Blood Plasma Pak: Post-Mortem | BLOOD.INI
Monolith Productions
This review was originally posted in parts to Twitter and tumblr.
Say what you will about DLC, but games have been getting expansions to wring out your money with for years, and back in the 1990s you couldn’t swing a cat silencer without hitting some new-fangled shooter — and they all had expansions, all the most popular ones anyway. So it goes without saying that Blood, that classic horror shooter, would have an expansion or two. Sunstorm Interactive’s Cryptic Passage was a great first foray, but Monolith would respond with an official expansion of their own titled Plasma Pak. This was more than just a level set, it also updated the game proper. In addition to multiple bug fixes, it also added a few things such as new alternative fire modes for weapons that didn’t previously have them, new enemies, and new levels to showcase said enemies. Unfortunately it was all banged out in short order, and it shows.
Screemshots courtesy of Mobygames and the Blood Wiki.
Data from the Blood alpha is a sort of holy grail for the fandom; there’s all kinds of stuff in there, and it’s basically a museum exhibit of sorts for cut content, including a raft of unfinished and mostly finished levels, mostly by James Wilson III. While some of these levels did eventually make it into the retail game, not all of them did, until the release of the Plasma Pak, when certain of these old levels were dragged out and cleaned up and slapped together into an episode, titled “Post Mortem.” These levels were largely fairly abstract and featureless, reminiscent of Doom or other early 1990s shooters where the level design didn’t have such a a focus on realism. That aesthetic unfortunately remains in "Post Mortem" for the most part. This has the effect of giving the episode overall less personality than Cryptic Passage; worse is the fact that it features no new textures whatsoever; the only thing new, besides some enemies, is some new Caleb lines. Nearly all of the resurrected levels were originally drafted by James Wilson, and dusted off and cleaned up with input from other Monolith staff. as such, "Post-Mortem" could fairly be considered "James Wilson: the Episode." (It was originally called "Civilian Life" in development.) It’s obvious that these levels were banged out in a hurry to pay the bills during the development of Claw and Get Medieval – neither of which anyone really remembers today.
All in all the Plasma Pak is a disappointment. While the bug fixes and gameplay updates are appreciated, it does raise the question: why bother with the mapset at all when they could just release the patch for free? But there’s your answer: the new episode justifies the price tag. But does it really? It’s a largely bland set of maps lashed together from the halting early attempts seen in the alpha. The new enemies aren’t really anything to sneeze at either. Compared to Duke Nukem 3D’s Plutonium PAK, this has little to offer. The Plutonium PAK offered major gameplay fixes, a mostly-solid new episode with new art assets and mapping features (much of it built from Richard Grey’s scraps), new and original enemies, updated scripting language, among other features, and was later re-released with the full game as Atomic Edition, which is now the standard version. Plasma Pak in contrast brings very little to the table; its only re-release was alongside the main game, Cryptic Passage and a strategy guide in a box set called One Unit Whole Blood (which digital releases of the game would later appropriate.)
E6M1: Welcome to Your Life
James Wilson
Starting things off similar to the main game's E3M1 (also by James) with an urban level, albeit a small one. Zombies roam the street and back alley while the small department store is crowded with cultists and Bloated Butchers. A visit to the cash registers wins you a prize, which you may want to help clear out the bullshit. Climbing to the roof triggers an air raid by some gargoyles. Blood needs more urban levels and this is a nice little morsel.
E6M2: They Are Here
Craig Hubbard
Craig Hubbard returns for his only map for this episode, a sort of bland little corporate complex that doesn’t really seem to have any businesses in it, save for a tiny little bar tucked away in a back hallway. Most of the old alpha levels were fairly abstract, similar to Doom; this isn’t that bad, but it does have a banal vibe to it that feels like a precursor to the endless office complex in Monolith's later game F.E.A.R. Overall not a bad map, with some fun moments like an Army of Darkness reference in the bathroom, but otherwise not very memorable.
