleb had previously exploded. The Blue Line terminal, the path he needs, is locked, so he takes a detour to a Cabalco owned dam (C2L6: Love Canal). He floods the dam and then takes a train (C2L7: Cabalco Transit System 3) around to the other side of the station (which for once, does not crash), where he can access the Blue Line (C2L8: Horlock's Station 2). The under-construction tunnel takes him to the crypts (C2L9: The Underground) where he finds a Behemoth, the boss of chapter two. After killing the creature, Ishmael appears again. He tells Caleb that there is a permanent rift in Gideon's temple, and that Ophelia is being held captive there. Again, Ishmael urges him to use his powers to seal the rifts, warning that this reality will perish unless he restores it.

Chapter Three[edit]

With the knowledge that Gideon has Ophelia, Caleb heads towards CabalCo headquarters. However, the path lies across a Cabalco-controlled bridge (C3L1: Frank Cotton Memorial Bridge), which has been raised to prevent his access. He moves around the back streets and through the underground in order to hit the switch that controls the bridge, and by doing so gains access to the security checkpoint (C3L2: Security Check Point). As he moves through the complex, Cabalco finds itself besieged by the otherworldly invaders and a triple-sided war begins. Caleb finds his way into Gideon's temple (C3L3: Temple of Poon) where Ophelia is tied to a pillar. After some warm greetings, Gideon interrupts the pair and squirrels Ophelia away through a portal. Enraged, Caleb leaves the temple and heads through the office building (C3L4: Cabalco Enterprises), first disabling the power station that lies underneath (C3L5: Power Station). On the upper floors, Caleb wages war in the offices (C3L6: Cabalco Enterprises 2) that lead to the Cabal's main research facility (C3L7: Research and Development), where the Mad Scientist waits for Caleb's impending "dissection". Caleb turns out to be the only one who gets to tear lifeforms apart as he destroys the complex and staff before encountering the Mad Scientist and snatching the Singularity Generator. He returns to the offices (C3L8: Cabalco Enterprises 3) and uses his new weapon to destroy the oncoming onslaught. He finds a secret passageway inside a conference room (C3L9: Cabal CO Offices) and rides the lift to the rooftops, where Gideon is waiting for him (C3L10: Cabal CO Rooftops). Caleb and the leader of the Cabal square off, until Gideon receives sufficient enough damage to warrant retreat. He escapes through a portal into the otherworld. Ophelia, having somehow managed to free herself, appears and questions Caleb's desire to follow. With unending stubbornness, Caleb heads into the rift.

Chapter Four[edit]

The portal deposits him in a barren desert landscape near a Cabalco expeditionary camp, surrounded by Fanatic corpses (C4L1: Beyond the Rift). With the otherworldly creatures doing battle with both Caleb and Cabalco alike, Caleb trudges on. He happens across an ancient temple where Gideon, gravely injured, is waiting. Words are exchanged until Gideon transforms into a giant undead spider creature. The final contest ensues, and Gideon finally dies. Caleb finds that he is in the ruins of an ancient citadel, populated with the same creatures that have been invading his world. Moving forward, Caleb happens across a large ornate arena (C4L2: Battle of the Chosen). There he discovers three upright crypts, which open to reveal the undead forms of Ophelia, Gabriella and Ishmael. The corpses float above the arena and inform him, in an unearthly voice, that they are The Ancient One, the being responsible for the invasion into our reality. They then demand that Caleb bow down before them, but Caleb laughs it off, causing the Ancient One to continue in its attempts to threaten him, stumbling through its lines as it goes. Sick of the showboating, Caleb demands they fight. He then duels with each of the Undead Chosen, one after the other. On defeating the last, the floor opens up, and Caleb falls into a pool of a red liquid where the true form of the Ancient One rests (C4L3: The Ancient One), as a colossal squid-like creature. Caleb spouts one more of his trademark one-liners and the fight begins.

Epilogue[edit]

The Chosen walk through the wastes as the credits display

The Ancient One lets out one last scream before it sinks into the red liquid. The other three Chosen appear behind Caleb. Ishmael tells him that it's not over until he binds the realities and seals the rifts. Caleb protests but eventually submits and agrees. Caleb then waves his arms around as focus power flows out. The screen then changes to a text interstitial which displays the following:

"Does Caleb really close the rift? Does Ophelia get her two-minutes of gift? What the heck happened to Gabriel... er, Gabriella? What if Ishmael can't get home? And, where did he get those tattoos? Tune in next time on: As 'It burns, it burns'. Enjoy these answers and more soon... we promise. In the meantime, get into some major BLOODBATH!!" — Blood II

The screen then displays the four Chosen, together at last, walking through the wastes as the game's credits display.

Multiplayer Maps[edit]

These are the multiplayer maps (Bloodbath) that were included with the retail version of Blood II: The Chosen. The Nightmare Levels added other maps.

