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Blood Knights

Had Blood Knight actually been enjoyable it would be perfect for a Friday night session of all night gaming with a friend. But its frustrating features lead to failure.
Blood Knights Game Cover
55%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
stability, optimization
60% User Score Based on 483 reviews
Critic Score 30%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

Playstation 3Xbox 360Xbox Series X|SPCXbox OneXboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStation
Blood Knights Game Cover

About

Blood Knights is a single player and multiplayer role playing game with fantasy and historical themes. It was developed by Deck 13 and was released on November 13, 2013. It received negative reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

In "Blood Knights," players assume the role of a vampire hero named Alysa or a human hero named Jeremy, battling enemies in a dark fantasy world. The game features hack-and-slash combat and co-op gameplay, with the ability to switch between melee and ranged attacks. Alysa's vampire abilities can be upgraded, but players must manage her bloodthirst to avoid losing control.

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60%
Audience ScoreBased on 483 reviews
story60 positive mentions
stability20 negative mentions

  • The game offers enjoyable hack-and-slash gameplay with the ability to switch between two characters, providing some variety in combat.
  • The gothic aesthetic and environments, while dated, have a certain charm that adds to the overall atmosphere of the game.
  • The short runtime of around 5-6 hours makes it approachable for players looking for a quick, uncomplicated action title.
  • The story and character development are shallow, with poorly executed dialogue and voice acting that detracts from the experience.
  • The fixed camera angles and clunky movement lead to frustrating platforming sections and can result in unnecessary deaths.
  • Combat can become repetitive, with many encounters relying on basic attack patterns and lacking depth in strategy.
  • story
    296 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Blood Knights" is generally criticized for being shallow, poorly executed, and filled with clichés, despite having an intriguing premise involving vampires and moral choices. Many reviewers noted that the narrative feels rushed, lacks depth, and is marred by cheesy dialogue and subpar voice acting, leading to a disjointed experience that fails to engage players. While some found the story entertaining in a campy way, overall, it is seen as forgettable and lacking the necessary development to make it compelling.

    • “The story is intriguing enough to keep you to the end, but the combat isn’t going to be for everyone.”
    • “I liked the two main characters and the story, which unfolded more and more as the game progressed, with an interesting turn at the end.”
    • “It's simple, short, and sweet but I loved it, a hack n slash with a story I enjoyed (and want more of) and character/armor/weapon design I really liked.”
    • “The setup suggests a story full of tension, moral conflict, and uneasy camaraderie, yet the narrative rarely capitalizes on its potential.”
    • “Despite its high-stakes premise, the storytelling frequently feels rushed, as though large narrative beats are missing between scenes.”
    • “The story is so bad it's good; it tries so hard to tell a decent vampire story only to come off as nonsensical and comical, with voice acting and cutscene direction being the worst offenders.”
  • gameplay
    166 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of the game is characterized by a simplistic hack-and-slash combat system that allows players to switch between two protagonists, but it suffers from repetitiveness and a lack of depth in mechanics. While some players appreciate the novelty of vampiric abilities and co-op play, many criticize the poor camera control, linear level design, and technical issues that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the gameplay is seen as enjoyable for casual play but ultimately feels shallow and underdeveloped, making it hard to recommend for those seeking a more refined experience.

