Gareth Evans’ The Raid and The Raid 2 are some of the greatest action films of all time with a viscerality that few movies ever come close to. Acts of Blood, a new indie beat-em-up game from developer Eksil Team aims to bring that pure, pulse-pounding action to video games with slick hand-to-hand combat, rapid parkour and dangerous weapons that pack a punch.
Available to play in an early, unfinished demo form on Steam, Acts of Blood isn’t just inspired by The Raid. Speaking to FRVR, lead developer Farjul explained that “The Raid inspired the tone raw, brutal, and grounded”, but the game also draws from Ong Bak, The Night Comes for Us, and more to deliver the “gritty, realistic action” the team wants players to feel.
“Realism is important,” Farjul told us. “We use slower recovery, heavy sounds, and grounded animation so every hit feels painful. But it still feel[s] smooth and reactive.” Nevertheless, mastering that combat has been difficult with the developer explaining that “getting it to feel right took a lot of trial and error. Tiny changes in timing or animation can make it feel off.”
However, it’s not just movies that have served as inspiration, as the underrated open world game Sleeping Dogs is a huge influence over the game’s DNA. While there have been plenty of melee-focused games since, Sleeping Dogs was the first game that really felt martial arts in a realistic, gritty video game, despite also allowing you to jump from car-to-car on a highway like a superhero.
“Sleeping Dogs showed how third-person melee combat can feel impactful and responsive,” the developer told us. “I wanted to mix both and bring that gritty Indonesian action vibe into a game… Sifu, Batman Arkham, and the classic Jackie Chan Stuntmaster. Each has something I like. But for Acts of Blood, I keep it grounded and brutal, not flashy.”
Alongside brutal combat, Acts of Blood also allows players to engage in parkour between areas, an area that is certainly expanded over the likes of Sleeping Dogs. If you’ve ever seen any of Jackie Chan’s Police Story movies, you’ll feel at home, with the game’s protagonist able to quickly swing and swerve around the environment with a realistic ease.
“The parkour is there as a breathing point so the player doesn’t spend the whole game just punching non-stop,” we were told. “It gives pacing, some movement variety, and moments to catch your breath before the next fight.”
One of the biggest worries with any melee-focused action game is the introduction of guns, something that the team behind Acts of Blood have been keen to show off from the very start. In some games, guns can break the flow of combat with games like Yakuza often suffering when firearms are added into the fray.
However, for the team behind this new game, guns are something to be feared, and their introduction into a fight is supposed to change how you play, whether you’re the one dodging bullets or the one firing them.
“Guns add tension, not distraction. They make fights feel more dangerous but don’t take away from the melee focus,” they said, adding that, “weapons are just tools. They’re strong but break fast. The focus is still on hand-to-hand combat weapons just give some variety.”
Acts of Blood’s demo will still be available to play for s long as players want, but the developer’s previous demo updates have stopped. Instead, full development is going ahead on the martial arts game with more news expected to arrive in the near future.
At the time of writing, there is no release date for the upcoming game, but it will launch exclusively on PC.
