Visuals and Environments
Permanent Way Entertainment’s Blood of Mehran offers some visually appealing moments, with vibrant landscapes and impressive water effects that stand out. The colorful memory scenes add a nice touch of creativity. However, persistent texture loading issues bog down the experience, and NPCs suffer from noticeable clipping, particularly with hair, giving them a rough, unpolished look. Blowfish Studios, as the publisher, could’ve pushed for a bit more refinement here.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Drawing clear inspiration from Assassin’s Creed Origins & God Of War, Permanent Way’s effort falls short. Combat feels lackluster, with weapons lacking impact and enemies barely reacting. The lock-on system struggles, making group fights chaotic and disorienting. It was like taking a gamble on who I was going to hit, multiple enemy fights proved extremely irritating, not a good sign for a combat heavy game. The prison warden boss fight was extremely annoying, overwhelmingly tough because of constant enemy reinforcements, leaving you dodging more than attacking. Rage mode feels tacked on and ineffective, they tried to do God Of War here but ended up with God Of Poor. Climbing ladders or terrain is probably the worst thing this game does, the animations are brutally awful, why does it take Mehran years to climb anything? Even in one scene, Mehran comes across a female ally, she goes for the high ground. I thought to myself, at least this will be a fast climb. I was wrong, it was like watching paint dry. It’s clear the developers aimed high, but the execution dropped into a pile of hay.
Animation and Presentation
The kill animations sequences are genuine highlights, showing Permanent Way’s potential for creativity. However, the broader animation quality feels dated, reminiscent of early Xbox 360 titles, with stiff movements. Blowfish Studios’ oversight didn’t quite bridge the gap between ambition and delivery.
Voice Acting and Dialogue
The voice acting is a significant weak spot, sounding amateurish and failing to bring the story to life. The game struggles with awkward pacing and cutscenes where dialogue abruptly cuts off, leaving scenes feeling incomplete. Some scenes, are bogged down by long unnecessary pauses. The dubbing, is also poorly done here.
Final Verdict
Blood of Mehran is a masterclass in squandered potential. The gorgeous environments and slick kill animations are drowned out by failures. Comically slow climbing, a infuriatingly lock on system, abysmal voice acting, broken combat mechanics, and technical issues like texture loading and NPC clipping that scream “unfinished.” The developers’ lack of experience is painfully clear, and while there’s a faint pulse of charm for masochistic indie fans, this game is a frustrating slog for anyone else. Save your sanity and steer clear.
4/10
