Overview – developed by Deklazon and published by Eastasiasoft, Hot Blood is a low poly style brawler where the heroine must fight off the undead to save her boyfriend. As Roxy, take on the zombie hordes as you punch, kick and smash your way through a mall and the surrounding area during your quest. This title is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Steam, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Eastasiasoft for providing the copy of Hot Blood that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story. This title is another release in the Low Poly brawler genre from Deklazon, preceded by Drunken Fist and Drunken Fist Zombie Hangover, which you can find coverage of (HERE).
Story – while out on a date with her boyfriend, Roxy and her boyfriend go to the mall, having a wonderful day out together. However, while trying on clothes while she was in a clothing store a zombie apocalypse happens. While this sudden outbreak of the undead is happening, the only thing that Roxy has on her mind is finding her boyfriend. Alone and surrounded by the walking dead, Roxy must do what she can to find her partner and escape the apocalypse alive.
Gameplay – Hot Blood is a third person brawler, where the player controls the heroine Roxy as she tries to reunite with her boyfriend. The player has access to a simple move set, consisting of punches, kicks, a sweep and the ability to throw objects to fight the undead. During battle, the enemies are split into two types, normal and boss zombies. The normal zombies can be defeated pretty easily, usually taking just a few hits to defeat and dealing moderate damage.
The bigger boss zombies will often take more damage to kill, while hitting the player much harder. Luckily, there is a dodge roll mechanic that can help the player to avoid attacks from all zombies they encounter. There is a good variety of normal zombies, with salary men, shoppers and workers including a man in a hot dog suit. Whereas, the boss zombies are limited to only a few types, including a hulking gym bro and a pregnant parody of the Witch from Left 4 Dead.
Combat in this title is a little sloppy, with times where attacks can miss wildly or target the wrong target. This can be a little frustrating when trying to battle a large number of enemies, as the player can easily be swarmed and knocked down or even killed in seconds. There can be a work around with this issue by using the sweep attack, which will knock down enemies and deal a modest amount of damage. Weapons can also be found that can deal with enemies easily.
The game also uses a ragdoll physics system, as well as a destruction system which can lead to some entertaining outcomes. Parts of the zombies can be destroyed, with limbs and heads being taken off by attacks and weapons. This can make the zombies weaker by taking attacks away from them, like the bosses that have weapons. The ragdoll physics can also lead to zombies getting stuck on the environment, leading them to stutter and freak out.
During the course of the game the areas of the mall and city are split into stages, with some of them containing the weapons that can be used for a limited time. A stage is cleared when all the zombies have been defeated, causing Roxy to do a little dance and say a sassy one liner. Roxy will also throw out lines when she kills zombies, picks up a weapon or takes damage. These are repeated often and can get tedious after a while, due to the frequency of the lines being used.
As the player beats down the zombie menace, Roxy will gain experience and level up when a meter in the corner of the screen is filled. When the player gains a level, they may get some new attacks that will appear during battle, along with an increase in damage dealt and total health. Speaking of health, the player can collect bottles of cola throughout the game, adding them to her inventory. When Roxy’s health is low, she can drink a soda and heal all damage taken.
The last thing to discuss is the dressing room system, which allows players to unlock new costumes for Roxy to wear. To unlock new costumes, the player can use money that is collected by defeating zombies during the game. This money can be used to buy new outfits for Roxy, with level requirements that will make these costumes available to purchase. All of the costumes are unable to be unlocked in a single run, so if players want a full set a second playthrough is needed.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – there is a fairly well laid out control set up for this game, with the attacks of the face buttons and other features on the triggers. The camera and player movement is controlled by the thumbsticks, but the D-pad can also be used to control Roxy. The inputs can feel a little sluggish and unresponsive at times, which isn’t helped by the sloppy combat as inputs can be missed. Overall it is easy to pick up, but a little frustrating to use at times.
Difficulty – the difficulty can feel unbalanced at times with this release, due to the way that normal zombies and the big boss zombies function. In combat the big enemies can deal tremendous damage very quickly, which can lead to a speedy death. This is made a little worse when at lower levels, as the first boss can maul Roxy, killing her almost instantly. Thankfully, there is a relatively generous checkpoint system, which won’t cause too much lost progress.
Presentation – the visual style for this game has a retro inspired low poly style to it, with a heavy use of vibrant color and neon lights. This works well for the old school vibe that the game is going for, being reminiscent of the style of the 80s and 90s. There is a heavy use of Slow down when killing zombies, this can be detract from the action and be distracting. The music fits the game fairly well too, but the voice work for the game is unfortunately a little flat and repetitive.
Final Thoughts – I am an enjoyer of action brawlers, especially those with some comedic over the top violence. So I was pretty excited to get to grips with this game, but I have mixed feelings about my experience with the game. The premise and core gameplay loop is pretty solid, with some good ideas and a lot of fun to be had with the ragdoll violence. However, I feel that the game missed the mark a little with combat, causing some inconsistencies at times.
This is a fun game and when it gets going it has that wacky, over the top violence nailed with buckets of blood spilled from slaughtering zombies. There are some complaints that I have with the game, but they don’t spoil the experience. The weapons are the best part of combat, but as they didn’t last long, it made me want them more. I can easily recommend this game to fans of zombie games and brawlers, as there is a lot of gameplay in a compact package.
In the end, I give Hot Blood a final score of 3.5/5. This is an entertaining and bloody zombie brawler that doesn’t take itself too seriously, with over the top violence and gore, that is dripping in neon lights. It does have its flaws, like repetitive voice lines and some inconsistencies with combat, but they don’t ruin the game. If you want to check this title out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to Steam version (HERE)
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