Monolith Productions - Press News - Coming Soon Magazine

Monolith Productions' Spills Blood Shareware onto the Internet

Kirkland, WA, March 7, 1997 -- Monolith Productions, Inc., a cutting-edge game development and interactive media services company in Kirkland, Washington, today announced the launch of the shareware version of Blood, available for download at www.blood.com, www.gtinteractive.com and many other popular game sites. GT Interactive Software Corp., the publisher of Blood, will ship the retail version of the shareware later this month, and the full retail version will be available early this summer.

"Blood is a gamer's game," says Jason Hall, CEO of Monolith Productions. "As we see it, the pace and style of gameplay ID Software's Doom 2 offered was lost. Blood brings it back and takes it to another level. Two people playing a BloodBath can easily reach 100 frags in 15 minutes."

In single play, players take the role of a former member of the Chosen, elite servants of the god Tchernobog, cast down without reason and stripped of power and identity. The game's four episodes are a quest for vengeance and understanding. Players first seek out the other three Chosen, then make their way to Tchernobog's domain for a final confrontation.

Multiplayer Blood features both cooperative play and BloodBath, which pits players against each other in a fast-paced frenzy that lives up to its name. "In Blood there are more ways to kill and more ways to die than any other first person action game," says Hall. "Blood is easily the most violent game ever created."

Although Hall insists that Blood's gameplay will distinguish it from the rest of the crowd, the game has an impressive list of features:

Unique weapons, including the flare gun, voodoo doll, aerosol can and lighter, and dynamite, some of which will only be available in the full retail version of the game

Weapons have an alternative mode, which makes them significantly more versatile. Additionally, the Guns Akimbo powerup gives players temporary double-fisted action with most weapons

Advanced Build Engine allows true 3D environments, destroyable architecture and objects, more types of debris than any other game, and a wide range of impressive special effects to create a truly menacing game environment

Multiplayer BloodBath and a cooperative Blood Brother mode for up to eight players

True 3D sound complete with realistic dopplering that allows players to pinpoint enemies by auditory cues

Blood also has a lockout feature that permits concerned parents to turn off the gore effects, but Hall stresses that Blood is aimed at mature audiences. "This game is for the genre's primary audience, not for children."

# # # Monolith Productions, Inc. was formed in 1994 with the goal of creating rich content and bringing high-quality production values into retail entertainment products. Before joining Monolith Productions, many of Monolith's current employees were major players for successful and well-known software companies such as Broderbund, Edmark, Sierra, Expert, Swfte, SSI, 3D Realms, Squaresoft, Q Studios and NCSA. Current games in development include the full retail version of Blood, to be published later this spring by GT Interactive; Claw, a high-res Win95 networking platform adventure game to be published by Mindscape, also due for a spring release; and a ground-breaking true 3D first person action game code-named MetalTek to be published by Microsoft Corporation. Additionally, Monolith will soon open Monolith Services, a complete production facility offering full scale services for media and entertainment companies, including 3D rendering, motion capture and scanning, sound and video production, and software tools development.

[Main] [Back issues] [Feedback]