Blood Vial, a self-described “retro-inspired micro-FPS” that hit Steam earlier this week, is a lot like Splatoon—except instead of starring charming squid teens swimming through the ink spread by their paintguns, you play as a leaky, gun-toting vampire diving through the freshly-spilled gore of murderous pseudo-Catholics on a blood-soaked quest for revenge.
So, really, it’s only like Splatoon in the one way. But that passing resemblance makes for a fast-moving, bite-sized (sorry) shooter that’s well worth its $5 price tag.
Central to Blood Vial is—wait for it—the blood vial, which serves as a health meter by collecting the spilled lifeblood of my enemies that I, as a vampire, need to survive. Unfortunately, my blood vial’s busted: It’s constantly leaking, and the only way to keep it topped up is by blasting holes in vampire-hating priestfolk and swimming through the gore that’s splashed around in the process.
But blood in Blood Vial is also a tactical resource. With a right click, I can splash some of my collected blood onto the floors and walls. Because I can move safely and swiftly through spilled blood, all that spattered viscera provides opportunities for ducking beneath hostile gunfire, evading close range threats, and even swimming up a wall for a more advantageous shooting angle.
Played well, Blood Vial moves fast. Each shot I land helps me paint a bloody path through a level that lets me dive under, around, and above my outmatched bullet fodder at impressive speeds. Meanwhile, the constant drain of the blood vial adds a satisfying push and pull to the action. Every ounce of my own blood that I spill for a bit of mobility leaves me with less room for error if I take a hit in the aftermath, and every bit of gore that I drink back up while swimming through it makes the battlefield less maneuverable.
It’s not the deepest game: The pick-three upgrades separating each level aren’t particularly compelling, and you’ll progress through the same three tilesets in every lightly randomized run. But if you’re looking for something to add to your rotation when you need a few minutes of gunplay, $5 is a hard price to argue with.
Blood Vial is available on Steam now.
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