Grade: A
Unforgiving occult action platformer.
They Bleed Pixels is a brutally challenging action platformer that had me hitting my head against a brick wall. During the self-flagellation that went on for hours as I died hundreds of times, I wasn’t sure if I loved this game or hated it. However, after a successful run-through under my belt and that feeling of accomplishment you only get when you meet a bewildering challenge, I’ve fallen firmly on the admiration and appreciation side.
They Bleed Pixels is a classic gothic horror tale about a young orphan girl who finds an occult book in the school library. In fitting horror style, she is infected with demonic possession and gets the “gift” of having her arms turned into two-pronged daggers. Throughout the game, you struggle to set her free. They Bleed Pixels was initially released in 2012 but is maintained admirably. Most recently, Spooky Squid Games released They Bleed Pixels on Switch.
The game encompasses 11 levels. Unless you are a gaming wunderkind, you will need to practice a lot to beat the game. I needed to clock about 25 hours to get through all of the levels, and that was to win the base game, not get all the secrets. About 50% of my game time, though, was spent on 4 or 5 specific sequences that needed perfect precision. I watched a good portion of all four seasons of “The Handmaid’s Tale” while brute force practicing those particular sections.
One button combat that’s overloaded to an extreme degree
One of the most standout things about They Bleed Pixels was the way they created the controls. For example, with a single “B” button on an Xbox controller, you had many different attack actions you could take. The game combined multiple character state variables to create a whole pile of movements from one button.
Examples:
- Move towards enemies and press B, and you slash
- When in the air and you press down and B and you dive-bomb slash
- Look up while on the ground and press B you do an overhead slash
- Press B at the same time as the left/right movement, you do a dash-attack
- Without any direction, press B and do a kick that does no damage but can throw an enemy into spikes
- Long Press B without any direction, and kick the enemy straight up in the air
- When you attack an enemy in the air, time slows down, and you can do epic attack combos.
I’m probably missing a few as well! The game designer (Miguel Sternberg) talked about overloading this single button a few years ago, and he embraced the fact that people either loved or hated the controls system. When you master the techniques, it feels fluent and graceful. When you button mash, it just creates chaos and nonsense.
Brilliant Checkpoint Strategy
Another standout of They Bleed Pixels was the checkpoint strategy. As you defeat monsters in the level or collect blood packets, your checkpoint bar fills up. If your checkpoint bar fills up fully and you are at a stable location, then you can activate a save spot. The checkpoint strategy created an active thought process throughout the game. Do I take the risk of getting that hard to obtain blood packet? Do I kill or run past the monsters? If you take a few risks, you can get an extra checkpoint, which means you don’t have to go back as far on death. But, with taking the risk, you’ll likely fail a few extra times.
In every other game I’ve played, the checkpoints are flags you go past or auto-save points. Strategizing what options to take in order to create the optimal checkpoints was a brilliant idea and perfectly implemented in They Bleed Pixels.
Story blended with level design
The story arc of They Bleed Pixels was straightforward yet satisfying. In each of the Dreams, our protagonist tries a different strategy to eliminate this demonic book. She buries it. Then, she dumps it in the river. Lastly, she tries to burn it. The level ambiance and background match with the destruction attempt. The second is underground, the third is a waterscape, and the fourth is fire and metal. The varied backgrounds kept the game engaging and interesting.
Extras Galore
At some point, They Bleed Pixels gained cult classic status and retained a large following. As a result, there are many fan-created extras to unlock in the game, including badges, a fan art gallery, and bonus levels.
Mainly, I was surprised to find some mods embedded in the extras that you could play for extra content. There was one fan-made mod that was particularly charming. “They Bleed Ponycorns” had a colorful crayon background and updated some of the gothic horror vibes to be an adorable children’s game. The children’s crayon style made the game extra creepy somehow, though!
They Bleed Pixels has even inspired cosplay! This one is one of the best cosplays I saw of the clawed girl.
Overall, They Bleed Pixels is not a game for the faint of heart. The game designers didn’t pull any punches. On the most challenging sequence, I probably died 200 or so times. I’ll remember They Bleed Pixels for a long-time from now, and I can see why it gained such a cult classic following.
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