    • “The gameplay centers around hack-and-slash combat with the ability to switch instantly between the two protagonists.”
    • “The vampiric abilities—such as draining enemies to heal or using telekinetic push-and-pull mechanics—add small but welcome bursts of flavor.”
    • “Gameplay is enjoyable.”
    • “The biggest gameplay issues I found are the save system utilized; you have to get close to static checkpoints spread out across the level to save your progress. There is no auto-saving, which means you have to backtrack now and then to make sure you don't lose progress.”
    • “While the premise and character switching mechanic are interesting ideas, the repetitive gameplay, poor story execution, and numerous technical issues make it a difficult game to recommend.”
    • “The worst part about the gameplay is the camera perspective, which changes as you play, and can be a real nuisance.”
  • graphics
    111 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are widely regarded as outdated, often compared to titles from previous console generations, with many reviewers noting a lack of polish and optimization. While some appreciate the gothic aesthetic and find the visuals tolerable, the overall consensus is that the graphics do not meet modern standards, suffering from low frame rates and various glitches. Despite occasional praise for specific elements, the general impression is that the graphics are a significant drawback, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “The gothic aesthetic, while dated, has a certain charm, with dark castles, moonlit fortresses, and cursed battlegrounds forming the backdrop for its short campaign.”
    • “Blood Knights actually looks pretty good, simply from a graphical standpoint as an action RPG.”
    • “The graphics are good, the voice acting is okay, the storyline so far is interesting and solid.”
    • “The low frame rate is not tied to graphics settings - it will lag while taking only a fraction of the available resources.”
    • “The graphics are so 2007.”
    • “On top of that the voice acting is laughable, the graphics are worse than a 2010 game, and it's just not fun to play, at all.”
  • humor
    47 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is characterized by its unintentional comedic elements, including poorly executed voice acting, absurd dialogue, and ridiculous scenarios that often lead to laughter. Players find enjoyment in the game's "so bad it's funny" charm, with many highlighting the hilarity of the characters' interactions and the overall ineptitude of the presentation. While the humor may be sophomoric and the story thin, it provides a source of amusement, especially in a co-op setting where friends can share in the laughter.

    • “The dialogue and plot are hilariously bad.”
    • “The voice acting is hilariously bad, the cut-scenes are silly, and there's this wonderful aura of ineptitude throughout the game.”
    • “If you're not laughing out of embarrassment by the third time the priest says 'but first I will use my healing powers' in the introductory battle, you're likely to cringe through the remaining dialogue.”
    • “The core problem of the game is how it's got no substance, zero, zilch... the sudden glitching, the unfunny humor, decisions making absolutely no sense.”
    • “I was literally fighting a horde of vampires and then out of nowhere comes a priest demanding I hand over an artifact I just found... so many questions that Jeremy could've asked but no, he acts like it's quite normal that a horde of vampires are hosting a priest of Rome, their sworn enemies, for absolutely no reason.”
  • music
    37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is generally described as decent but largely forgettable, with many reviewers noting its generic orchestral style and lack of memorable tracks. While some found the music fitting and enjoyable during gameplay, others criticized it for being repetitive and not enhancing the overall experience. Voice acting and sound effects received mixed feedback, with some praising their quality while others found them too loud or unremarkable compared to the background music.

    • “The music is pretty good throughout the game.”
    • “Pros: the plot is interesting, the game is entertaining, especially if you play it with a friend, music and the environment are great, the gameplay is competent.”
    • “The final villain was very cool, not just as a final boss, but as a character as well, and is accompanied by an awesome musical score during the final battle.”
    • “The music is forgettable.”
    • “If that was not enough, the music is not engaging at all, more like a 1 minute sample playing over and over again.”
    • “Other complaints are repetitive combat, boring musical score and poor story.”
  • stability
    21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The stability of the game is highly inconsistent, with some players reporting smooth performance at 60 fps without issues, while others experience frequent bugs, glitches, and performance problems that significantly detract from the gameplay experience. Many users highlight technical issues, including sound problems and unresponsive controls, leading to a generally buggy perception of the game. Overall, while a few players have had a stable experience, the majority report a range of stability issues that hinder enjoyment.

    • “The game runs great; I had 60 FPS on max settings all the time.”
    • “I experienced no crashes or bugs during my entire playthrough.”
    • “The performance is incredibly smooth, making for an enjoyable gaming experience.”
    • “Blood Knights suffers from frequent bugs, glitches, and performance problems, which can further detract from the experience.”
    • “For starters, it's very buggy.”
    • “This game has problems: it's graphically and aurally bland, it's unoptimized (runs unexpectedly slow for me considering the simple aesthetics), has an awful camera that is horribly unsuited to a game of this type, lacks features we've come to expect as standard from PC games (e.g. you cannot bind keys, you cannot change video settings beyond a single slider), and I suspect the game itself is a cut-down version of what was meant to be a much more ambitious project, hence the simple storytelling despite hints of a much bigger backstory, few locations despite what appears to be a much larger game world, very few side quests, many useless items, etc. Then you also have a variety of bugs and glitches popping up randomly.”
  • optimization
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing smooth performance at 60 fps on NVIDIA cards, while others report significant issues such as stuttering, lag, and crashes, particularly on AMD systems. Although some users noted that the game is generally well-optimized, frequent bugs and performance problems detract from the overall experience, leading to frustration among players.

