A Solid Game With A Ton of Style

About

Bleed is a wonderful twin stick shooter, erm, platformer? Well, whatever it is, its fast paced, very difficult, and loads of fun! I’ve only finished it on easy mode but plan to play it a LOT more in the near future.

Gameplay

The games mechanics are similar to the later levels of Cave Story, relying heavily on shooting, gun choice, slowing time, and mid-air dodging. The games structure is similar to super meat boy in that it’s levels are divided into many small chunks and, though you’ll die a lot, you’ll re-spawn nearby almost instantly allowing you to retry until you finally break through to the next section of a stage. The controls are a mix between a traditional platformer and a dual stick shooter which took some time to learn.

Style

The games mechanics were solid, but style is where it shines!  The music is retro and catchy and left me wanting more.  As a whole, the game was pleasant, unique and memorable.  Wryn, the main character, was probably the most memorable part of the game.  From the moment you first meet here in the main menu, you’ll realize that she’s no silent or boring protagonist, she’s just a girl who wants to be the #1 hero of all time!  Besides her, there’s a boss at the end of each stage with their own small but unique, back story.  The colorful art style and upbeat track made the game a pleasant excursion form the standard action game tropes.

Overall

Overall, Bleed is a wonderful little game that can be beaten on easy mode in a couple hours but has a plenty of replay value thanks to it’s steep difficulty curve and solid mechanics.

Score: 9/10 (short and hard, but a lot of fun)

• Notes:
  • It looks like Bleed 2 is in development, I can’t wait!
  • For more, check out Bootdisk Revolutions website here