Introduction: In the wake of the immense success of Black Myth: Wukong, many in the global gaming community are actively following the activities of China-based game developers. Recently, NetEase and its game-making studio 24 Entertainment, showcased the first look at Blood Message, a new action-adventure set in ancient Chinese history. Unlike the famous story of the Monkey King, Blood Message is strongly rooted in real history but also provides a glimpse at its high production values and a lot of innovative gameplay. These are all reasons enough to consider the same game as a potential candidate for the next big breakout gaming hit coming from the Chinese development domain.
Article: Since its inception, the video game industry has always been more than willing and ready to borrow topics and themes from real-world history. But, the same process was also very uneven. While locations like ancient Greece saw their fair share of video games, based both on actual history and Greek mythology, other locations have been far less represented. China, with its continuous existence reaching back more than 4,000 years into the past, is a prime example of untapped storytelling potential. Now, a game development giant, NetEase, is ready to take a bit of that potential and turn it into a possible huge upcoming hit. This comes in the form of Blood Message, a third-person action-adventure that is set in the Tang Dynasty era. The developer of the game, 24 Entertainment, showcased the work its team completed so far in trailer form and it is beyond impressive.
For many, all of the elements that launched Black Myth: Wukong to global stardom are here in place as well. These include incredible graphics, high production quality, and a storyline that is fresh and novel. The difference is that in the case of Blood Message, the players will take on the duo of a father and son, who are one of ten messenger teams designated to somehow reach the capital of the Tang empire. If they fail, a nation will slide into unimaginable suffering and possible endless warfare. But, to succeed, they will have to travel the width of the ancient Chinese state, traversing frozen tundras, never-ending deserts, and huge cities fighting for their very survival. With the high ambitions of NetEase and 24 Entertainment, the game’s trailer shows that this upcoming title does stand a chance to deliver on its promises and become the next huge Chinese-made global hit.
World in Turmoil
The setting of Blood Message is the period in the late Tang dynasty. This age of the ancient history of China was marked by the expansion of the same realm and a golden age of Chinese civilization. But, on the other hand, the period was also riddled with conflicts and internal tension, which is where the game sets its plot. Here, the players will get a chance to play as an unnamed messenger and his son. They are just one of the ten groups of messengers that are sent from a far-flung region of China to its imperial capital. Between them and their destination lies a vast and mostly extremely hostile land, full of different terrains, but also shifting allegiance. All of that makes the mission of the players in Blood Message even more important – the world they know hangs in the balance. Whichever way that balance tips, the repercussions for the Tang empire could be catastrophic. The developers decided to lean into this dramatic historical period completely, replacing any mythic or supernatural elements with a strong focus on the actual period and its events.
Combat and Stealth
As the game’s trailer shows, most of the activities in Blood Message will fall into two broad categories. The first one will be navigation and survival, where players have to take on the merciless natural world of central and eastern Asia. The second one will be combat and stealth, which takes the players into contact with other individuals, groups, and even whole armies. Here, there are many snippets of innovation that the developers are aiming for. During action sequences, the players, acting in the third-person, can utilize their bladed weapons to great effect with slashing and stabbing attacks, but also counters and parries. Thanks to unusual camera angles and often unexpected interactions with the surrounding environment, these feel very novel for the action-adventure genre. While the Assassin’s Creed series seems like the logical point of comparison for Blood Message, the upcoming game already has its own clear and separate identity.
Visual Excellence
The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 and seems like it will be pushing its capabilities to the maximum. This is seen in the overall visual excellence that the game’s trailer provided, especially when it comes to the cinematics and in-game sequences. Many of these showcase a range of locations, from the natural world to the period’s architecture and building interiors. All of them look detailed and well-designed, along with a high level of interactivity. That is why, for example, action sequences involve the players using surrounding elements like wooden beams or pottery jugs to either avoid or attack enemies. At the present stage, the game’s pre-rendered cinematic sequences look just as good as its in-game footage. With additional polish that the 24 Entertainment developers will undoubtedly complete in the coming months, Blood Message will likely provide an even higher level of graphic quality.
New Age of Storytelling
Blood Message still does not have an official release date, but NetEase targets the PC platform, as well as the current generation gaming consoles. Due to this, many insiders believe that the game will launch somewhere in 2026, likely between the second and third quarters. Presently, its marketing campaign managed to attain enough awareness for millions of fans of the action-adventure genre to keep following the development of Blood Message. Once it is released, the game will also face stiff competition from other high-budget games in this genre. But, regardless of its ultimate level of financial success, NetEase already managed to build upon the hype that Game Science began with Black Myth: Wukong several years prior. This hype shows that the global gaming market is no longer skeptical of high-budget PC and console games coming from Chinese developers. Instead, there is a newfound level of appreciation of the heroes, stories, and adventures coming from the same part of the world and its narrative traditions. Blood Message is just the latest game in this process, but as things stand now, it will not be the last one.
Author: Ivica Milaric, game designer and assistant professor of game design at the Novi Sada Academy of Arts, Republic of Serbia