Blood: Refreshed Supply - Redux Cruo (Review)
- James Stephanie Sterling
- 4 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Blood: Refreshed Supply
Released: December 4th, 2025
Developer: Nightdive Studios, Monolith Productions
Publisher: Warner Bros. Games, Atari
Systems: PC, PS4/5, Switch (reviewed), Switch 2 (reviewed), Xbox One/X/S
My best friend in college introduced me to Blood. It was literally the only game he played, because he thought it was hilarious. He wasn’t wrong - the absurd violence, delirious shouting, and wanton edginess are all so extreme as to transcend horror and enter a realm of pure comedy. Also, the incessant screams of “CRUDUX CRUO” become infectious after only a short while.
The 1997 shooter already had a remaster in 2019, but Blood: Fresh Supply has been mysteeeeeeriously removed from sale in the wake of Refreshed Supply’s arrival, along with the discounted “upgrade” its owners could get before launch day. Admittedly, the previous rerelease was more of a cobbled together approximation of Blood, but the sneaky sales behavior and significant price increase has understandably rubbed fans the wrong way.
Refreshed Supply - a name that looks uniquely silly in the wake of its literal context being delisted - uses the original source code this time and offers some bug fixes, smoother controls, and (sort of) improved enemy behavior. Nightdive has also added weather effects, a concept that was cut from the original. Sadly, the “refresh” has bugs of its own to contend with, including a rather nasty crashing scenario that has proven to be an immediate and consistent problem.
For one thing, the fixes made to certain enemies’ AI have worked, and it’s cool that they can be toggled off for an original experience, but some other enemies appear to have gotten stupider in the process. While I find the clueless wandering and lethally misaimed dynamite tosses quite funny, nobody can remember the mobs being quite so prone to killing themselves. At least, others didn’t remember it.
It’s not a great look when a release of a decades old game has to come with a promised hotfix with a significant to-do list.
I will at least say it’s nice to see another classic on the Switch, especially with that Joy-Con gyro aiming I’m always demanding. Blood remains an interesting artifact of the “Doom Clone” era, a punishing game that encourages its own particular - and somewhat counterintuitive - playstyle. It doesn’t fight fair, but it fights in loudly ludicrous ways that I still find funny to this day.
I’m cognizant of the fact that this review won’t be read by many people, because who on earth is clamoring for my Blood opinions? Sod it though, I’m gonna bang on about this stupid game while yelling “bhuudesco invisuu!” It’s my obscure website and I can do as I please on it.
Blood is about a man with red eyes called Caleb whose girlfriend with red eyes is kidnapped by the demon they were both serving or something. After surviving his own death and hopping out of a spacious grave, our antihero grips his pitchfork and starts poking at a hostile host of zombies and gun-toting cultists. He also mutters bollocks and sings Strangers in the Night if he’s left idle, which is another thing my friend loved about the game.
An exemplar of the Build Engine, this is a first-person shooter that loves its hitscans, especially if they’re being abused to fuck and back by enemies. The Blood Cult’s members clearly didn’t go to Stormtrooper Academy, as even the most basic footsoldiers hit their targets accurately, brutally, and instantly. I’m not ashamed to admit I savescum like a bitch whenever I run through this thing, because it vacuums my hit points like an equally bitchy bitch.
Blood’s a different beast from Doom, where a mook’s odds to hit are significantly lower. Cultists take almost full advantage of how hitscanning works, which encourages a lot of popping in and out from behind corners to avoid losing half your health to an immediate shotgun blast. Crouching reinforces this cautious playstyle, as doing so trades speed (and the ability to use stairs) for a noticeable drop in enemy accuracy. For all its gruesome excess, the action is notably methodical in its pace.
Fighting across ambush-filled levels with deadeyes placed around every corner can be rather unfun, but even at its least delightful it’s still a damn delight. Blood embodies what the moral guardians of 1980s Britain dubbed “video nasties” - the sort of lurid exploitation and horror movies that I happen to love. In fact, this game specifically invokes one of my favorite horror films of all time, Return of the Living Dead. I’d recognize those zombie canisters anywhere.
