Blood: Cryptic Passage

Blood: Cryptic Passage | CRYPTIC.INI

Sunstorm Interactive

This review was originally posted in parts to Twitter and tumblr.

Screamshots courtesy of Mobygames and the Blood Wiki.

Did you like the classic gory shooter Blood? Did you want more? Of course you do. Sunstorm Interactive, creators of the classic Duke Nukem 3D expansions Duke it Out in DC and Duke Caribbean, of course would return with a quality expansion for Blood that would set the standard for future amateur releases.

Originally titled “Passage to Transylvania,” complete with ludicrous box art, Cryptic Passage (presumably a reference to the classic Megadeth album Cryptic Writings, but that’s just speculation) presents ten brand new levels to shoot things in, complete with some new art assets, and some new multiplayer levels to boot.

While games like Blood are never long on plot (though Blood admittedly had slightly more storyline than most of its contemporaries), Cryptic Passage is borderline plot-free. The only thing connecting these levels — and it’s something the base game does, though not consistently — is the organic way one level flows into the next. There IS a plot, though. It’s sometime after the main game — implied to be the early 30s. Caleb hears that the Cabal are in possession of some kind of magical scroll, and goes to the Carpathian mountains of central Europe to take it for himself. That’s it, that’s the whole story. There isn’t even a cutscene; the ending is a couple of still pictures and text and that’s it. But who cares — this is Blood we’re talking about, and there’s killing to do. And plenty of it. Carpathia is rendered beautifully by 1997 standards. It’s an eclectic mix of creepy European villages, dismal swamps and ancient ruins, offering a range of themes for you to shotgun cultists in. Stand-outs include the opera house, and the library. While a number of people had their hand in level design, the majority of it is by project director Robert Travis, who also had a big hand in designing the maps for the Duke expansions. His style is immediately recognizable. It's clear that Sunstorm has learned a lot from their Duke Nukem expansions which even still were fantastic by themselves; the design aesthetic is overall tighter and somewhat more realistic than the base game with some original ideas despite the levels' overall short length.

Cryptic Passage brings absolutely nothing to the base formula. There are no new enemies or weapons. Most of the new art assets are goofy-looking skeleton sprites mostly used in the graveyard level. But Sunstorm were known for quality level design (especially Robert Travis’ maps) and that holds true here. There’s nothing more satisfying than a great expansion pack for a great game; you get to see another designer’s take on the base formula, see original ideas the main developers might not have thought of. And you get to play a great game that bit much more. Cryptic Passage is a great representation of what expansion packs are for. It doesn’t need to be anything more than a level design showcase. While it never reaches the heights of, say, “The Seige,” the explosive second level of Blood’s third episode, this is a solid levelset that shows you the best of what Blood is about.

 

 

CP01: Boat Docks

Michael Beaulieu

The expansion starts off right with Caleb fresh off the boat onto a dock. Most of the level is a series of watery caverns, populated by ordinary trash mobs to start you off light. Eventually you find a back way into a creepy fisherman’s cabin, and from there, an old lighthouse. Mostly linear, but you can sometimes open shortcuts to earlier parts of the level. fun encounter by the lighthouse.

CP02: Old Opera House

“WBB”, who I’m going to guess is Bill Buchalter

Given that Duke Nukem 3D’s most famous level is an adult theater, it probably was inevitable that Blood would have an opera house as a counterpart. After a short little path you come upon the town gates; beyond is a surprisingly well lit street, shops open for business. The opera house itself has seen better days, but it’s currently being squatted by zombies and cultists. Poking around in the auditorium uncovers a key to the back entrance down a long alley; from there you get to clear out the backstage areas, ultimately winding up in the cistern below with a surprise gillbeast in tight quarters. A little exploring and you’ll find the lair of a certain phantom. One of my favorite levels in the expansion.

CP03: Gothic Library

Robert Travis & Shawn Swift

Between this and “Old Opera House” you’re not suffering for creepy urban locales, which outside of the original game's third episode were a bit rare. Following directly on from the previous level, this is a small, yet fairly open layout that has you poking around in various wings of a 1920s-style library. Lots of ambushes here behind every door, save one, behind which is a dark, foreboding mini-maze of bookshelves that has zombies lunge at you from the shadows when you grab the key within. Great looking map that annoyingly has a couple of “find the button” puzzles blocking progress.

