Monolith’s 1997 cult classic Blood is a lot of things. It boasts one of the greatest FPS protagonists and voice actors in Caleb and Stephan Weyte. It features one of gaming’s most gruesome and creatively rich atmospheres. Its weapon lineup is so iconic that no other shooter has truly duplicated it. The enemies rank among the most aggressive and maddening ever designed, on par with Serious Sam‘s hordes. It’s the most celebrated and sacred of all Build Engine games, despite bearing the worst sequel imaginable. Above everything, Blood stands as my all-time favorite first-person shooter, complicating any objective review. Still, no one is better positioned to assess Blood: Refreshed Supply—the fourth release of this title, than I. Blood has now become the Skyrim of first-person shooters.
Raising the Dead
Blood originally launched for MS-DOS in 1997. Over a decade later, Blood, along with its expansions, Cryptic Passage and Plasma Pak, were released on GOG and Steam as One Unit Whole Blood in 2010 and 2014, respectively. During that period, Blood’s source code was believed lost, which hindered the development of accurate source ports. Despite this, dedicated fans persisted, creating source ports such as BloodGDX, BloodCM, and NBlood out of their passion. While these versions improved accessibility and playability, they did not completely replicate the original game’s logic and feel.
In 2019, the Blood distribution rights holder Atari teamed up with Nightdive to create Blood: Fresh Supply, a reverse-engineered KEX Engine remaster that sought to end decades of fan outcry for an updated release. However, as many of you may already know, Fresh Supply was launched in a very rough state. Even after numerous patches, Fresh Supply is troubled with plenty of bugs, inaccuracies, and game logic issues. Then there’s the small fact that Atari eventually blocked any further development on Fresh Supply, complicating efforts to resolve these problems.
Remastering the Remaster
Several months ago, Atari and Nightdive revealed Blood: Refreshed Supply, yet another KEX Engine remaster, this time leveraging the long-lost source code. Warner Bros., the owner of the Blood IP (intellectual property rights truly are a headache), apparently discovered the source code and reached out to Atari to produce an updated remaster. Atari, now owning Nightdive, assigned them the task, enabling this new version powered by the authentic source code. Blood: Refreshed Supply is set to launch the moment this review goes live. That’s our current situation—or so it seems.
Blood: Refreshed Supply is not an update to Fresh Supply, but a standalone paid release at $24.99. Owners of Fresh Supply receive no free upgrade to this remastered version, only a 66% discount—effectively a $10 upgrade cost. No discounts apply to those holding just One Unit Whole Blood. Fan reactions to this pricing were predictable
Looks Like There’s Killing to Do
As noted earlier, Refreshed Supply‘s primary draw is its reconstruction from the source code, promising greater fidelity than Fresh Supply or reverse-engineered source ports. It incorporates all Fresh Supply upgrades, including increased framerates, 4K resolution, adjustable difficulty, and restored co-op plus deathmatch modes. New additions include, but are not limited to: enhanced gamepad controls, tweakable enemy behaviors, fixes for level bugs, fully remade cutscenes, a new weapon wheel, and a vault packed with behind-the-scenes content, alpha/cut levels, and extras.
For the first time, Blood will be available on consoles, giving console players a compelling reason to purchase Refreshed Supply. The remaster includes two fan-made campaigns: Marrow by Nick Palsmeier and Deathwish by Dustin Twilley. At launch, Episodes 1 and 2 of Marrow will be included, while Deathwish is planned as a free update in early 2026. Although these mods are freely available to the public, Atari and Nightdive are compensating Nick and Dustin to integrate their work into Blood: Refreshed Supply, which is a commendable decision
The standout feature in this version for me is the new cutscenes. Blood‘s original cutscenes were terrible, even by 1997 standards. These remade ones are shot-for-shot recreations that preserve the same gritty vibe—even retaining Caleb’s bald head, which was an oversight from the start. Stephan Weyte’s voice acting for Caleb stays flawless after all these years, and the updated cutscenes amplify his badass persona. That said, I ran into some streaming stutter issues with them; hopefully, this gets fixed in the public release. Other additions like enhanced controller support, tweakable enemy behaviors (e.g., Stone Gargoyles and Bloated Butchers hitting a crouched Caleb), and access to cut levels are impressive. I couldn’t test Bloodbath mode, as no one else was online for deathmatch in the review build, nor for co-op.
This Promises to Be Fun
Everything worth saying about Blood as a game has already been covered. An extensive retrospective I wrote 7 years ago dives deep into it—check it out for details. TL;DR: Blood is phenomenal and has aged beautifully. Movement feels fluid, gunplay delivers immense satisfaction through excessive gore and comical death animations, and the OST packs a punch. Levels brim with intricate details, Easter eggs, and homages to classic horror, with over 70 included in Blood: Refreshed Supply. The game still shapes modern developers, fueling the “Boomer Shooter Renaissance.”
I completed the base campaign on Well Done difficulty and tried a bit of Marrow. My time with Blood: Refreshed Supply has been solid—vastly superior to Fresh Supply. Note that it isn’t 100% faithful to the DOS original. Movement feels smoother (and improved), damage numbers and fall damage work correctly, and Fanatics no longer hurl dynamite. Minor bugs cropped up, like reduced music volume in certain levels, secrets not registering for progression, and quirky enemy antics (Phantasms spinning to map edges, Gargoyles failing to land). Nightdive missed adding boss behavior fixes—they remain predictably stupid, prone to geometry snags, and easy cheesing. Beyond these nitpicks, it’s been a smooth sailing experience. If you ask me, Atari and Nightdive could have done a better job at marketing Blood: Refreshed Supply, highlighting its unique value and why it surpasses a mere free update. At first glance, it appears as nothing more than a pricey cash grab; only deep on the Steam page do promising changes emerge, with even more tucked into dev streams and deep-dive podcasts.
Real Talk
And now, we’re here. On the one hand, I had a good time with Blood: Refreshed Supply. I’m glad that the makers of Marrow and Deathwish are being compensated for their work. I love the new cutscenes, the fixes, and the Vault. It’s a no-brainer purchase for console players.
On the other hand, when it comes to the PC, I’m torn. As someone who purchased Fresh Supply at full price and got disappointed, I believe this should have been a free upgrade or, at the very least, a $4.99 upgrade. Moreover, asking $30 for a nearly 30-year-old game is just crazy in this economy—I’m sure Atari had the final say in this. Blood: Refreshed Supply is good. The business model? Not so much.
FINAL SCORE: 80/100
