Blood Wake

"My boat can sink your boat anyday."

If aonybody has been to the Bloodwake Message Board then you'll know that it's taken it's fair amount of bashing,and also apparently some bash left over from the whole ''Kabuki'' fiasco.Though most of it was because of some stupid reasons like dificulty or the fact that it's not Twisted Metal on water.Or land.Depends on how you drive.Anyhow,my Dreamcast was gathering dust as well as the single game I had left for it so I promptly traded the whole load of it in after a teary goodbye and a three hour ''Farewell'' party.Bloodwake caught my eye on the X-Box Kiosk in the store.I had done some reading about it before and so after snatching the box I paid for it and headed out the door.Did I enjoy it?Do you care?Are you bored enough to keep reading anyway even with my poor grammar and spelling?

Gameplay/Control (9/10)

Here's what counts and Bloodwake does it well.Gameplay comes in two flavors; Story and Battle mode.Story mode sends you off on the high seas to do various missions for your new friends ''The Shadow Clan'' and get revenge on your evil rat-bastard of a brother.Mission variety is really good.Sometimes you'll have to protect your friends or a city,or sneak attack on an enemy base or even race to beat a time.There's plenty of stuff to unlock as you play through the game on it's different difficulty levels.And those difficulty levels are...em...difficult.Yes.Well,while Ensign is fairly easy,the Elite mode rivals even Halo's legendary difficulty.A few people gripe about the difficulty of Bloodwake.In the begining the game is easy,but once you reach Mission 8 you'll realize just how much this game can throw at you.In missions like this one you have to use strategy.Simply pulling a ''Run'N Gun'' will get you sunk.Fast.Sometimes you have to stand back and fire at your opponents and pick them off one by one or take it nice and slow in order to succeed.Other people complain about control.Yes,it can be tough to steer sometimes but that's what seafaring is all about.Faring the sea and whatnot.The waves can sometimes throw you off but I felt steer and control was easy.A ten minute learning curve at best.In Story mode your boat is chosen for you for the mission you have to carry out and in Battle mode,you can select the different boats you've unlocked,each with different classes that give them other weapon sets.Control is good and a snap to get used to.Left stick to steer,the triggers to fire weapons and ''A'' to switch between them as well as ''X'' for your nifty turbo.No problems there.Playing Bloodwake is simply a blast.It's fun to toast enemy ships in Story mode or your friends in Battle mode.The easy ''pick up and play'' interface makes it a blast to play though the difficulty in later missions can throw off a few.So,no,it is NOT Twisted Metal on water.You do not simply blow up some stuff and go to another stage to do it again.Your weapons are set on the boat your using and you can only pick up more ammo or health and no obscure super power-ups.

Sound/Graphics (7/10)

Sound left a little to be desired.While the sountrack itself is pretty good,it plays a little too quiet in the background at even the highest level to get the blood pumping.The voice acting during the story segments is pretty sub-par as well.Asian characters are played by voice actors who have probably never even heard of Asia.The characters are all supposed to be Asian but the actors are clearly picked off the streets of California or some such place.Some lines are delivered well but others beg to be mocked.Needless to say,it's fairly inconsistent.On the other hand,the graphics are near perfection.The water,boats and sky are all amazingly done.Waves and wake kick up when boats zip by you and setting the weather to ''Stormy'' in Battle mode is a real sight to behold.Hey,that rhymes!Erm..well,the land formations are less impressive.They're full of pixles when you get close up and some are just poorly done sprites.Obviously you won't be paying attention to them most of the time though and they look fine from far away so it doesn't scream at you for you to notice it.

PROS
-Smashing Gameplay
-Easy to play
-Good Mission Variety
-Unlockable stuffs
-Fun Multiplayer

CONS
-Difficult
-Bad,bad voice acting..
-It's not Twisted Metal.I guess.
-Spites.And not the magical kind that turns that light in the refrigerator on and off.

So what does it all mean?
It means that if you like shooting and killing with a twist,then buying this game will leave you satisfied.

Your reviews are beefy and manly.Will you go out with me?
No.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/02, Updated 01/11/02