Parents' Guide to Blood Alloy: Reborn

Sometimes a game comes along that knows exactly what it's shooting for and dives right in, guns blazing -- and then comes a game with a weird sort of identity crisis that's never quite sure what it's supposed to be. Apparently, Blood Alloy: Reborn is meant to introduce players to a larger game universe and a deeper, action/adventure game that's still in the development stages. But instead of simply releasing a demo to showcase what's coming, the developers took what they had and tried to turn it into a full arcade shooter. The problem is, with only three stages, no backstory, and a complete change of direction, the game still feels like a rushed demo at best and an unfinished mess at worst.

The worst part about Blood Alloy: Reborn is the controls. It's easy to see that the default controls are meant for a different style of game. The best comparison would be to imagine trying to use a racing wheel to control a shooter. The keyboard/mouse combination on the PC is a convoluted mess that leaves your fingers tied in knots, while moving to a gamepad only slightly improves the situation. Even after you start to adjust to the controls, nothing ever feels natural. Though there's potential buried somewhere deep in Blood Alloy: Reborn, it never sees the light of day. Hopefully, if the Blood Alloy universe is expanded, future games will better understand what they're trying to be.