Blood’s brutal weapons, fantastic sound design, and clever level gimmicks are such strong elements that they stand out even today. The claret squirts everywhere, shrill death rattles relentlessly assault one’s ears, and there’s a casual sense of overkill that’s practically unmatched by other 90s shooters. There are lots of flavorful little touches, such as being able to punt a decapitated zombie’s head with a satisfying thwack, and victimized NPCs whose whimpers of “there’s no place like home” tread the line between overwrought and genuinely creepy.
Well, that latter part isn’t as evidenced in this new release, as audio issues are numerous. A number of voice lines currently fail to trigger, and the Civilians got hit hardest - I’ve not heard them speak at all, which is a tremendous shame. I can’t emphasize enough how memorable the voice clips and sound effects are, they’re a big part of why Blood’s so good and one of the things my friend delight in the most, so I consider this a massive screwup.
Unfortunately, Refreshed Supply also does the atmospheric soundtrack a disservice by barely playing any of it. Loading a save file breaks the music almost every single time, silencing it until some random point at which it’ll kick in again. Consequently, my scummin’ ass played most of the levels with only shouts of “cruo” for ambience.
While Caleb’s pokin’ fork, shotgun, and tommy gun provide standard offense, other weapons are more unique. The flare gun is the prime example - it shoots a sticky incendiary dart that allows enemies a few moments of unhindered autonomy before they catch fire and scream like fuck, sprinting at you to try and deal contact damage before collapsing into charred bone. I love how they get a little speed boost and drop their linguistic pretensions to shriek “IT BURNS IT BURNS” in English. Those small details help sell the effects of a weapon that is, ultimately, a work of FPS art.
Some weapons have alternative fire actions, such as the Tommy’s excitingly inefficient spraying mode, oh and I almost forgot Caleb acquires a fucking voodoo doll! There’s also the beloved Guns Akimbo powerup, which grants temporary dual wielding that impressed players back in the day. I must of course make mention of how immensely generous the game is with explosives, doling out so much TNT it can end up more usable than the guns! Explosions are a real treat, too, not only dealing huge damage but sending sprites flying in all directions. You can tell how proud the developers were of their boomingly booming kabooms.
Levels are highly memorable and full of personality. The opening church map does a great job of setting a mood, and the speeding train level that ends with an explosive brake sequence is never not cool as fuck to play through. The standout stage is probably Dark Carnival, which is full of side games including a shooting gallery and one where you kick heads into an animatronic maw. The excessively grisly atmosphere, incredible noises, and large amounts of visual detailing all contribute greatly to a game that carries itself with ludicrously gory charm.
It’s not the very best of the Boomer Shooters but it’s a classic for a reason. And it’s just so fucking funny.
Refreshed Supply comes with an add-on campaign, Marrow, with a future update planning to place Death Wish alongside it. While these are being marketed as if they’re brand new, both expansions started out as freely available fan mods. Marrow is definitely cool, playing with the mechanics to create some interesting mindscrew environments, but in terms of truly new content, there isn’t any.
Rounding out the package is a small gallery of archive content. It’s neat to see some of the concept art and in-development screenshots for a minute or two, but there’s not a lot to look at and none of it is exciting or interactive enough to make much of a sales pitch.
Nightdive also claims to have improved the original game’s cutscenes, but I disagree that the recreated footage is superior. Sure, on an objective technical level you can absolutely call them “better,” but as someone who loves a bit of tragic 90s computer animation, I much prefer the shittiness of the first iteration. Making these scenes look better makes them far less entertaining, at least to me.
As I mentioned earlier, the Switch version suffers from an unfortunate bug in which loading a save has a better than small chance of crashing the whole game. It seems to hate loading quicksaves in particular, which especially sucks for someone who does a lot of quicksaving. I can only speak for the experience on Switch, but it’s a dire problem. Also, the skyboxes are all weird and fisheyed, something that's already on the hotfix list.
One last personal gripe from myself - the menus are navigated only via directional buttons and don’t recognize stick inputs. It’s hardly the biggest crime, but I found it really irritating and I wanted to slot the whinge in somewhere.
Blood: Refreshed Supply is Blood with a bit more Blood, and I’ve always got time for Blood. I’m happy to see it on console, but that feeling’s been tempered by the introduction of significant bugs and a questionable value prospect. It’s a shame I can’t be completely positive because there are welcome improvements. With some patching up and marking down, this could be the definitive experience Nightdive wants it to be.
Something tells me it would've been off to a better start without Warner Bros. having to be involved.
6.5/10