  • BB_AREA15
  • BB_BLOODARENA
  • BB_BLOODKEEP
  • BB_BODIES
  • BB_BRIDGE
  • BB_BROWNSTAR
  • BB_CABANA
  • BB_CHOSENARENA
  • BB_CONDEMNED
  • BB_CRYPT
  • BB_DEATHCANYON
  • BB_DRAIN
  • BB_DUSTBOWL
  • BB_FIELDS
  • BB_JGRAVE
  • BB_MIDGARD
  • BB_POWER
  • BB_ROOFTOP

Expansion Packs[edit]

Nightmarelevels cover.jpg The Nightmare Levels - This expansion pack contained the most recent patch as well as a new mini-episode which tells the story of what happened to the Chosen after the events in Blood II and adds a lot of often humorous character back story. It contained a few new enemies, weapons, and all new levels.
Blood-II-Revelations-Logo.jpg Revelations - This was a planned expansion pack which was under development by a British developer called Tequila Software. Set after the events of Blood II, it was to feature Caleb facing a break-away sect of the Cabal called Krest led by a man named Cain. It was to feature numerous new enemies, weapons and more.

Mods[edit]

Many mods attempted to more closely replicate the look and feel of the original Blood

Main Article: List of Mods for Blood II

Due to the hasty release of Blood II, many features and aspects which were promised in promotional copy were not included. This disappointed fans, but the released source code and easy modification user interface made mods popular. However, many of these mods did not build on the existing game (the conceptualized Beyond the Rift being an exception), but instead fixed things that fans believed should have been included, such as The Festival of Blood, FX Enchancer, DarkAct, and Blood II: Resurrection. Many mod projects never made it to completion. Only one Blood II modification, Blood 2K5, added new single-player levels (although this was attempted by Gods 2, MAIM and Resurrection) while others produced numerous new BloodBath maps.

The most recent modification for Blood II is Extra Crispy, which introduces various new tweaks that can affect everything from the effectiveness of certain weapons and characters to introducing new artificial intelligence routines for some of the enemies. It also provides the Extra Crispy Enhancer Pack containing sharpened map textures, new menu graphics, and expanded skins for all models as well as some new sound effects. As of the fifth version the Enhancer Pack is no longer optional and the game changes have become more prominent.

Development[edit]

Main Article: Development of Blood II

Blood II development screamshot

Interest among staff at Monolith Productions for creating a sequel to Blood, a project stretching back to 1994, was not immediately high back in 1997. Most of the team were working on either Claw or early prototypes for what eventually became the LithTech engine and Shogo: Mobile Armour Division. Rights holder GT Interactive was interested in such a project however, and commissioned them to produce it within eleven months. The Blood trailer ends with text saying "Look for the sequel to Blood™ coming Hallowen '98", indicating the project was in motion by the time of its release; Jason Hall also mentions a potential sequel in the MONOLITH.TXT file included on the original game's CD-ROM.. Nick Newhard, the designer of the first game, passed on the offer to design the second, so the project was taken over by Blood lead level designer James Wilson III.

The development of Blood II was remarkable because of the community involvement by Jason Hall, the Monolith CEO, as well as others at Monolith including Brian Goble and James Wilson III. Hall was often present on the Blood II forums, asking questions and getting feedback based on released screamshots and sound files. One watershed event occurred around August 9, 1998 was when he polled the forum users as to whether they would like gameplay with one character (Caleb) and more story, or the ability to play through as all the Chosen with less story. The former was selected, although the ability to play as the Chosen was still made available, albeit with no canonical grounds. Hall would later state that maintaining this level of dialogue with fans may have produced unrealistically high expectations for the final product.

With popular games like Half-Life, Unreal (also a GT title), SiN and Thief: The Dark Project about to be released, some of which boasted cleaner visuals, better artificial intelligence, and more multiplayer options, the publishers of Blood II saw a need to quickly release the already delayed game; the Shogo team had been expected to join the development effort after their game's release, but this took longer than expected. GT was in the midst of being bought out by Infogrames (later Atari, Inc), and due to the relatively small fan base, they pushed the game out the door before it could be fully fine-tuned, leading to several half-finished features and bugs; Jason Hall would also later state that GT held up the patching process after release. Monolith employee "Loki" Blackman also unsuccessfully tried to port the game to other platforms.

The single player demo version was released on October 31, 1998, with a later multiplayer demo also released. Retail releases started on November 20, 1998 following the game going gold on November 6th.

