A new cross-platform game called Blood Message is coming from studio 24 Entertainment Lin'an, a division of 24 Entertainment, which previously developed Naraka: Bladepoint. But Blood Message, with its historical Chinese focus and decidedly Sony-like cinematic flair, feels an awful lot more like God of War or Black Myth Wukong than any multiplayer-centered experience ever could.
24 Entertainment is a subsidiary of Thunder Fire Studio, which is itself a subsidiary of gaming giant NetEase, publisher of popular online games like Marvel Rivals.
Blood Message aims to add to the ever-growing catalog of modern, high-profile Chinese action-adventure games, a category that includes the likes of Black Myth Wukong and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and will soon encapsulate titles like Phantom Blade 0 and Tides of Annihilation as well. But what's unique about Blood Message is that, unlike many other contemporary China-action games, it is far more grounded and purposeful with its gameplay and presentation. Players follow a messenger and his son in the Tang Dynasty, which controlled a significant portion of the Chinese mainland from the seventh to the tenth centuries. It's a linear, story-driven adventure that, despite its grand presentation, purports not to feature explicit mythological or fantastical elements, making it something of a gaming period piece and a potential breath of fresh air in the AAA space.
What Is Blood Message About?
Blood Message's Story Is Deeply Rooted in Chinese History
Rather than putting players in the shoes of a powerful soldier, superhuman deity, or world leader, Blood Message focuses on relatively ordinary characters, which the game's developers say is by design. The game is about regular people trying to survive amid extraordinary historical events.
The extraordinary historical events in question here relate to the Shazhou uprising. In the middle of the ninth century, the regions of Shazhou and Guazhou were captured by Tibetan forces, prompting Tang Dynasty general and politician Zhang Yichao to dispatch ten messenger parties to bring news of the capture to Tang capital city Chang'an. While it's not entirely clear why the son, who appears to be just a teenager, is embarking on this journey alongside his father, the pairing could make for a classic "sad dad" sort of narrative, for better or worse.
At any rate, the distance between Shazhou and Chang'an is about 1000 miles, which suggests that Blood Message will be a tale of epic proportions. The quality of the game's writing remains to be seen (it's not like Naraka: Bladepoint has a traditional plot that would demonstrate 24 Entertainment's storytelling chops), but at the very least, we can be sure that Blood Message will offer a variety of distinct settings and scenarios throughout Ancient China which, with any luck, will foster compelling and unpredictable narrative beats.
Blood Message's Gameplay Looks Like God of War Mixed with Assassin's Creed
Despite the unusually beefy runtime of Blood Message's reveal trailer, it doesn't offer much in the way of real gameplay footage. It certainly shows off what looks like gameplay, and maybe that's just what it is, but these sequences feel a little too scripted and smooth to be the real deal. Perhaps I'm wrong, but that's the impression I got.
Still, the trailer footage offers, at the very least, some solid hints as to what the Blood Message gameplay experience will be like. It assumes a third-person perspective, with the camera positioned just behind the player-character's back. This, combined with the protagonist's slow, brutal combat style, strengthens the God of War comparisons raised by the game's cinematic approach, not to mention its apparent adherence to AAA tropes like squeezing through tight corridors.
Unlike God of War, though, Blood Message will feature a blend of stealth and action gameplay, which when nested in the historically accurate Ancient China setting, reminds me more than a little bit of Assassin's Creed. The style of stealth, which is more animation and cinematics-focused than emergent stealth sandboxes like those of Metal Gear, is quite AC-like as well: players will be able to assassinate enemies from behind walls, beneath ledges, and from above, all with devastating coolness.
It will be quite interesting to see how Blood Message makes use of its companions as well. The protagonist's son will ostensibly be heavily involved in the game as an ally, but the Blood Message reveal trailer showcases some other companions as well, such as a mysterious woman and a staff-wielding man, both of whom seem to speak in riddles. They're shown helping the protagonist during potential platforming sections, and one snippet of the trailer even implies that players can coordinate with friendly NPCs during stealth sections. Naturally, Blood Message has a lot of inspiration when it comes to designing cool companion characters, with the likes of God of War and the Uncharted games being potential fonts of knowledge in this respect.
- Developer(s)
- 24 Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- NetEase Games
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
WHERE TO PLAY
NetEase's Blood Message is an in-development action-adventure game that takes place during the Tang Dynasty in China. Set in 848 AD, the story appears to revolve around a father and son, with gameplay that incorporates melee and stealth action. Blood Message will be released on PC and console, although specific platforms have yet to be announced.
