Blood Dungeon shows that Bullet Heaven can be active
There are few indies out there that command my attention, no questions asked. Messhof won my heart with their 1v1 fencing masterpiece Nidhogg, and since then they have been dropping certified bangers. Flywrench was an absolute joy to control, commanding you to just lock in with the type of precision that is a perfect combo of highly rewarding and insufferably frustrating. Wheel World was a huge departure for the studio, delivering a 3D semi-open world game that fused their sensibilities with their love of cycling. While it didn’t hit all the marks for me, it was still a great time, and more importantly was interesting.
So when I heard that Blood Dungeon was a Survivors-like, I was pretty disappointed. Right now if feels like every second indie game out the gate is desperate to bring their take to the runaway genre. “It’s like Vampire Survivors, but this time you’re a car!”. “It’s like Vampire Survivors and Risk of Rain had a baby, but it uses really annoying internet speak, YOU’RE GONNA LOVE IT!”. Both phrases have been uttered to me in an attempt to sell me on the genre, but it just hasn’t stuck for me. To say that I am over "Bullet Heaven" games right now is an understatement. And yet despite that fatigue I have dumped over a dozen hours in Messhof's absurdist take, Blood Dungeon, and I am not seeing my obsession drying up any time soon.
At the risk of sounding reductive like the above statements, Blood Dungeon feels like the product of putting the unpredictable platforming of Spelunky into a blender with the build crafting and dopamine rush of Vampire Survivors. The result is an auto-shooter that demands your attention, and precision. Each time you step into the dungeon, your little weirdo character will be spewing attacks on cooldowns while you run and jump your way around the enemies and traps. The movement in Blood Dungeon is honestly sublime as you clamber up edges, hang from the roofs and walls as you try to scamper to safety. All the while your attacks are taking out the hand-drawn enemies who leave behind blood, which you collect to level up your hero and unlock a new weapon or charm, and upgrade yourself to continue facing the onslaught of enemies.
Onslaught is putting it mildly. The longer you stay in the dungeon, the more ferocious the enemies become. Some are walking around dealing melee attacks. Others are ghostly figures who can clip through walls and rush towards you to deal serious pain. Each one has a unique pattern to learn, and more importantly, they just look incredbily bad ass. All of the art in Blood Dungeon feels decidedly handcrafted, as if a bunch of friends sat down at a table with some pens and just jammed out the weirdest concepts that they could come up with. The result is something that resembles the direction of Nidhogg 2’s art, but way more unhinged, and I’m right here for it.
The loop of Blood Dungeon is addictive AF, and has kept me up way past my bed time more times than I would like to admit. You choose your character at the bunkhouse. There are 9 of them to unlock, and each has a unique starter weapon and usually some kind of cool movement options. The spider guy who shoots webs is a favorite. Also the little naked dungeon man with his big sword is also another go to. Then you go into a dungeon and try to survive as long as possible. Boss enemies like the giant Wyrm from Nidhogg spawn after a certain period, and if you somehow managed to beat all three bosses in a single run, then you’ve officially won. I don’t know what that looks like, despite a chunk of time spent in the game. But my co-worker Ally has been relentless in his joy that he has managed to finish a dungeon long before me. My time will come… I hope.
Regardless of if you die or you are victorious, you will be respawned back in the hub where you can unlock permanent stat upgrades that will help you bulk up for subsequent runs. Each time you beat at least the first boss on a dungeon, you are given the go ahead to unlock a new dungeon to explore. Each area has unique gimmicks, like The Pit which is a vertical drop that wraps around like Downwell, or The Tomb which has you “digging” through the sand to get lower and find better vantage points. Each location feels distinct and offers a lot more variance and challenge than any other Bullet Heaven game in recent memory.
And this wouldn’t be a Messhof game without a killer soundtrack. Thomas Hoey drops an absolutely insane jungle soundtrack on this one that finally rivals Nidhogg 2 for one of the best game OSTs of all time. It just fits the insanity that is unfolding on the screen so perfectly, and it’s haunting beats will follow you about your daily routine, adding a little pep in your step.
I have been glazing Blood Dungeon, surprisingly so considering my skepticism going in. It’s not an entirely perfect experience however. I have dumped 15 or so hours in, and I am definitely facing some repetitiveness fatigue. While the Steam page claims over 100 enemies to face in the dungeons, I definitely feel like I am seeing the same 20 or so on my runs. I am willing to accept that when I make it to the third boss and beat a dungeon, I may see a few more, but there has yet to be a situation where I am surprised by a mob that the game throws at me after the first few runs in a new dungeon.
The bosses in particular are a little underwhelming. I feel like I am always seeing the same 3-4 each time I go in, despite playing all of the dungeons at this point. Yep, there’s the Wyrm again. Oh and now Bone Snake. Oh and there’s the Mummy. It’s not necessarily a deal breaker, and I honestly don’t mind at all because I am building up strategies to try and survive longer, but I do feel like a little more randmoization would keep me guessing a little longer, and be a little more engaged after dropping so many hours.
Honestly though, if that is the biggest criticism I can muster, I can’t complain too much. Blood Dungeon takes an oversaturated genre, blends in the weirdness that Messhof is known for, and delivers an actively challenging action platformer. Taking the good parts of Bullet Heaven build crafting and meshing it with the precsion platforming of a Spelunky, Blood Dungeon delivers the quintessential “just one more run” game of the year. I hope it gets the support it deserves, because it feels like it is ripe for expansions and updates to keep us running for a long while yet.
★★★★☆
Recommended
Developed by Messhof
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PS5, Switch, Switch 2
Steam page
