by Michael FertittaIt feels like for the past couple of years, there has been a rise in games that go the extra mile to accurately adapt points of real world history or mythology into an engaging action-adventure experience. Games like 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima and 2024’s Black Myth: Wukong have done this well enough to the point of earning dozens of Game of the Year nominations, so there is a rapidly growing appreciation for games with similar settings. In comes NetEase, making an unprecedented departure from its typical cadence of publishing and developing live-service titles, instead working on Blood Message, a single-player action-adventure game set during the Tang Dynasty.
I was fortunate enough to be able to try out Blood Message at Summer Game Fest this year, and after playing it for about a half hour while talking with the developers, it was easily one of my highlights of the show.
Blood Message put me in the shoes of Pei Changguan, a man with a mission to deliver a crucial message to Chang’an, the capital of the Tang Empire. The demo took me through the beginning of his journey where he had to evade soldiers storming through Shazhou City trying to snuff him out and prevent him from delivering said message, which cements the central conflict for the game. Initially, gameplay took on a stealth-based approach, where I had to dodge around soldiers’ lines of sight and silently dispose of them where I could. I found the stealth mechanics to be very intuitive, and it was thrilling to the point where I felt tense when in the crosshairs of a soldier as I was moving from spot to spot. I would say the stealth gameplay is very akin to Assassin’s Creed between the fluid movement and sneak attacks you can pull off.
Towards the mid-point of the demo, I was faced with a battle against a group of soldiers who had just massacred several civilians for any information regarding the message that Pei is attempting to send. This was where I got a taste of the combat, and I’ve got to say the combat is very satisfying.
Rather than the typical styles of having a stamina bar to determine how frequently you can attack, Blood Message goes for a more realistic approach where you can feel your character’s exhaustion in their movement. If you spam the attack buttons too much, Pei will be noticeably slower and more vulnerable to attacks. There are also quicktime events where Pei can defend himself from enemy attacks and counter them. These also can occur when Pei is knocked onto the ground, which is a neat way of getting back into the action if you’re knocked down. I would say the strongest comparison for the combat is Ghost of Tsushima, as the combat requires patience and strategy, whilst in the action of battle to succeed.
After an extended running segment, Pei finds his way out of the city and begins his journey to deliver his message. I had a phenomenal time with the demo; the stealth segments were satisfying to pull off once I snuck in a few kills, and the combat was intuitive with a degree of on-the-fly strategy required to emerge victorious. I can say with absolute certainty that this was one of my highlights of the show, and I cannot wait to experience the full game when it releases. Unfortunately, there’s no release window or confirmed platforms yet, but hopefully we find out soon.
Blood Message
