Blood (video Game) - Plot

Plot

Blood takes place in an unspecified time period that often resembles WWI-Era (and prior) Europe and America. Caleb is a resurrected Wild West gunslinger or similar pulp fiction anti-hero, but the various levels contain elements from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, in addition to futuristic and retro-futuristic technologies (reference to Tesla) and a faint occult weird West theme. Many elements are deliberately anachronistic, including weapons, pop-culture references and other details. The game's sequel Blood II: The Chosen, retroactively dates the game to the year 1928.

The game's protagonist is Caleb (voiced by Stephan Weyte), once the supreme commander of a cult called "The Cabal", worshippers of the forgotten god Tchernobog (voiced by Monolith CEO Jason Hall). Although the back-story was not delineated in the game itself, the Monolith website and a readme text document presented the few facts known about Caleb's early career.

Already known as a merciless gunfighter in the late 19th century American West, Caleb joined the Cabal in 1871 after meeting Ophelia Price, a woman whose husband and son may have been murdered by the members of the Cabal; it is implied that she later became Caleb's lover. Together they rose to the highest circle of the dark cult, "The Chosen", until all four members of The Chosen were betrayed and killed by Tchernobog for unspecified failures in the god's name. Many years later, Caleb mysteriously rises from his grave, declaring, "I live...AGAIN!", (one of many in-game quotes from Army of Darkness) seeking both vengeance and answers. He must lay waste to many occult enemies as he explores worlds through various Cabal strongholds and hellish pits, to find and end the dark god Tchernobog.

Dressed in a black trenchcoat and broad-brimmed hat, his eyes glowing red, Caleb immediately begins his quest, riddling Blood's world with bullets and dark humor. Caleb is a cynical, sarcastic, somewhat sadistic man, taking pleasure in killing almost anything that may impede his quest. Caleb has a slight attitude change between Blood and its sequel Blood II where he begins to show more tolerance for innocent bystanders.

Blood is organized in four episodes, each consisting of eight or nine levels ("maps"), categorized into six or seven regular levels, one "boss" level and a secret level. Some locations are drawn to resemble Twentieth Century cities, with civil buildings, museums, pubs, shopping centers and so on; a few levels are centered upon a particular location, like a mortuary, train station, carnival, sewer, hospital or lumber mill, and each is designed to include elements typical of these places (e.g. a crematorium in the mortuary, attractions at the carnival and so on). Maps built around moving vehicles are present as well; the third level is set aboard a moving train, for example. Several other levels have a typical Victorian or Edwardian architectural style and this is used especially in some atmospheric "haunted house" levels. Levels with a more "fantastic" setting abound in the last episode of Blood which takes place in several evil temples and even in a fully organic setting, whose walls, ceiling and floor are all composed of flesh and blood.