It’s not often that games immediately impress with the combination of their animation and presentation, but #BLUD is a straight-up stunner. Humble Games and developer Exit 73 Studios have locked the ’90s cartoon-inspired action-RPG in for a June 18 launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
In #BLUD, it’s not just the slick animation that looks better than most of the cartoons that inspired it. It’s the way that character animation seamlessly melds with both the cinematics and the dungeon-crawling gameplay. You can see a sample in the release date trailer below.
#BLUD blends the horrors of everyday life with actual, tangible horrors — okay, real life horrors are also totally tangible — like vampire slaying. Lead character Becky Brewster just so happens to come from an ancient bloodline of magic-wielding vampire hunters, and as the new kid in town she’ll have to juggle that with her daily routine, all while maintaining her social media presence. It may sound like something that’s been done to death, but Becky’s adventure is, at least as far as I’ve seen, visually hypnotic.
Humble and Exit 73 put up a demo during Steam Next Fest, and I highly recommend you check it out between now and launch. #BLUD is fun enough as a top-down action-RPG, but it’s the way everything works in concert that leaves an impression.
Characters bounce fluidly as Becky strolls through a town packed with personality. She can bust out her phone and time a selfie to capture the most ridiculous moment of a looping animation in the background. The in-game social media feed is more fun to play around with than it should be, really.
If the demo is anything to go by, #BLUD is one to keep an eye on this June. I can’t say for certain how well its hockey-stick-swinging combat will hold up over the course of a full game, but it’s at least more fun to look at than half of the ’90s cartoons we remember with rose-tinted vision.
