Blood

Box art for *Blood*.

***Blood*** is a first-person shooter video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by GT Interactive Software. The shareware version was released for the PC on March 5, 1997, while the full version was released on May 31, 1997 in North America, and June 20, 1997 in Europe.

## Summary

You carved your soul to shreds in servitude to a dark god, but false promises and betrayal were your only reward. Now you have a score to settle and it will be measured in blood! Experience the madness in one carnage-soaked package! All the gore, all the unholy war! Zombies, gargoyles, hellhounds and blood-

## Levels

The original Blood campaign is made up of 4 episodes, with each chapter containing either 8 (Episode 1 and Episode 3) or 9 (Episode 2 or Episode 4) levels:

### Episode 1: The Way of All Flesh

* E1M1: Cradle to Grave
* E1M2: Wrong Side of the Tracks
* E1M3: Phantom Express
* E1M4: Dark Carnival
* E1M8: House of Horrors (Secret Level)
* E1M5: Hallowed Grounds
* E1M6: The Great Temple
* E1M7: Altar of Stone (Boss Level)

### Episode 2: Even Death May Die

* E2M1: Shipwrecked
* E2M2: The Lumber Mill
* E2M3: Rest for the Wicked
* E2M4: The Overlooked Hotel
* E2M9: Thin Ice (Secret Level)
* E2M5: The Haunting
* E2M6: The Cold Rush
* E2M7: Bowels of the Earth
* E2M8: The Lair of Shial (Boss Level)

### Episode 3: Farewell to Arms

* E3M1: Ghost Town
* E3M2: The Siege
* E3M3: Raw Sewage
* E3M4: The Sick Ward
* E3M8: Catacombs (Secret Level)
* E3M5: Spare Parts
* E3M6: Monster Bait
* E3M7: The Pit of Cerberus (Boss Level)

### Episode 4: Dead Reckoning

* E4M1: Butchery Loves Company
* E4M2: Breeding Grounds
* E4M3: Charnel House
* E4M4: Crystal Lake
* E4M9: Mall of the Dead (Secret Level)
* E4M5: Fire and Brimstone
* E4M6: The Ganglion Depths
* E4M7: In The Flesh
* E4M8: Hall of the Epiphany (Boss Level)

## Official Expansions

There were two official expansions released for Blood: Cryptic Passage, and Plasma Pak.

### Cryptic Passage

Cryptic Passage was the first official expansion pack for Blood, developed by Sunstorm Interactive (the same devs would made/would go on to make other Build engine expansion pack classics such as Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach, Duke It Out in D.C., Redneck Rampage: Suckin' Grits on Route 66, and Shadow Warrior: Wanton Destruction), and was released on June 30, 1997.

Colloquially referred to by the Blood fanbase as the fifth episode of Blood (after the Dead Reckoning chapter of the original), this expansion has Caleb travelling to the Carpathian Mountains in order to retrieve a mysterious and powerful scroll that is said to be able to upset the balance in the otherworld; however, he will not be getting this for free, as he must take it from the forces of the now-deceased Dreaming God, Tchernobog, and his still-loyal minions and forces.

Cryptic Passage comes with one new (self-titled) episode, which is made up of ten single-player maps (9 normal and 1 secret), along with 4 BloodBath (multiplayer) maps. Other than the new maps, Cryptic Passage does not really introduce anything new to the series; this would change with the release of "Plasma Pak" the following year.

### Plasma Pak

Plasma Pak was the second and final official expansion pack for Blood, developed by Monolith Productions themselves, and released on October 15, 1997, just 3.5 months after the release of Cryptic Passage.

Colloquially referred to the Blood fanbase as the sixth episode of Blood (after Cryptic Passage), this expansion has Caleb traveling through familiar territory again, trudging through cityscapes and other manmade structures, in order to hunt down the newly-installed "Chosen-in-training", elite members of the Cabal who were installed after Caleb's previous actions severely weakened the cult. In addition to them, the Cabal also sought out new ranks of Cabalist soldiers for their ranks as well (the Ackolyte and Zealot), in an attempt to shore up their numbers, again after Caleb's previous escapades. Caleb must travel to the lair of the Chosin-in-training and put them down before they can attempt to bring the Cabal back to their former glory.

Similarly to Cryptic Passage, Plasma Pak comes with one new episode ("Post Mortem"), comprised of 9 single-player levels (8 normal and 1 secret) as well as 3 BloodBath maps. Unlike Cryptic Passage, Plasma Pak introduces some new enemies to the fold, in order to keep Caleb on his toes at all times!

## Unofficial Expanisons

In addition to the 2 official expansions, there have also been a number of fan-made, unofficial expansions for Blood. These are fairly numerous, but there are (to date) 3 that stand out as the most well-known and well-liked of them all: Death Wish, Fleshed Out, and Marrow.

### Death Wish

Death Wish was released initially on October 31, 2011 by Dustin "Bloatoid" Twilley, and continues to be updated by him to date. It's most current version is version 1.7.9

In this expansion, Caleb sets out to prevent the Cabal from resurrecting the slain Dreaming God, Tchernobog, and do whatever he can to put down the being again should he be able to fully resurrect.

This expansion comes with 3 new episodes ("In Cold Blood", "Scar Trek", and "War is Hell", as of version 1.7.9), comprised of a whopping 36 levels (12 levels each episode), with a new, fourth episode being worked on as of October 23, 2023, likely to be released when version 2.0 comes out. In addition to the fourth episode, a couple of Episode 3 maps are receiving near-complete reworks and will surely look vastly different compared to what they look like in their current state.

### Fleshed Out

Fleshed Out was released initially on October 27, 2019, nearly 8 years after the initial release of Death Wish, by SkobbeJakGames, a 2-man indie studio based out of Johannesburg, South Africa. It's most current version is version 1.7.14

In this expansion, Caleb sets out to further weaken the Cabal after the death of Tchernobog, as the remaining forces of the slain god are attempting to open portals to different worlds in an attempt to grow their army back to its former, considerable size. In addition to this, they are attempting to create a new god to follow in order to conquer the world. Caleb surely mustn't let that happen!

This expansion comes with 3 new episodes ("Through the Veins", "Rotten Tales", and "Praying with Fire", as of version 1.7), comprised of 29 single-player levels (10 in Episodes 1 and 3, and 9 in Episode 2).

### Marrow

Marrow was released during Realms Deep 2023 on September 30th, 2023, by Nick Palsmeier, AKA Damien\_Azreal, who is currently an employee of 3D Realms. As it has just released (as of October 23, 2023), it's current version is version 1.0.

In this expansion, the Cabal attempt to gather what numbers they can in order to eliminate Caleb once and for all, a final act of vengeance in the Cabal's name for striking down Tchernobog. Caleb must show them that, even after all he's been through, that he is still a force to be reckoned with!

This expansion (so far) comes with 1 new (self-titled) episode, complete with 10 single-player maps (9 normal and 1 secret), with at least a second episode likely on the way in the near future.