Bloodroots

Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.

84%Game Brain Score

gameplay, graphics

story, grinding

89% User Score Based on 107 reviews

Critic Score 82%Based on 28 reviews

Platforms

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About

Bloodroots is a single player arcade hack and slash game with a violence theme. It was developed by Paper Cult and was released on March 12, 2021. It received positive reviews from both critics and players.

Betrayed by his partners and left for dead, Mr. Wolf is hell-bent on enacting his revenge - alone, and vastly outnumbered. Thankfully for Mr. Wolf, in Bloodroots the world is your weapon. In this relentless action game, you'll choreograph spectacular, ultra-violent combos by making use of everything around you, from hatchets, to ladders, to...carrots? It's improvise or die, as Mr. Wolf fights his …

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89%

Audience ScoreBased on 107 reviews

gameplay14 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

Fast-paced, fluid, and satisfying combat with a wide variety of creative weapons and environmental interactions.
Stylish and unique art style combined with a great soundtrack that complements the intense gameplay.
Accessible yet challenging gameplay with a well-designed difficulty curve, instant respawns, and rewarding replayability through combos, leaderboards, and collectibles.

Occasional issues with camera angles and perspective that can make platforming and spatial awareness difficult.
Some combat mechanics feel inconsistent or quirky, such as auto-targeting glitches and unpredictable weapon pickups.
The story and boss fights can feel underdeveloped or less memorable compared to the rest of the game.

gameplay
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
39%
11%
The gameplay is fast-paced, addictive, and smooth, featuring a dynamic one-hit-kill mechanic with a wide variety of unique weapons and movement options. It combines intense action with puzzle elements and offers a high skill ceiling while remaining accessible, though some players note issues like frustrating camera angles and level length. Overall, it’s praised as a thrilling, Hotline Miami-like experience with a distinctive style and satisfying combat.
- “Quickly reaching and then maintaining a frantic pace combines great combos with a large variety of weapons, many with unique mechanics or movement.”
- “The brilliant fusion of fast-paced action and puzzle mechanics, combined with high difficulty but pacing that moves so fast, you never have time to get mad before you're right back at it.”
- “The gameplay feels very smooth when hacking your way through levels, being able to pick up virtually anything around you as a weapon in your fight as Mr. Wolf.”
- “But the reason I dislike this game is rooted (see what I did there?) in what is arguably the most important aspect of this genre of games... the gameplay sucks.”
- “The basic mechanics of Bloodroots were simply too messy for me to appreciate the rest of the package.”
- “While having vertical gameplay in this game, it feels frustrating sometimes to me.”
story
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
74%
13%
The story is a fairly standard revenge plot with a grim tone that contrasts with the game's cartoony style. While not groundbreaking, it is engaging enough to keep players interested, featuring unique narrative structure and distinctive characters. However, some feel the western setting and story elements could be better explored or presented.
- “Surprisingly ample storytelling with distinctive character personalities.”
- “Whilst the story isn't anything groundbreaking, it plays with structure and the method of storytelling more than I'm used to seeing in games.”
- “It kept me engaged and ready for the next plot beat the whole way through.”
- “The different western vibe could be much better explored in the story, feeling like a means to an end and lacking the necessary story quality and presentation.”
- “The plot is a classic revenge story of hunting down your old crew; it’s hacky, surface level, and a fun little bonus to the intense, engaging gameplay.”
- “There is a story but it's fairly standard revenge plot fare.”
graphics
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
25%
5%
The game's graphics feature a unique and stylish art style that blends cartoony violence with charming, expressive visuals, creating a distinctive and immersive aesthetic. While the top-down 3D perspective and ambiguous edges can sometimes affect gameplay clarity, the beautifully designed environments and characters enhance the overall experience and perfectly complement the fast-paced, addictive gameplay.
- “The artstyle is quite unique and beautiful; all the different elements of maps are well highlighted, making combat really fluid.”
- “Gone is the neon and synthwave, replaced with a cool wilderness cartoon aesthetic, full of strange characters and creatures with some truly impressive bosses.”
- “The graphics are very eye-pleasing, it's running at a peppy 144fps - and did I mention there's hidden stuff, and unlockables?”
- “Plus, while the graphics are stylish and charming, they make the edges and locations of objects and enemies very ambiguous, in addition to the top-down 3D perspective making aiming more uncertain than fully 2D or fully 3D games in this genre.”
music
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
8%
25%
The game's music is widely praised for its fitting, energetic soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience. Many users describe it as fantastic, catchy, and an integral part of the game's identity, contributing significantly to the overall enjoyment.
- “The soundtrack fits well with the game.”
- “The OST has some really nice bangers as well.”
- “The music is simply amazing!”
- “The music isn't half bad and the game can have some good visuals at some points.”
- “Soundtrack fits well with the game.”
- “A boppin' soundtrack.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is generally praised for being funny, entertaining, and well-written with colorful dialogues and a good sense of slapstick and violent humor. While most find it charming and enjoyable, a few note that despite its humor, the overall experience may not appeal to everyone. Overall, the humor adds a positive and engaging element to the game.
- “The game features a story told in 3 acts with interesting and funny writing that kept me entertained throughout.”
- “Colorful and funny dialogues with lovely transitions, this game is made with love.”
- “Fun action flow game with great humor :D”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is made more manageable with assist and accessibility options, allowing players to skip or delay tedious sections. The balance of cut-scenes and story progression helps keep the experience engaging despite level grinding.
- “Dev added assist options which made going back and grabbing hidden wolves way less tedious.”
- “Remember the accessibility options if an area is too tedious, you can just come back to it later.”
- “There are enough cut-scenes and story progression so we don't get too bored of grinding levels.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game is generally well-optimized, running smoothly on high-end machines with good control response, though some minor performance issues may be present.
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability shows occasional bugs, such as teleporting glitches and problematic geometry in specific Act 2 areas, which can affect gameplay clarity. However, some players seem to embrace these quirks as part of the overall experience.
- “The area in act 2 right before the room with nothing but two hammer boys and scrolling lasers had some insanely buggy geometry. The wolf kept teleporting around, and it was hard to tell why.”
- “A bit buggy in certain situations, but watching the leaderboards, I guess that is part of the fun of it?”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game provides a fair challenge and delivers high replay value, encouraging players to return multiple times.
- “Offers a good fair challenge and has a lot of replay value.”