NetEase Games has casually announced its first single-player AAA game, Blood Message. Developed by 24 Entertainment Lin’an Studio (a different branch of the developer that created Naraka: Bladepoint), this is a new game set to release on PC and consoles, set during the late Tang Dynasty of 848 AD.
In Blood Message, you play as a nameless messenger on a journey to the east to “deliver a message that holds the fate of his homeland.”
The adventures of this nameless messenger sure is ticks all the boxes of a cinematic big-budget video game, as it features shaky cams, over-the-shoulder camera angles, one instance of the protagonist squeezing through a tight space, synchronised assassinations, a father-and-son duo journey, countless of sliding cinematics where things explode or break apart, and even some puzzle-solving in a huge antechamber with large statues.
Various AAA video game cliches aside, Blood Message’s reveal trailer is still an impressive showing. The character details look on-point, the Chinese voice-acting sounds impressive, and the amount of graphical detail shown here does set a good impression for a game that was only announced last Friday.
The journey to Chang’an, a thousand-mile (three thousand li, to use the period and setting appropriate measurement unit) adventure has stealth-action gameplay, survival mechanic and a cinematic story the explores themes of “family, honour, sacrifice, and cultural identity.”
Blood Message will represent the diverse terrains that makes up modern day East and Central Asia, including Dunhuang, an ancient city that’s part of the Silk Road and built in the middle of a desert.
You would expect a momentous title like Blood Message, NetEase Games’ first single-player title, would be featured in any of the summer showcases and broadcasts earlier this month. Yet NetEase chose to highlight other games, including Grasshopper’s new game Romeo Is A Dead Man, and the multiplayer pirate game Sea Of Remnants and saved Blood Message to be announced on the second-last Friday of the month. And three days later, Blood Message’s trailer has amassed three million views.
There’s a new wave of big-budget AAA games from China depicting Chinese themes and setting at the moment. Last year’s Black Myth: Wukong certain stole the show with its take on soulslikes, and there’s more to come with another Chinese developer with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers releasing later this month. Where Winds Meet is also looking to shape up nicely.
24 Entertainment Lin’an is part of NetEase Games’ ThunderFire division.
There’s no release date for Blood Message yet.