Bloodshore review

Bloodshore is an interactive action movie about a televised battle royale titled Kill/Stream and features high-profile streamers, entertainers/influencers, and death row inmates. At the center of it all is Nick; a washed-up actor who fights for a life-changing cash prize. However, not all is at it seems for the hottest reality TV show on the planet. Can Nick uncover the truth about Bloodshore Island before his time runs out? Nick’s fate lies in your hands.

For those new to the genre, an interactive movie is pretty self-explanatory. You watch a movie where at times, you’ll be prompted to make conversational choices that will directly or indirectly impact the game’s path. And well you don’t have direct actions over the characters. Each choice will impact Nick’s stats; romance, insight, etc… Based on these, you’ll guide Nick down the path of one of the game’s many endings. And in turn, the relationship you create, or “destroy”, with your fellow entertainers can also have a long-term impact.

One of the game’s strengths, or any other interactive movie, is definitely its replay value. Given that this game features a total of 8 hours of FMV, full-motion video, footage, and a bevy of conversational choices to make, there’s multiple endings to uncover. However, the game doesn’t let you make any save states meaning you have to start from the beginning each time instead of just loading up a save and making a different choice.

This interacting experience does have a few nuisances. When making a conversational choice, the game briefly chops showcasing the problematic editing job; and this is not the first time I’m noticing this in Wales Interactive interactive movies. It’s not that bad obviously, but it is noticeable. And the other issue is constantly being shown people watching the Kill Stream event. It takes you out of the moment, even for a brief instant, killing any sort of tension building. Oh and there’s an ACTUAL KID watching it.

Given that Bloodshore is an interactive movie, it’s kinda hard to say anything bad about the visual aspect of it as most of it is real; actors, settings. Although gore effects leave a lot to be desired. Unlike professional movies where the killing (can’t believe I’m writing this) looks real and final, everything in this production looks fake. I’ve seen amateur horror movies such as Jason Rising with better effects. Once again the editing job is a bit lacking as it shows where the game takes a path based on your decisions. Audio-wise, it’s fine. Although aside from the guy playing Nick, most of the characters sound straight out of a b-movie; they’ve successfully made me want to off certain characters… and that’s coming from someone who tolerated Emily in Until Dawn.

As a fan of the genre, I had a blast overall with Bloodshore. It features a decent cast of unique characters; some relatable, others utterly detestable. Aside from the visible editing job, nonsensical sequences with viewers of the shows, and the dreadful host, it felt different than other interactive movies and quite unique. And as with other similar gaming experience, the game has enough replay value to keep you enthralled for some time; making different choices in your various playthroughs, will lead you down different paths. If you love the genre, or want to dive into it, you can’t go wrong with Bloodshore.