Blood dragons can also be used as weapons. The only way to get around them is to crouch and duck walk through bushes or throw cybernetic hearts (ripped out of dead enemies) at the dragons to bait them away from you. They can kill you in about three hits or use their freaking laser beams to kill you in two. The blood dragons, pissed-off neon dinosaurs, pose the real challenge to Rex as he travels through the map. They talk to each other in an annoying drone (think the Droid Army from the Star Wars prequel trilogy) and are pretty much the dumbest military force in video game history besides the Marines in Halo. Omega Force, a faction of cybernetic soldiers and your enemies, are a lot more fun to shoot, dismember and blow to shreds than any of the tribesmen in the rest of the series. But I dare say Blood Dragon wasn’t designed for stealth. You can go through the entire game, with the exception of set pieces, without getting into a big firefight and opt for a more stealthy campaign. There are several ways to complete your missions. You can focus on the main missions, go hunting for animals, assassinate enemy leaders, save hostages or take over enemy bases. The map is still open-world and you can decide what missions to tackle first. Finding the most creative way to kill your enemies is still very gratifying. Customizable machine gun, pistol, shotgun, sniper rifle and bow are all at your disposal. There are combo takedowns and lots and lots of explosive canisters through out the map. You still get to stab multiple people in the throat with your (neon) knife. You still have to dodge trees as you drive those horrible jeeps in the first person.
It won’t feel foreign to fans of the series at all. In terms of gameplay, Blood Dragon plays pretty much the same as its predecessors. It’s very clear that the focus isn’t on the story. Along the way, you must destroy an evil weapon, enter a parallel universe and fight a crapload of zombies called “the running dead.” Dude, I don’t know, either.
Rex’s mission, your mission, is to take Sloan out and free the island.
The story is just as nonsensical as the music.”The apocalypse has had an apocalypse,” is the main background information given to you as you’re dropped onto a war torn island full of cybernetic enemies led by Colonel Sloan, another cybernetic badass who was once Rex’s commanding officer but has now gone rogue. You can’t go through this game without laughing and tapping your foot. Even the synth pop made it into Blood Dragon, which was scored by electronic music duo Power Glove. They throw parties, dress up as frizzy-haired, leg-warmer clad divas and spin around to the terrible synth pop that branded the decade as one of the worst for music. It’s a brilliant formula, okay? How could this game possibly not sell? People LOVE the ’80s. Commando, Predator, Rambo…Get the picture? Guy gets dropped into a jungle somewhere to kill a bunch of bad guys with ALL the guns and knives. But Blood Dragon isn’t as huge a departure from the series as one may think.