CP04: Lost Monastary

Robert Travis

True to Blood tradition, we’re running through a crumbling religious site, though this one is less “creepy ancient temple to a forgotten god” and more “defiled church.” Though it starts off linear, it soon begins to get sectioned off behind locked doors. A few good ambushes here, such as when you drop down a chimney to get ambushed by Bloated Butchers. Lots of broad outdoor views too, especially in the back half of the map when you’re forced on an extended river ride to get the eye key and back. Fun Hexen reference in the belltower.

CP05: Steamboat

Michael Beaulieu

An unusual map for Blood, seemingly more suited for Redneck Rampage, and yet it works. (Amusingly, Redneck Rampage Rides Again has a riverboat level as well.) Geographically it’s quite small, but Beaulieu has made great use of overlapping sectors to create a realistic-feeling vessel, with three decks on this tub to explore. Lots of ambushes here, a few fun moments like a zombie climbing out of a toilet to come after you, a caged velociraptor(?) in the basement. Just when you think you’ve won and you’ve opened the way to the exit, the boat repopulates, requiring you to clear it out again on your way out.

CP06: Graveyard

Tyler Larsen

What’s more of a Blood staple than a spooky graveyard? This one’s far larger than the iconic “Cradle to Grave” though. Tyler Larsen has crafted a sprawling collection of graves and monuments separated by hedges and walls and populated mostly by trash mobs. Once you get the skull key and head into the mausoleum, the theme changes to a maze of tombs and catacombs with the occasional watery cave to keep things interesting. Bloated Butchers are out in force here, with a few hellhounds to keep you on your toes. Cultists lurk around every corner, and the finale has you facing off against a mess of them, plus gargoyles, plus a hellhound, in tight quarters. At the very end you have a choice of going up some stairs to exit the tomb, or jump into a burning crematory chute to find the secret exit.

CPSL: Boggy Creek

Robert Travis

Secret levels should be distinctive and memorable. While I don’t know if this small, swampy map is distinctive compared to, say, “House of Horrors” or “Mall of the Dead,” it’s certainly memorable, chiefly for the ruined house with its locked basement full of spiders, and the multi-gillbeast assault after you come back upstairs. Similar to “Crystal Lake” in Blood’s fourth episode, wall textures looking like trees stand in for actual trees to define the boundaries of the map. Charon ferries you around the swamp, but you’ll need to find a key to your own boat to get to the ending, which leads you to the same spot the regular ending of CP06 would have taken you.

CP07: Mountain Pass

Robert Travis

Reminiscent of some of the levels in Blood’s second episode, though with somewhat less snow. The cabal have set up some kind of bunker or another in and around some ruins set into the side of the mountains, and your task is to find and lower a series of obelisks (similar to what unlocked the boss levels in the main game) to gain access to keys. Mostly fun except for an annoying bit where you have to wait for a stone platform that ferries you across a chasm.

CP08: Abysmal Mine

Shawn Swift

More cues from the original game's second episode, this is a relatively short little jaunt that starts you off underwater and makes you climb ashore right into an ambush. You’ll be heading back and forth as each key seems to go somewhere else on the map. Fun little scare when you break through a wall right into a phantasm-haunted tomb. The finale is a bit abrupt.

CP09: Castle

Jeff Cleveland

Your final destination is this gloomy castle in Jeff Cleveland’s sole contribution to the mapset. Compared to the relative ease of the rest of this mapset, Cleveland really turns up the heat, throwing hordes of enemies at you, plus multiple boss enemies including a nest of stone gargoyles. Starting off relatively linear, it branches out once you reach the castle proper; a trip to the dungeons prefaces a slaughter in the living quarters. After you clear out the big badasses and step into a portal you’ll face off against TWO Cerberuses (Cerberi?) who serve as the final boss in a strange, otherworldly, vaguely Egyptian-themed temple. After that, you’re done!

-June <3

 

Secret tunnel
Secret tunnel
Through the mountains
Secret secret secret secret tunnel
Yeah!