Blood Wake Xbox ( 2002 )

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Published on September 24, 2018 4:00:06 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiwkfOenySY

Game:

Blood Wake (2001)

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Blood Wake is a naval combat video game that was released in 2001 on the Xbox as part of Microsoft's initial wave of Xbox launch titles. The game was developed by Stormfront Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Set in an Asian-themed fictional world, Blood Wake is a story-driven, mission-based high seas action game in which the player controls a series of small fighting vessels.

First unveiled at E3 2001, the game received mixed reviews from critics according to the aggregate website Metacritic. Some reviewers described its gameplay as "Twisted Metal on water," although its mission-based story line differentiated Blood Wake from Twisted Metal's arena-based gameplay. The game sold enough copies to be added to Microsoft's budget line, known as Platinum Hits.

The player controls Lieutenant Shao Kai, a former naval officer of the Northern League fleet who was betrayed and left for dead by his brother, Admiral Shao Lung. Kai is rescued by a band of sea raiders known as the Shadow Clan, and joins them after proving himself worthy to their leader, Ped Zeng. He will bide his time with them awaiting his chance for revenge against his brother. Here he meets a formidable young woman who advises Ped and becomes the love interest. The Shadow Clan spends most of its time preying on the third faction in the game, the Jade Kingdom, who are primarily a mercantile power led by Lord Sri Brana. All are now in the path of Admiral Shao Lung's ambitions to create the Iron Empire. Lung has developed a monstrous warship named the Dragon and a powerful magic amulet to defeat anyone and anything in his way.

The game features a wide variety of naval vessels, from tiny sampans to powerful speedboats and torpedo boats, on up to destroyers and a massive battleship. Over a dozen of these are playable and most have multiple weapon configurations. The weapon types include the standard chain guns, cannon, torpedoes, rockets and mines, plus some unique weapons that are unlocked as you progress through the game. Each boat has machine guns or chain guns as its base, primary armament. Most have one or more heavy weapons as their secondary armament.[1]

The single player story-mode consists of 28 missions featuring a wide variety of attack, defense, escort and raid mission types. These missions take the player to many exotic locales and though the player never leaves the water, the game engine allows the designers to vary the sea and sky conditions to create very different gameplay environments. There is also a multiplayer mode that supports a variety of game types for up to four players. The multiplayer options are somewhat limited at first, but progress through the story mode unlocks many new options. The game also features numerous Easter Eggs such as special boats and hidden game modes, including the development team's favorite, "Blood Ball", which is essentially multiplayer soccer-on-water using a 10-meter diameter soccer ball and heavily armed gunboats.[2]

There are many different vehicles at the player's disposal in Blood Wake. In the Story Mode the player is assigned a particular boat for each mission. The first is the Speedboat, and each of the mission of the first act features a different variant. As the story progresses, the player is introduced to ever more powerful boats, including a few captured enemy vessels. All of these plus several more are playable in the multiplayer Battle Mode. The following are the main types used by the player during the Story Mode missions:[1]

Speedboat: small, fast boat with light weaponry. This is the boat given to the player in the first chapter of Story Mode. Its armament usually consists of four chain guns or auto-cannons, but later adds a rocket launcher. However, the boat is completely stripped of all armaments for one special mission involving a time trial-style race. In one special mission later in the game it is armed with the Stinger, an extremely powerful, but short-ranged electrical weapon.
Catamaran: the game's signature boat, this is featured on the game's cover. Standard armament for this vessel includes two chain guns or auto cannons, with a center mount that may have a rocket launcher, the Stinger, or the Wave Gun (another special weapon type that generates a wave that can detonate torpedoes and sea mines as well as jolt smaller vessels. In addition, it has a pair of side mounts that may hold torpedo launchers or fixed cannons. These weapons differ in combination depending on the model of Catamaran.
Gunboat: modeled on a cigarette boat, it is one of the fastest in the game. Its armament is virtually the same as the catamaran, but it adds a rear mount for a mine launcher.