Bad Blood (video game)

Bad Blood is a post-apocalyptic action role-playing game for MS-DOS and Commodore 64 published by Origin Systems in 1990.

Plot

A nuclear war has turned the world into a wasteland. The pure-blooded humans have retreated in large cities while mutants live in small villages on the plains where they make a living by hunting the many monsters. Now one of the human leaders, Lord Dominix, wants to start a war to wipe out all the "bad-blooded" mutants. Your village chief has assigned you with the task of preventing this war.

Gameplay

Bad Blood is a top-down action-adventure. You can not create your own character but have to pick one of the three predefined ones: Varrigg, Dekker or Jakka. The choice you make has only a limited impact on gameplay and storyline.
Gameplay consists of exploring the world map, visiting several cities and villages, talking with NPCs, picking up items and new weapons and much real-time combat. The game has a day-night cycle which influences the amount of monsters on the plains and whether or not you can talk with some NPCs.

Reception

Jim Trunzo reviewed Bad Blood in White Wolf #22, rating it a 3 out of 5 and stated that "Bad Blood is a graphic delight with an interesting theme. For hard-core role-players, the game would have little appeal. For the masses, however, Bad Blood offers a relatively easy play and a high enjoyment quotient."
Charles Ardai reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "Bad Blood is nothing if not well-intended, but it fails for want of a spark of innovation, either in the story or the gameplay."