Bloodroots Feels Like Samurai Jack Meets Hotline Miami | Gaming News

By Jonathon Dornbush

Bloodroots’ inspirations were clear to me even before the developers from Paper Cult rattled them off — Jackie Chan movies, Samurai Jack, and Hotline Miami, among them. But rather than just a simple pastiche, the level of this brutal, fast, and fluid action game takes its inspirations and crafts something unique and satisfying.

Just about anything in Bloodroots can be a weapon. As I stepped into the shoes of a wolf head-wearing lumberjack, I could grab anything from splinters of wood to, naturally, axes to carrots to one-hit kill every foe in my path. Combat is an improvisational spectacle, and I found myself wanting to replay just to experiment with new weapons thanks to how differently they all behave.

Grabbing a wheel from a wheelbarrow, it could be flung around like a deadly frisbee, ping-ponging around the level. But alternatively, I could have just hopped on the wheelbarrow and rammed it into a couple foes if I preferred. Finding an optimal route to chain combos together offered a lot of replayability in just this one, quick level, and I found it endlessly entertaining how creative some of the weaponry got.

Throwing a barrel at an enemy was one thing, but accidentally setting that barrel on fire and running on top of it while setting foes ablaze as I passed by was particularly satisfying. (A chain-chomp like bear trap was another particularly delightful weapon.)

And thankfully, I felt the satisfying impact of each hit. Though they all behaved differently, Paper Cult has seemingly nailed the sense of timing and momentum in each weapon to make each kill matter, especially as area-ending finishers played out in more cinematic fashion.

I’m excited to play through more levels and witness the other inventive transformations of everyday items into tools of destruction. And to watch the hilarity of a lumberjack meeting his demise at the hands of a carrot many times over.

Jonathon Dornbush is Tech’s News Editor, and he had a blast playing Bloodroots, especially when using a murderous carrot. Talk to him about it and other games pon Twitter @jmdornbush.