Bleed 2

Genre: Action-Platformer / Two-Stick Shooter

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Bleed Complete Bundle along with Bleed. It is also in the Indie Darling Bundle Vol. 2 along with Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut and The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human, as well as The Pew Pew Bundle Vol. 1 along with Black Paradox and XenoRaptor. It is also in the Couch Co-Op Bundle Vol. 2 along with Black Paradox, Shikhondo – Soul Eater, and Vertical Drop Heroes HD.)

Bleed 2, like the first game, is a fast-paced Action-Platformer with a cartoony style and silly characters, with a plot that picks up after the first game and follows our hero fending off a massive invasion while alternately being helped by and fighting with her rival from the first game.

Bleed 2’s presentation is an evolution of what was seen in the first game, with a similar visual style, but with much more detailed graphics that are a marked improvement. It’s still nothing technically impressive, but the series’ personality comes through loud and clear here and it’s delightful to watch.

However, even more than that, Bleed 2 is delightful to listen to, as the first game’s unappealing soundtrack has been shed in favor of a killer 80s electric guitar-infused soundtrack.

Also improved, surprisingly, is the gameplay. I say “surprisingly” because the first game was already so good, yet this one manages to build on it by making sword deflection a key element of the game, and by allowing players to use both melee and gun attacks available at all times without swapping. As a result, the action in this game is much more thoughtful and clever, although this also causes it to be somewhat easier than the first game.

The rest of what made the first game work carries over perfectly to this one – wonderful controls that give the player tons of maneuverability (including multiple air dashes and a slightly-reworked “bullet time”), fantastic level design, tons of variety, lots of unlockable alternate weapons to choose from, as well as unlockable alternate characters, great bosses, wonderful co-op play… although I will note that this game seems to frequently recycle ideas and bosses from the first game, at times seeming like a do-over of sorts. It’s not bad, but given how great some of the new ideas are here, I wish more time was spent on those.

Alas, I wish more time was spent on the game overall too, because my major complaints about the first game are back in full force here – This is a very, very short game that can be completed in an hour, and it is being sold for a whopping $20. I absolutely love the way this game plays, and that makes the lack of value present here even more painful.

To its credit, the game tries to stretch out its run time by adding a one-life “Arcade mode”, a multi-boss challenge mode and, most notably, a randomly-generated endless mode. However, the first two of these do little to pad out the play time of this game, and the third one lacks the wildly imaginative personality present in the game’s main campaign.

If you can get Bleed 2 on sale, absolutely do that – it is immensely fun during its extremely short play time, and a marked improvement over its already-excellent predecessor. However, with only about an hour to complete the campaign, its $20 price tag is outright insulting.

tl;dr – Bleed 2 is an Action-Platformer and 2-Stick Shooter with a simple, cartoony presentation and a silly story about a girl fending off an invasion. This game improves on the first one in almost every way, with even better action, better visuals, a great soundtrack, and the same wonderful variety, great level design, and excellent co-op. However, where it doesn’t improve on the first game is value – the main campaign can still be finished in an hour or so, and the extra game modes don’t stretch things out much more than that. For $20, I simply cannot recommend this game, but definitely get it if you see it on sale.

Grade: B+

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