New Steam FPS Game Is Basically Splatoon Meets Doom With One Huge Twist

In a world of boring, similar first-person shooters, ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) is here to save us all. The indie FPS is coming out today on Steam and comes from TrueWorld Studios, the same developer team that brought us UNYIELDER, which is another FPS title. ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) is shaking things up by introducing a mechanic that’s just as gory and violent as it is fun. The new title is certainly reviving my love of FPS games, since I haven’t been really enthralled by anything that has come out as of late.

There is a big issue with modern FPS titles that ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) seems to finally solve, bringing soul and color to a genre that has largely remained the same for years. I have long yearned for titles that keep me engaged, taking shooting combat to new heights by introducing mechanics that divert from the norm, making FPS weird again. I want something tangible out of my shooting games that keeps me invested every time I pick up the controller. ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) features flashy Doom move sets and Splatoon-esque splatter-based combat, and it’s already out on Steam. Sounds like a bloody good time to me. Pun intended.

Blood As a Weapon? It’s Not As Strange as It Seems

Grotesque? Maybe. Awesome? Yes. ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) sees players splattering walls, floors, and just about any surface they come into contact with in blood, and lots of it. Blood is a key resource in this fast-paced title, giving players the abilities they need to traverse the futuristic world inside Mother, a self-replicating megastructure. Surviving humans live off Mother’s blood, aka Sap, acting like leeches. Players pilot creatures created by Mother to wipe the remaining parasitic humans out and “beckon our extinction.”

Blood pools found around the expansive map can be soaked up to gain ammo or replenish health. Blood also upgrades weapons. When coming into contact with blood, each weapon upgrades differently, leaving players with a diverse arsenal. The blood that surrounds players also enhances their character, making traversal through Mother easier, fighting faster, and leaping higher. In short, players become altered when standing in blood, hence the game’s name. As one would expect from a modern Splatoon-esque game, movement in ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) is snappy and flashy.

Players can slide, b-hop, air-strafe, surf, and rocket jump to avoid enemies or traverse platforms. That fluidity is what makes gameplay like this so addictive, giving players an arsenal of cool moves to combine, creating a signature play style. Visually, this game is an explosion of color, a feast for the eyes. You’ve got a low-poly style with punchy colors. The architecture inside of Mother is brutalist in nature, with a neutral color palette and sharp geometric shapes that let the flashes of color pop when players splatter blood on screen. ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) is a retro-inspired title with tons of personality, something that is seemingly lacking in the world of FPS.

Utilizing blood as a main mechanic is not unlike Splatoon where ink serves as your main weaponry. Gameplay like that focuses on chaotic strategy, a seemingly redundant method that makes a lot of sense while playing. Through the chaos of the fight, players must strategically place blood splatter to power up, heal, or deal damage. Killing enemies where you need them to be splatters gibs that splatter the surrounding area in valuable blood that can be wielded to do even more damage.

It’s a type of splatter-based combat that we’ve seen not only in Splatoon but also in Ichorous, Hydrophobia, and Splatter. This concept relies on a defined core gameplay loop of downing enemies, splattering with some kind of liquid, and using that liquid to the player’s benefit in some way, whether that be to heal or to destroy obstacles. It’s a gameplay mechanic that keeps players engaged and alert, readying up for what’s next. I love when FPS games like ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) embrace unique combat like this, further diversifying the oversaturated category with titles that even longtime FPS fans can get into.

FPS Aren’t as Weird as They Should Be

A long time ago, FPS games used to be a little funky, and sometimes jarring. The genre was once niche, pumping out weird and wonderful hits like Doom, Quake, Half-Life, or Wolfenstein 3D that featured unique concepts, gory gameplay, and personality in spades. Some folks feel like the modern FPS game is turning into what is dubbed a “first-person casino” with shooting mechanics attached. In summation, this means that FPS games seem to pay more attention to things like battle passes, skins, or loot boxes, while the actual gaming portion feels secondary or unimportant to those instant-gratification mechanics.

Others point to the genre feeling all the same, oversaturated with militaristic storylines à la Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Counter-Strike. Sure, these games are different enough, but the mission is always the same: infiltrate this, fight in this historic battle, stave off this terrorist group, etc., etc. Something like Halo breaks that militaristic mold by crafting a unique world unlike our own, with compelling characters that have become icons in the gaming world. It seems that this formula is low-risk, because the template has proven to sell well despite it being done time and time again.

Apart from some exceptions, a slew of those AAA FPS titles are pretty much all the same, which has led to hefty player fatigue. So give me the Bioshocks or, Supplices of the world, FPS games with soul and flair that move away from the norm. I want FPS games with engaging dialogue and characters I can root for, like Half-Life 2 or Far Cry 3. I want snappy and fun gameplay that keeps me engaged no matter how many times I play. I want a cause to follow, a mission worth dying for; otherwise, what’s the point in shooting willy-nilly? ALTEREDBLOOD+ (AB+) seems like a break from the FPS fatigue, and I am so here for it.