Blood

Blood is the maddest and bloodiest of the great shooters built on the Build engine, and it still plays like a carnival horror ride today. The player takes on the role of the resurrected gunslinger Caleb, betrayed by a cult of a dark deity, and sets out on a path of revenge through graveyards, abandoned hotels, carnivals, trains, and frozen fortresses. The basics are classic: finding keys, secret rooms, switches, and hordes of enemies, but the arsenal is unmistakable. A pitchfork, dynamite, a lighter-spray combo, a double-barreled shotgun, a voodoo doll, and a magical fire item together form an arsenal that is equal parts weapon and toy.

The enemies are merciless, and the game prides itself on the fact that cultists carry weapons just as deadly as the player's and use them from a distance and from ambush, so the difficulty is high and rewards caution as well as knowledge of the levels. The level design is one of the highlights of its era, since the environments feel like places with purpose, full of small scenes, traps, and horror set pieces. The atmosphere is held together by a dark palette, film references scattered throughout the levels, and the black humor of the protagonist, who comments on events with one-liners. Technically it's a software-rendered game that handled environmental destruction, sloped floors, water, and shooting in every direction, but it did not make use of hardware acceleration.

At the time, Blood was received very well, though it was somewhat overshadowed amid the deafening competition of the emerging fully three-dimensional shooters. Its cult following endured, however, and the game is now considered one of the peaks of the so-called Build era, alongside other classics from the late nineties. Thanks to modern ports and community engines, it runs without trouble on today's computers too. It feels raw, fast, and hard, with a difficulty that forgives no one, but its inventiveness with weapons and levels outshines many a newer action game.