clickbliss — Bleed 2 Review

Bleed 2 Review

Bleed 2
Developer- Ian Camppell
Publisher- Ian Campbell
PC (Steam)

There are few feelings more satisfying than a good parry. Bleed 2 knows that, and not only does it center itself on it, it brings the best version of the parry: the one that can reflect missiles into an enemies face.

That’s what makes Bleed 2 work. The slow motion gunplay, the agile character, the two color bullet system – it all complements the parry. The parry changes the way you approach levels. It makes it smarter to be the aggressor, forces you to run towards bullets to create breathing room. The best moments in Bleed 2 are the ones that play with that. They create tension as you rally bullets until your opponent drops it, then have knock them out of the air with a quick response to their dive attack. Or they have you defend an ally by parrying a car out of the air.

Moments like these are constant thanks to Bleed 2′s tight pacing. It has the rhythm of a good arcade game, each stage a series of crescendos ending in the climax of a boss fight. Weaker enemies are never a challenge, but cannon fodder to either stumble over or build your rank with as you test your knowledge of the stage layout. It’s clearly built to be replayed, and harder difficulties mix up enemy attacks and bullet patterns. Clearing these successive challenges will also unlock new characters, whose abilities force you to approach each stage in a new way. You might trade in maneuverability to parry both shot types and a double jump that refreshes after an attacking an enemy, or maybe pick up a color-changing, bullet absorbing moveset that pays tribute to a particular scrolling shooter by Treasure.

My first run through Bleed 2 clocked in at just over an hour, but these variations kept me returning long after that. Even know I’m making my way through the single life Arcade Mode after tackling the rough remix of Hard Mode, with plenty of characters and an even tougher difficulty to explore. Then there’s the co-op campaign, which smartly encourages looking out for each other by having shared health and assigning a different color to each player. Co-op in tough action games can sometimes make it feel as if another player is dragging you down, but here my partner and I often found ourselves saving each other by knocking away bullets, or even triggering slow motion went the other didn’t react in time.

That gets to my favorite feature of Bleed 2: it’s encouraging. Bleed 2 is demanding, and it knows that, so it makes a serious effort to always have a positive vibe. Tough action games often take on a dour, tense tone, or punish you by making you trek through several minutes you’ve already played before. Bleed 2 never has those frustrations. Its checkpoints are always well placed, and even dying is met with encouraging messages which acknowledge the challenge and cheer you on for just one more try. It’s a refreshing change, and even when I ran into walls at higher difficulties it kept me from feeling upset with it. Action games this tuned is hard to come by, but finding one that persistently inspires these good vibes? That’s an achievement. Don’t miss this one.