Publisher: Crystal Dynamics
Generally speaking, gaming consisted of fast,
arcade-like experiences with little care taken into crafting a well developed
story or cinematic experiences. Of course there were exceptions to this rule,
the Super Nintendo featured a strong library of RPGs while PC gaming offered a
vast bouquet of adventure games and its own take on role-playing.
These however
were not the most popular genres, western sales of well established franchises
like King’s Quest or Final Fantasy could not hold a candle to
the popularity of Super Mario, Sonic The Hedgehog, Street Fighter 2 and other faster paced classics.
This trend began to change with the advent of
32-bit consoles, 3D gaming and optical media. Suddenly, developers were more
willing to invest in intangible assets like story, lore, characters and dialog.
One could claim titles like Final Fantasy
VII and Metal Gear Solid laid the
foundation of what gamers expected from a plot driven experience for years to
come. However, there were other games who attempted to claim this crown before
it was eventually jointly-shared by Squaresoft
and Konami.

Billing itself as a mature story-driven game,
players were invited to play the role of a blood-thirsty vampire whose moral
compass swinged from villain to anti-hero.
Blood Omen’s sales reports are conflicting at best, ranging anywhere from
300,000 to 2 million units. Regardless, it went on to spawn a successful series
consisting of 5 games and a recent online spin-off.
Players take control of Kain, a nobleman
murdered in cold blood who later resurrected as a fledgling vampire. Our
anti-hero’s motivations are initially simple; to enact revenge on those who
assassinated him and discover a cure for his newfound vampire status. The plot,
lore and dialog take front and center in Blood
Omen, often being a prime reason as to why both this game and series are so
fondly remembered.

In the game’s defense, these serve a brilliant
purpose of lore-building, I often found myself interested in learning more
about its characters and locations. Places like Nuprator’s keep and Vorador’s
Mansion provided a decidedly dark and gruesome experience that had me eagerly
clinging for every piece of information, effectively crafting a compelling
narrative while leaving enough room to let players fill the gaps themselves.
Sadly, we are eventually called back into the
main plotline, which is awkwardly presented and at times seem to have had
elements removed at the last minute with little concern as to how it would
affect overall flow. At one point, Kain is asked to fight a war to which he
accepts, despite there being no logical motivation for him to so. In the end,
our villainous anti-hero fought a war simply because he was asked to. Perhaps
even more egregious is the endgame battle where a new plotpoint appears out of
nowhere for the sole purpose of adding in a boss fight.

Blood Omen’s gameplay is reminiscent of Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda, featuring an overhead view and a focus on light
puzzle solving. As our character progresses, new abilities are earned in the
form of magic spells, vampiric powers and weaponry. In this regard, Blood Omen is extremely ambitious as I
have yet to play a game that so accurately managed to capture the feeling of
being a vampire. Kain can transform into a total of 4 forms; mist, human, wolf
and bat. These carry different purposes ranging from increased speed and fast
travel to avoiding enemy detection and more.
New abilities are often found in dungeons or
other similar locations. The main campaign is linear in its execution and must
be completed in the same exact order with each playthrough. Luckily, players
who wish to venture beyond the beaten path will find an assortment of secrets
to explore ranging from new magical abilities to additional items and ammo.
As a vampire, Kain’s health is constantly
draining, so regular feedings from human foes are a necessity. When an enemy is
stunned or near death, our anti-hero can feed on his prey, delivering a killing
blow. Civilians and chained humans can also be fed upon and unlike other NPCs,
these offer no resistance. Should Kain to return to an indoor location that was
previously relieved of all its occupants, they will return as specters and, if
fed upon once more, these ghosts replenish mana instead of health.

When travelling on foot through Nosgoth,
players are advised to take into consideration the time of day and weather.
Unless specific upgrades are found, rain and snow actively hurt Kain while the
sun weakens his attacks.
Despite the wide range of tools available to
Kain throughout his quest I rarely found myself using them. Early on, players
come across the barrier spell which is essentially overpowered, protecting its
caster from almost every form of harm.
Eventually, I found myself spamming this protection and killing every
foe including the final boss with little regard as to tactics or strategy. This
issue is further compounded when considering how easy it is to find the “heart
of darkness” healing card. Needless to say, I never died in Blood Omen despite me playing fast and
loose with the dangers it posed. Worst still, it wasn’t long until repetition
set in; one can only murder and feed on so many villagers and monsters before
the act becomes boring.
Blood Omen does not shy away from blood and
gore, rather, it celebrates it. Often, spells and items dispatch foes in the
most spectacularly gruesome ways, displaying their blood and innards for all to
see. Even more impressive are the lighting and particle effects these create,
despite the visuals being somewhat unappealing, Blood Omen occasionally delivers in eye candy. Towns and wilderness
are generally plain-looking as well, though certain locations like Vorador’s
mansion offer a mix of blood, gore and luxury that is a joy to behold.

It’s easy to see why Blood Omen garnered a cult following, its strong lore, dark themes
and quality voice acting places its production values well above the 16-bit
generation. Sadly, despite the captivating lore, Blood Omen’s story is incoherent at best. Its gameplay draws cues
from Legend of Zelda, but is nowhere
near as polished, being plagued by repetition, long loading times and a laughably
low difficulty setting. Blood Omen
was once a sign of what the 32-bit generation had in store for us, but it has
since been surpassed by its peers and feel into relative obscurity for a
reason; it didn’t age well.
Trivia: Shortly after the release of Blood Omen, developer Silicon Knights and publisher Crystal Dynamics were involved in a legal battle over who owned the rights to the game. Crystal Dynamics won and developed the sequels without Silicon Knights' input.
Pros:
- The world of Nosgoth features a rich, enticing lore
- One of the most complete experiences on what it feels like to play as a vampire
- Stellar voice acting
- One of the most complete experiences on what it feels like to play as a vampire
- Stellar voice acting
Cons:
- Main storyline is disjointed and incoherent
- Main storyline is disjointed and incoherent
- Gameplay suffers from repetition
- Lenghty, excessive loading times
Final Grade: C+
Blood Omen’s cover baffles me. The artwork
itself is excellent, it’s fitting and appropriately dark for its theme.
Unfortunately, it’s neighbor to a black border which takes up roughly a quarter
of the cover. That is the sort of visual aesthetic associated to a low budget
re-release, but that isn’t the case here. This is a first print PAL copy so why
Crystal Dynamics went with this
decision is beyond me.
Inside we find the manual, disc and
registration card. The manual’s cover suffers from the same flaws as that of
the game’s case. Peering inside, I was disappointed it provided no additional
background information, lore or concept art. Instead it explains how to play Blood Omen in fairly long detail.
Speaking of the publisher, the Gex logo in the front clashes with the dark motif of Blood Omen. I understand that Gex was Crystal Dynamics’ mascot during
the 90s, but these two franchises appeal to different audiences and shouldn't be together.
My final complaint with the game’s packaging
lies with the disc’s yellow color scheme. It doesn’t seem to fit the mood
created by its manual, cover or Blood
Omen’s plot itself. Overall I found Blood
Omen’s packaging to be a bit of an underachiever, had the cover art not
been cut to fit a black border it would have stood from the crowd. Alas, this
was not the case.
Packaging Grade: B-
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