E6M3: Public Storage
James Wilson
The last urban level for the episode, James has brought us the ever-popular crate maze. Split across four main areas with multiple paths between, it’s as straightforward as levels like these ever tend to get. Kill things, get keys, use crates for cover, do some acrobatics, the whole bit. It finally culminates in a battle against a stone gargoyle who, with your relatively limited arsenal, will prove to be a real pain in the ass to put down. Not the most exciting level.
E6M4: Aqueducts
James Wilson & Nick Newhard
If there’s a level that exemplifies the featureless abstraction that is the old alpha levels, it’s this one. Ostensibly some kind of water/power facility (complete with turbines) it’s largely a featureless maze with some underwater sections. The downstairs has been completely flooded (reminiscent of the flooded control rooms of Duke Nukem 3D’s water treatment plant) but other than that there’s nothing here to suggest that this is an actual place that people might exist in, until towards the very end when you come upon an old fashioned sailing ship (and sink it.) Surprise mother spider ambush right before the exit is a lot less painful than the stone gargoyle. Bit of a dull enterprise.
E6M5: The Ruined Temple
Kevin Kilstrom & James Wilson
You start off underwater as per the end of the previous level. a frantic swim to a boardwalk lands you in the middle of an ambush around a small lake. If you can manage to clear it out and leave through a door upstairs in the little lakehouse you’ll come upon a crumbling temple grounds. Split into two parts, you’ll largely be spending time in the region of a yawning chasm, lava boiling away at the bottom. Not much to see here except for tons and tons of explosive barrels for no real reason, and a frantic ambush towards the end when hellhounds are sicced on you and you have to clear a safe space before a pair of gargoyle faces fill the chamber with fireballs. Reminiscent of some of the later levels in episode four, only not as fun.
E6M6: Forbidden Rituals
Kevin Kilstrom & James Wilson
While obviously Frankensteined together out of an alpha map, this is still an entertaining romp through a temple complex that’s a little more detailed than some of the other maps in this set. A stone gargoyle jumps you again right off the bat but with luck you’re better prepared for him this time. Dynamite-tossing acolytes are out in force in this level, but they’re almost as dangerous to themselves and each other as they are to you! The carnage culminates in you interrupting a creepy ritual and slaughtering all the participants, but even then you still have to make a quick excursion to get the key to the exit. They don’t even bother to make you work for the secret exit anymore, though you’d be hard-pressed to actually find it if you don’t know to shoot the symbol above the moon key door.
E6M9: Forgotten Catacombs
Nick Newhard & James Wilson
Catacombs so forgotten they’re still full of cultists! This is one of the better levels in this particular set, despite the name and positioning as a secret level calling back to one of the main game’s worse ones. A quick, twisty little map that won’t eat up a lot of time, but you’ll be faced with hordes of enemies. Aesthetically it’s pretty nice as well. A comparatively short map, but a bit of a breather after so much blanditude.
E6M7: The Dungeon
James Wilson & Nick Newhard
The last real level before the finale, “The Dungeon” is a lengthy gothic nightmare modeled after the temple levels in the first episode. Looking and playing a lot like a Quake map, enemies come out of the woodwork as you try to clear out three distinct areas, each sealed off by a series of doors you unlock by matching symbols. It’s a great-looking level that manages to be visually arresting despite its entirely subterranean setting.
E6M8: Beauty and the Beast
Nick Newhard & James Wilson
The very last level in Blood (if you did Cryptic Passage first.) You’d expect there to be a big, bombastic finale, right? Hell, at least a lengthy ending level before a mediocre boss? Not so much, no. The final level is essentially an arena map where you fight the Cabal’s newest Chosen Ones, who after taking a bit of damage turn into the werewolf-like “beasts” that serve as the game’s final boss. Provided you keep your distance and keep the pressure on, they’re a pushover. All in all, a disappointing end.
-June <3
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