As an action RPG fan, it’s more difficult than ever to spot a dud among the delightful options on the market. This is for a myriad of reasons, but one of the most common modern tricks you need to watch out for these days is the Unreal Engine 5 shimmer.
It’s not exclusively due to UE5, but due to the strength of the tools that even the most low-budget developers have at their disposal, just about any game out there can look outstanding, at least if your PR team is clever with the assortment of screenshots they put out there to potential fans.
I had a sneaking suspicion that the new Action RPG under the Blowfish Games umbrella might fall into this shady category, because, at a glance, the screenshots look like an AA RPG adventure that feels akin to Prince of Persia that threatens to punch well above its weight. But I’ve been burned before, and feel a duty of care to the gaming public to investigate.
So, I dove headfirst into the life and times of the titular Mehran to find out if this is a diamond in the rough or just plain rough.
Smoke And Mirrors
Seeing as I’ve set out my stall as the grand protector of the Action RPG faithful during this period of Unreal Engine smoke and mirrors, let’s address the elephant in the room. Blood of Mehran is a game that, at many points, looks pretty snazzy. But, it’s more of a ruse than a pretty Persian picture.
Thanks to the strength of modern technology, there are plenty of moments where you’ll walk through vibrant settings or catch the glorious lighting bouncing and shimmering off bodies of water. But the fact of the matter is that this is a PS3-era game masquerading as a modern-day action title.
The animations are the biggest tell as they are about as stiff and laughable as they come, with sword fights in cut scenes playing out like choreographed scenes in an amateur stage show. But, I need to give the vocal performances their moment in the limelight, as each line is delivered with no emotion, no energy, and no awareness of what’s happening within the narrative.
It’s clear that the game is trying to capture the vibe of past action-adventure success, Prince of Persia, but Blood of Mehran doesn’t have a memorable setting, doesn’t have a bustling world, and at almost every turn, has some sort of wonky mishap on screen that will take you out of the experience entirely.
Whether it’s the moments spent on horseback where your horse runs like it’s just learned that second that it has hind legs, or the abundance of character models that look rubbery and comically shocked, akin to the strange models used in The Forgotten City, there’s a lot to remind you that this isn’t a polished production.
…it never extends beyond a straightforward and one-note vengeance story. Less Ali Baba, more Ali blah-blah-blah.
I can’t help but feel that this game would have been a stronger, less jarring experience if it had shot for a more reserved, unique art style rather than shooting for realism. As realism was clearly a step too far for this indie developer, it feels like this game is often drowning in its own ambition in terms of its presentation and its inspirations.
But here’s the thing. The art style is probably the strongest aspect of this game. So buckle in.
Wafer Thin Stories & Amateur Heroics
I can only apologise for how wafer-thin my take on Blood of Mehran’s story is, but in my defense, it’s a reflection of the narrative on offer. It’ll sound like answers on a postcard, but I assure you, this is the whole plot.
You play as a reluctant warrior, Mehran, seeking to avenge the death of his family and track down their assassins one by one. Some minor plot points add some color to this, but really, it never extends beyond a straightforward and one-note vengeance story. Less Ali Baba, more Ali blah-blah-blah.
But what’s perhaps most impressive about this cookie-cutter approach to storytelling is just how many labored action RPG clichés are crammed into the game’s run.
To name a few, you have flashback scenes that appear as spectral memories. You have labored moments where Mehran will just spout aggressive exposition to himself in the most awkward and stilted way imaginable.
Heck, you even have yellow paint guiding you through each aggressively linear environment and a shopkeeper that inexplicably turns up in areas only occupied by the undead. I’m no entrepreneur, but it just doesn’t feel like a sound business decision.
At no time do you ever feel emotionally attached to any of the characters present in the story; at no point does any attempt at an emotional plot point or pulse-raising sequence land, and everything has a distinct B-movie quality. But, it’s not a self-aware B-movie vibe that comes across as endearing; it’s very much an unhappy accident. You do get some cheap laughs here and there, but it’s very much a ‘we are laughing at you’ sort of feel.
The Good & The Gank
In terms of Blood of Mehran’s gameplay, it’s exactly what you would expect from a game such as this. You know going in that you’re going to get low-grade hack-and-slash combat, a skill tree to gradually unlock, the occasional puzzle here and there, and maybe some stealth awkwardly thrown into the mix for good measure.
Blood of Mehran delivers on all fronts, with core gameplay that feels derivative of everything within the genre that has come before, but with none of the polish to make these composite parts come together to offer a unique or satisfying experience.
To boil it down, gameplay consists of working your way through a very linear set of environments where you will fight cookie-cutter enemy types, with the option to go for all-out hack and slash assault or go for a more stealthy approach.
Surprisingly, the stealth is more engaging than you might think, but I feel that my opinion on that might be colored slightly by the fact that it feels borderline non-negotiable, as combat is so cumbersome, unresponsive, and unbalanced.
Unless you are playing on the lowest difficulty, you’ll find that enemies will overwhelm you by ganking you in very tight spaces. Dodges won’t allow you to escape them when they surround you, and you’ll be chopped down in seconds. Not to mention that blocks and parries are very temperamental, and checkpoints are very unforgiving.
It’s passable combat at best, which feels mindless, and the weapon variety offers some gimmicks to keep each new act from feeling completely identical. But this would have been okay had the game offered more variety. Sadly, though, combat is more or less all you do throughout this adventure. There’s no platforming, barely any puzzles, exploration is deeply unrewarding, and moments spent between fights feel like long, pointless corridors that just seek to bulk out the experience.
Even the boss fights are just extensions of this, with bigger, spongier enemies to take on, usually across three phases that play out identically. I will admit that the stealth-based boss fight and eventual tussle with the witch in the graveyard section was a rare example of the game swinging for the fences and managing to get onto first base, but one moment alone does not save this rather drab adventure.
Gaming Comfort Food
I know at this point I haven’t really been all that positive about Blood of Mehran, and honestly, it’s because the game hasn’t given me any sort of avenue to do so. The gameplay is dull and derivative, the presentation is sloppy, and there’s no substance.
Yet, despite all this, and the fact that, objectively, it’s a pretty poor game. I do have to say, it’s very playable.
Blood of Mehran is so simplistic, linear, and derivative of past successes that it ends up being a rather accessible, cozy, and comfortable game to mindlessly work through.
It’s a fodder game, plain and simple. A palette cleanser. The gaming equivalent of comfort food. It’s bad, and you feel bad consuming it. Yet, in the moment, you’re more than happy to hack and slash your way through it in a non-commital way.
It’s a game that comes less than a week after the release of a genuinely outstanding action-adventure in the form of Ghost of Yotei, and by comparison, they are chalk and cheese. Yet, I still feel that there is room in your life for both. Temper your expectations, expect something that would have been bang average in the PS2 era, and you just might get something out of it.
Closing Comments:
“Blood of Mehran is a game that might look the part from the outside looking in, but if you spend any extended time with it at all, you’ll see that it’s far from a polished Prince of Persia clone. The visuals have that Unreal Engine sheen to them, but the animations, voice acting and overall design let the side down. However, nowhere near as egregiously as the wafer-thin plot, the derivative, the wonky gameplay, or the aggressively linear format. It’s one of the most predictable, uninspired, and underwhelming action RPGs you’ll likely ever come across. There is a certain level of cozy comfort that comes with that, but all in all, this is not worth your time or money.”
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Author: 360 Technology Group
