Bloody Good Time - The Game Journal Review

Bloody Good Time is a game best played with friends. This inexpensive (400 MS Points) spiritual successor to The Ship offers a uique gameplay experiece on Xbox Live, but its mechanic works best when everyone playing is on the same proverbial page.

The premise of Bloody Good Time is that a demented film director, called Director X, strives for realism in his horror movies. He achieves this aim by having the actors actually kill one another while he films them. In Bloody Good Time, you play as one of eight actors on one of Director X's three movie sets.

The game features four game modes: Hunt, Death Match, Elimination and Revenge. Each mode can be played against others over Xbox Live or played as against AI controlled bots.

Hunt Mode is the game's marquee mode and it's the best reason to play the game.  In it, you are tasked with killing a specific target who is also roaming the film set while keeping an eye out for one specific person who is looking to assassinate you. The goal is to earn Fame Stars. This is done by killing your quarry as extravagantly as possible. You can earn extra Fame Stars by tipping your hand early and letting your target know of your intentions. You can also earn extra Fame Stars by humiliating the corpse of your fresh kill and pick pocketing other players.

Each weapon has a a specific Star Value attached to it. The more difficulty in using the weapon as an instrument of death, the more Fame Stars you'll earn. There are also various items scattered throughout each film set that will aid you in getting the kills.

Additionally, you'll have to deal with the three needs of your characters throughout the course of the game. The three needs are Fatigue, Hunger and Waste. To keep Fatigue at bay, you'll have to occasionally rest your character in a bed or a chair. Neglect to to do so and your character's movement speed will slow. To ward off Hunger you'll want to make your character eat or drink something to maintain their strength. Waste quite literally means using the bathroom. Neglecting this aspect will affect the amount of damage your character will take.

It's fitting that you play as an actor as you will want to bluff a bit in the game. You can pick up and wear different disguises in order to fool your prey while also helping to keep the person who is stalking you guessing as to if you their target.

In addition to the actors, there are also Security Guards roaming the sets. If you are spotted brandishing a weapon or committing a crime, the guards will chase you and it's best to get away from them. If you are caught in the act of killing you will lose your Fame Stars. This is also an area where wearing a disguise will serve you well. Eventually, once you're out of sight for a certain amount of time, security will give up their search for you, letting you resume your normal activities.

With all of these elements to keep in mind, Bloody Good Time is kind of a complicated game. This is actually a good thing. It makes the game stand out. I long for more asymmetrical multiplayer experiences and Bloody Good Time fits the bill.

The game isn't without some issues. The AI bots are not all that intelligent and not all that fun to play against and the feel of the weapons, shooting guns in particular, could be better. The biggest issue, though, was finding full matches.

Only a week and a half into the after the title's release, I'm having a difficult time finding full rooms of people to play with. Thankfully, the game has a single player mode, which is essentially a version of the multiplayer game with Bots taking the place of human competitors.

Bloody Good Time offers a unique and inexpensive alternative for those burned out on typical first person shooters. Though the game is quite Spartan in its modes and maps, there is enough here to make for a worthwhile experience, the caveat being that it is best to play it with friends. I'd suggest getting a group of people together and having a game night with Bloody Good Time.