Blood, Monolith’s Classic 1997 FPS, Is Getting A Reboot

Who remembers Monolith’s Blood? One of several games made during the 90s on Ken Silverman’s Build engine, Blood distinguished itself by having a ridiculous array of weapons, from dynamite bundles and voodoo dolls to dual-wielding weapons (not a unique feature, but uncommon for the period). Now, it looks like we’re getting a “reboot”, thanks to Atari, with Nightdive Studios taking up the developer reins.

I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t Nightdive the company working on the troubled System Shock reboot? You know, the one that not only switched engines mid-development, but scrapped its work entirely because it was becoming too much of a different game?

Yes, it’s the same company. However, Atari sounds confident — at least, going by the press release — that the game won’t end up a clown fiesta:

“We are thrilled to work with the fine team at Nightdive Studios to bring the cult classic Blood back to gamers,” said Todd Shallbetter, COO of Atari. “Blood is a grisly good time, and there’s no better team out there than Nightdive to ensure that the game will find new fans.”

But I digress. The “reboot” itself, which is more an update for modern systems, will use “some of the functions of Nightdive’s KEX engine”, which the company used for revamped versions of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and System Shock: Enhanced Edition.

This will allow the studio to more easily modernise the game:

Regarding the upgrading effort, Daniel said: “Blood stood up extremely well over time and we are taking care to preserve all the qualities that made the game so special. It really only needs minor updates to provide a better user experience for contemporary audiences. By using some of the functions of Nightdive’s KEX engine, we’ll be able to provide compatibility with today’s video standards, with DirectX and Vulkan support.”

No release date for now, but more info should be released “in the coming weeks”.

Atari Partners with Nightdive Studios for Reboot of Adventure-Horror PC title “Blood” [Gamasutra]

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