Why you should play Blood: Fresh Supply, my favorite modern DOS game

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Fresh Supply is my favorite modern DOS game remaster.

I haven't played a ton of DOS games, mainly because they came and pretty much went out by the time I got to this world. Regardless, that doesn't keep me from knowing full well how pivotal the DOS era was. These were the early days of first-person shooters, weird, horror puzzle games, and above all, unhinged creativity. Thankfully, they remain relevant even today, not through their retroactive importance to their genres, but through respectful resurrection.

Unlike remakes, there's a unique charm to remasters, which don't try to recreate or rewrite, but rather, just make the past easier to live with. Supreme among them is Blood: Fresh Supply. 1997's Blood is known as arguably the best Build engine game from the MS-DOS era, and the remaster is perhaps the greatest modern DOS remaster there is.

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1997's Blood was an insane single-player adventure, from start to finish

Unhinged and chaotic, Blood became an unforgettable classic

When it comes to Blood, I was never able to finish the game while running it through DOSbox. Still, I knew of it, but it wasn't until Fresh Supply, the remaster from Nightdive Studios dropped, that I truly took notice. The KEX engine is where most of the best retro revivals are nowadays, after all. Back in '97, Blood was part of the glorious era of Quake and Doom clones, where 3D gaming was still in its teenage phase, and PC devs were stretching the boundaries and their creative limbs, figuring out ways to make things more fun, faster, crunchier, and of course, more violent.

There are so many B-movie one-liners here that Leon Kennedy would roll his eyes.

Blood leaned all the way into that chaos — you're lighting demons on fire, separating the flesh from cultists' bones, throwing around dynamite, and spouting so many B-movie one-liners that would make even Leon Kennedy roll his eyes. Of course, you're also doing it in the unmistakable voice of actor Stephan Weyte, who voiced one of my all-time favorite video game protagonists, Captain Claw. Only this time, his lines are dark, bloody, funny, and self-aware.

Fresh Supply preserves every fiber of that insanity, only stripping away the technical headaches that come with running a game that old. No more struggling with DOSbox or config files — just boot the game through steam, and let the carnage begin.

This is how remasters are done, hands down

Calling Blood: Fresh Supply a cleanup is a disservice, to say the very least. This is clearly a full-on resurrection, brought to life using the game's official source code, unlike other mods through the years. The KEX engine is what powered the Turok remasters, Doom 64, and even Quake's fantastic enhanced variants. You get the whole deal — unlocked framerates, ambient occlusion, antialiasing, native 4K support, and remastered effects that make every explosion and rush of blood feel that much more delicious and ridiculous.

The real star for me is the Made to Order difficulty mode, which lets you tweak your experience exactly the way you want — much like Doom: The Dark Ages just did. Whether you want the modern 3D mouselook, or the old-school tank-style camera (why?), fully customizable controls, smooth-as-butter gamepad support, or even split-screen couch co-op, the remaster truly is happy to offer up all of it.

Add to that the rewritten netcode for 8-player multiplayer, mod support and support for existing mods to not alienate the community, and Blood: Fresh Supply becomes the definitive way to play this old DOS game.

It doesn't fail to deliver consistent laughs and fun, either

In Fresh Supply, I naturally went with full mouselook controls, up-and-down view included, and stuck to keyboard and mouse, which came closest to the most authentic and modern way to play. It gives you five full episodes to chew on, with each episode coming with 7–9 levels of carnage and chaos. The fifth level is actually an add-on from the fantastic expansion, Plasma Pak, making Fresh Supply a truly complete remaster.

In combat (which is pretty much the whole game, really), you've got dynamites, lighters, flare guns that set everyone on fire, shotguns, rifles, and the ability to wield them all akimbo. Suffice to say, they are all overkill, and will have you grinning just as hard as you know Caleb is as well. There's an unending satisfaction to watching enemies explode, and through the buffet of cultists, demons, gargoyles, spiders, zombies, and more, the carnage just does not get old.

I actually had to revisit levels after watching YouTube tutorials of all the level secrets, and it felt like trying to play The Dark Ages to 100% completion, all over again.

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The tone of the original DOS version is unforgettably unique

I'm glad I got to experience it in the best way possible

Fresh Supply, as I'll call Blood, is like being dropped into the best horror movie theme park ever built. It just so happens that the said theme park is on fire, soaked in gore, and designed by lunatics who clearly went on an Evil Dead binge marathon. The game has so many environments to blast through — temples, mausoleums, train stations, or straight-up haunted carnivals, all dripping with atmosphere. The game's tone is this chaotic blend of gothic horror, violent comedy, and pitch-black cool. It's goofy, self-aware, and god, so damn fun. Honestly, it might be one of the best FPS games ever made just because it knows exactly what it is — and goes all in.

You were buried alive for centuries, and you're understandably pissed — Doom-slayer levels of pissed.

You awaken as Caleb, buried alive for centuries, and understandably, you're pissed — Doom-slayer levels of pissed. Of course, that's where the similarities end — Doomguy grunts and groans, but Caleb talks constantly. And in that too, a voice so raspy and soaked in reverb, that you can practically hear the trench coat even if you never saw it. He cackles when dynamite goes off, he mocks enemies like he worships Ash Williams, and it all comes together to make for an unhinged, theatrical, and honestly, iconic experience.

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Multiplayer support is limited in Fresh Supply, but I don't care

It's primarily an unforgettable first-person, single-player experience, after all

I must have waited about 15–20 minutes in the game's multiplayer lobby hoping someone would join, but that never happened. Still, split-screen worked like a dream, and I was able to enjoy a good twenty minutes of split-screen fun with my brother before they got tired, and I was itching to get my full screen back.

The experience (or lack thereof) never once took away from the remaster's fantastic qualities that shine brightly in the main game, and even when I kept dying towards the end of Episode 1, I couldn't resist the urge to visit later levels and see what was going on. In later levels, the game arms you with more weapons than you could recollect, whether you're in a mine, or on a ship, or underwater, killing humanoid piranhas and struggling to breathe. Whether you're a fan of modern FPS titles or like things retro, Blood: Fresh Supply has something for everyone, and it still manages to deliver perfectly in each aspect.

Blood: Fresh Supply

Systems

Released May 9, 2019

ESRB m

Developer(s) NightDive Studios

Publisher(s) NightDive Studios

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This is how remasters are truly done

Nightdive Studios is remastering retro titles with the reverence they deserve.

There are plenty of lazy remasters out there that have been clear cash-grabs. They've often come out in unplayable states, or terrible textures, and left an overall bad taste in the mouth. Blood: Fresh Supply, on the other hand, shows how to do things just right. It keeps the spirit of the original intact, it only makes things more enjoyable, accessible, and playable, and not once takes away from the spirit or look of the original.

Heck, it even allows you to put in 4K texture mods if that's the kind of thing you prefer, but doesn't shove them down your throat from the get-go. It's clear as day that the team over at Nightdive knows exactly what they are doing, and more importantly, are approaching the titles they remaster with the reverence they deserve.

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