Release and Critical Reception[edit]

Blood II being exhibited at E3 1998

"Blood 2 worked, and most people could play through the entire game and have a good time. PCGamer gave Blood 2 an 80%, which isn't too bad. Blood 2 had some bugs, but it was definitely playable by most people, it's just that over time some exaggeration by a minority of hardcore gamers on various websites have exacerbated the perception of Blood 2's problems - which understandably has lost Monolith some gamer confidence." — Jason Hall, July 10, 2000

The early release of Blood II meant many features and options were cut or badly implemented, particularly when compared to the original game which spent two to three years in development with no end of polish. Many critics felt it lacked the punch of the original game, while others called it simply mediocre, and that it offered nothing new or extraordinary. Blood II received a metascore of 74 out of 100 from MobyGames, a ranking of 72 from Metacritic and a 66.39% from GameRankings. It's highest rating (96) was given by GameGenie, while its lowest (40) came from GamePro magazine; IGN was similarly dismissive (6.2), though GameRevolution was far more positive (B+) and Gamespot was complimentary (7.4). As of 2024, it has scored 3.6/5 on GOG.com, with a polarized array of user reviews.

Many fans were disappointed with the game. The game held a vastly different style than the first, and many promised features were removed because of time. Blood II shipped with many bugs, some of which were later fixed in an online-released patch. Levels would load immediately, preventing players from reading all of the interstitial text - key to the plot and added atmosphere. Weaker enemies would be gibbed by small weapons like pistols. An explosion would cause an enemy's torso to disappear and leave its limbs hanging and spinning in the air, or become embedded in a wall. Artificial intelligence was less than stellar, with enemies walking into walls, or losing the player across path lines. The promised storyline only included Caleb's perspective and left many players confused and without answers. The game's final boss, the Ancient One, is not even referred to by name until the loading screen of "C4L1: Beyond the Rift". Even the game's credits were hampered by a rushed release, containing the controversial and mysteriously sourced "debits" text that lead to an apology from GT Interactive CEO Ron Chaimowitz. Some fans liked the game, but felt that it was rushed, lacked polish, and could have used more finishing touches - in short, that development should have been extended.

Blood II promotional poster

There were some Bloodites who did praise the game however, notably Tom Bramwell and several people on the Planet Blood mailbag. The most notable praise came from a common source of criticism, the LithTech engine (and the switch in general from sprites and voxels to polygonal models and true-3D geometry), which allowed for more advanced graphics, sound, and special effects. The Nightmare Levels expansion pack was also thought to alleviate some of the perceived problems of Blood II, such as the addition of the Robed Cultists (who, if not for the rushed release, would have been in The Chosen) and Blood inspired levels such as dark carnivals and snowy hedge mazes. Several of the the unanswered questions in Blood II: The Chosen were left to add anticipation for the next game in the series, which was never produced (and the expansion Revelations was soon also cancelled). Indeed many Blood fans were willing to accept Blood II if a hard worked sequel would soon arrive.

The music and soundtrack were generally well received. The huge amounts of weapons offered in Blood II has been both praised and criticized, with the player having to choose what weapons they will or will not use getting the most negative attention (some also note that many of the available weapons do not really add to the gameplay, while increasing confusion). The amount of background storyline available for Blood II has been praised, but it has also been criticized for its lack of strong implementation in the game itself, leading many to feel that the game lacked a real storyline. People's perceptions of the game's graphics, and of the abilities of LithTech in general have varied, with some thinking it to be a budget engine or those who think it to have been on the forefront of 1998 gaming. The continuation of the dark humour of the first game was enjoyed by many but some felt it was underdone due to the more realistic aura of Blood II. The continuation of Caleb's typical character traits also drew people to the game, with the game's voice acting in general being praised. Blood II has also been complimented for sticking to more traditional first person shooter styles, appealing to established demographics.

The fan website Blood Hispano released an article in 2012 defending Blood II: The Chosen complimenting its atmosphere, soundtrack, variety and its reinvention of the Cabal into CabalCo and handling of the otherworld, while still criticizing its artificial intelligence and level linearity. A Destructoid community blog post put out in 2012 also argued in favour of Blood II by citing its relevance as a postmodern reaction to stale gaming and action hero conventions, noting Caleb's amorality regarding the slaughter of innocents and lack of noble intentions. A 2019 article by Kotaku Australia remarked that while "absolutely nowhere near as good as the original Blood, given the Quake 2-inspired direction people were going with their shooters, it was still a fun romp". In a 2023 video retrospective, AzorDash declared "was it really that bad? No. Blood 2 is like getting stuck talking with that one person you're trying to avoid at a party. After spending a lot of time avoiding, you discover it isn't as bad as you first thought, just so long as you don't have to do it too often. While having a mixed reception, the game represents an interesting time in gaming where the transition was being made from simple back-stories and environments to complex narratives and expansive environments, often with mixed success." On the other hand, Gmanlives concluded that, while not a bad game, Blood II was still a bad sequel, and the playthrough series by Civvie11 has helped preserve the game's reputation as an under-cooked mess in the public sphere.

See Also[edit]

External Links[edit]

Previews[edit]

Reviews[edit]

Contemporary (1998-2001)

Retrospective (2001-present)

Blogs


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