They Bleed Pixels - Review

Reviewed for the PC played with Xbox360 Controller.

Pros

• Incredibly Difficult
• Interesting Lore
• Completely Skill Based Game
• Retro Game Pulling from Old Platformers
• Adorable Graphics
• Lots of Gore???

Cons

• Retro Graphics
• Incredibly Frustrating
• Not For Everyone

Let me start off by saying They Bleed Pixels is not for everyone and any properly difficult game will end up with negative reviews. Just as people downvote things on newegg for being shipped improperly despite it being a review for the "product" people end up reviewing their "overall experience" which isn't really helpful to anyone. >.> 

They Bleed Pixels borrows from H.P. Lovecraft, it starts off with a little girl going to Lafcadio Academy for Troubled Young Ladies, where she discovers a magical book that teleports her into another realm turning her purple and giving her hands claw like appearances. I won't ruin it ^^, but I really did enjoy the bit of lore in the game and it reminded me a lot of Catherine which I loved that game.

They Bleed Pixels is a understatement in of it's own, they don't just bleed they gush pixels covering entire landscapes in their entrails. I can safely say this game is not for people who have a fear of blood or that don't enjoy gore. However for those who don't have those problems will find the combat to be a enjoyable aspect of the game, fast reactions and quick movements to chain combos will be the key to success and with this success you are rewarded with pints of blood as well as checkpoints.

Pints are basically your score if you want to land on the top of the leaderboard and achieve the best scores it's going to be "incredibly difficult", often times I spent 20~50 minutes just trying to complete one level let alone aiming for a score lol. Checkpoint well are obviously where you go back to when you die and you will die.. many times, so it's good to throw up checkpoints as often as you can and at every chance you can so you aren't having to redo the entire level from scratch.

But ultimately at heart Pixels is a platformer even the combat is a matter of platforming correctly and the platforming is HARD often times you are confronted with a incredibly challenging obstacle to finally get over and it has 5 more challenging obstacles in front of you. There's no saving in the middle of levels either so it's a real test of endurance and skill. As you will find out 50 minutes of dying 130 times often is incredibly stressful.

But let me just say now, the controls work amazingly I never got frustrated with the controls present in the game they were set up incredibly well, though I did use a Xbox 360 Controller I did not try it with the PC controls so i'm not sure how those are.

They Bleed Pxiels isn't a expansive game and it doesn't do anything new, really there is no story just lore, but I think what it set out to do it has accomplished amazingly.

Check it out at: http://www.theybleedpixels.com/

(Do you enjoy games)*

• that are platformers with combo combat elements?
• with adorable graphics?
• that are frustratingly difficult?
• that are very dark with lots of gore?
• that require a lot of endurance to finish 1 level?

For each YES give yourself +1 then for each NO don't give yourself anything, after you answer and add them up check below for a general idea on how much you might enjoy the game.
0-2 Forget
3-4 Demo
5-5 Buy
I encourage you to play any demo available for the game before you buy or rent a game, there is nothing better to help you decide then trying the game firsthand.