    • “Overall, the game is well optimized, but it can get laggy for a moment (happened to me maybe twice?).”
    • “This PC version seems to have a few performance issues here and there, but is a serviceable enough port.”
    • “Solid and stable performance; I experienced no crashes or frame-rate issues.”
    • “That is because it is not about performance and instead about how the game processes frames in a slow fashion while leaving most system resources unused for the process.”
    • “Blood Knights suffers from frequent bugs, glitches, and performance problems, which can further detract from the experience.”
    • “Sadly, the game seems not to be optimized for AMD CPU and graphics.”
  • replayability
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the reviews indicate a mixed perception of replayability, with some users noting limited options for replaying the game due to short length and lack of substantial content. While a few players appreciate the ability to choose different responses or skills, many feel that the game does not offer enough incentive to replay, especially given its retail price.

    • “Infinitely replayable.”
    • “The game has replay value as you can choose different responses that will slightly change the course of the game.”
    • “There simply isn't enough content or replayability to justify the $15 retail price.”
    • “There is some replay value for people who are interested in different achievements.”
    • “Short game length (approx 5 hours) with limited replay value.”
  • character development
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is largely criticized, with many reviewers noting a lack of depth and growth for the protagonists and side characters. While some found the main characters likable and appreciated the character design, overall, the development is described as minimal, with clichéd dialogues and underdeveloped side characters. A few reviewers mentioned that the story's pacing offered more character development than anticipated, but it still fell short of expectations.

    • “+ story has a decent plot, events are well paced and more character development than I expected.”
    • “The character design is good, especially for the females.”
    • “Character design and abilities.”
    • “Character development: almost zero”
    • “Some cliché and cheesy dialogues, few character development, lack of strong side characters which are forgotten.”
    • “I found the two protagonists likable, despite there being next to no character development, and each enemy encounter and cut scene was gleefully entertaining.”
  • grinding
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game is generally viewed as tedious, with repetitive combat and simple mechanics that can become monotonous, especially when switching between characters. While some players appreciate the lack of extensive grinding and easy enemy AI, others find the linear gameplay and frustrating platforming elements detract from the overall experience. The short length of the game prevents the grinding from becoming overly burdensome, but the lack of variety in loot and combat can still lead to a sense of tedium.

    • “The combat is tedious and consists of 1-4 moves the whole game, but at least it works decently and the gear & skill stuff is fine, and since the game is very short it’s nothing that bad to deal with.”
    • “Extremely linear hack'n slash with bland, simple and tedious gameplay, as well as a dull story with dense characters.”
    • “There are several platforming elements that result in an instant death and send you back to the last save point, which means you usually have to fight a number of mobs just to get a chance to make the jump again... and if you fall... fight those mobs again... tedious and frustrating since the only reason you will fall is due to the bad controls (the platforming elements themselves are very simple and straightforward).”
  • atmosphere
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is a mixed bag, featuring varied and visually appealing environments that change across levels, complemented by enjoyable music. However, technical limitations and inconsistent sound design, including sections lacking a soundtrack, detract from the overall experience. Additionally, shallow character development and cheesy voice acting further undermine the intended emotional depth.

    • “I like the different maps and atmosphere as you go to different levels, and the 'secrets' are easy to find (sometimes items just become much less visible with the camera angle).”
    • “Some really nice atmospheric music though.”
    • “The music is pretty good; I enjoyed it for the most part. However, there are sections without any soundtrack and no proper reason for the lack of it, which can dampen the atmosphere of a level.”
    • “Shallow characters and devoid of atmosphere.”
  • emotional
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional depth of the game is often suggested but not fully realized, leaving players feeling disconnected from the narrative. Technical issues, such as malfunctioning checkpoints, further detract from the overall experience, preventing players from fully engaging with the story and its emotional stakes.

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6h Median play time
8h Average play time
6-6h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Blood Knights is a role playing game with fantasy and historical themes.

Blood Knights is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 8 hours playing Blood Knights.

Blood Knights was released on November 13, 2013.

Blood Knights was developed by Deck 13.

Blood Knights has received negative reviews from players and negative reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Blood Knights is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Dungeon Siege III, Enclave, How to Survive, Bound By Flame, Hunted: The Demon's Forge and others.