The X-files

Blood)
Episode: 2X03
First aired:9/30/94
Written by: Glen Morgan and James Wong
Directed by: David Nutter

A real estate salesman sees the words "kill 'em all" on a digital elevator display and kills four people with his bare hands.

Mulder learns from the sherrif, Spencer, that this the 7th murder spree in the area that usually doesn't have this kind of crime. Mulder finds the real estate salesman's fingerrints on the smashed digital display in the elevator and that at each crime scen an electronic device has been destroyed.

Mrs. McRoberts, a local woman, kills an auto repairman after seeing a simiolar display that says "He'll rape you. he'll kill you. You kill him first."

Spencer and Mulder go to this woman's house and she tries to stab Mulder and Spencer shoots her. The autopsy reveals that the woman's adrenaline levels were 200 times normal. Scully decides that this rise in adrenaline and an unknown compund also found could create a reaction similar to LSD.

Mulder goes to talk to the Lone Gunmen, who tell him about LSDM, and experimental insecticide that creates fear in insects, a way of chasing them from the fields.

Mulder goes to a field at night and is sprayed by a silent helicopter. He talks to a twon official, who admits that they've been using the chemical. Mulder feels that this chemical is increasing existing phobias for the people in the town, which Mulder believes is a controlled experiment.

Ed Funsch, a disgruntled postal worker, has been plagued by these digital messages, targeting his phobia of blood. Ed climbs a tower at the local college and fires at the crowd with a rifle. Mulder runs up and catches him. With Ed in custody, Mulder calls Scully on his cell phone. The call reaches Scully but Mulder stares at the phone which reads "all done. Bye bye."


Important Quotes:
Mulder -- "What's wrong with right field?"
Spencer -- "Always the first one to shake hands at the end of the game. Didn't matter whether they won or lost."
Mulder -- "Got to have an arm to play right field."
Spencer -- "Bought a round of beers afterwards, even though he didn't drink."
Langly -- "L.S.D.M. Obviously, you haven't read our August edition of "T.L.G."
Mulder - "Oh, I'm sorry, boys. It arrived the same day as my subscription to "Celebrity Skin."

Frohikie -- "So, Mulder, where's your little partner?"
Mulder -- "She wouldn't come. She's afraid of her love for you."
Frohike -- "She's tasty."
Mulder -- "You know, Frohike, it's men like you that give perversion a bad name."

Mulder -- "Fear. It's the oldest tool of power. If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."


Back to The X-files: Season 2

Ahh... blood. The red stuff that flows in your arteries and veins. It is made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma.

Blood flows in arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules and veins around the body and is pumped by the heart through the arteries and capillaries. Blood returns through the veins by passive movement, aided by muscle contraction and one-way valves. In the human body, blood flows around in a double circulatory system, passing through the heart twice in one circuit as it is pumped through the lungs and then through the rest of the body.

Possibly the best way to think of blood is as a medium. It is a medium for the transport of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, removal of waste products including carbon dioxide and the transport of hormones from endocrine organs to their target tissues.

As it carries white blood cells, antibodies and complement around the body, it acts as a medium for the immune system too.

Blood carries around its own clotting (coagulation) system which serves to stop bleeding in case of injury. This is where platelets and clotting factors come into play.

Plasma is the fluid that makes up the rest of the blood that is not the blood cells or platelets. Most stuff that the blood takes around is dissolved in or bound to plasma.

The average normal adult male would have about 5 liters of blood flowing in his body.


Sometimes you can tell things just by looking at blood. Venous blood is darker than arterial blood because most of the oxygen has been sucked out of it. The blood of someone with carbon monoxide poisoning is bright cherry red. Once in a while, you see milky blood from someone with a sky high cholesterol or triglyceride level.

Developer: Monolith Productions (1997)
Platform: PC
Genre: First person shooter/action
Publisher: GT Interactive
Requirements: P75; 16 MB RAM; 80 MB Disc Space; 100% Soundblaster compatable card; MS-DOS 6.2

"I Live Again!"

These words welcome you into the dark and disturbing world of Blood! You rise from the grave to rid the world of the Cabal, a plague of evil upon the planet lead by Tchernobog, whom you have sworn to take vengeance upon for stealing your humanity when all you gave was devotion. Your name is Caleb, a gunfighter from Texas born in 1847, and you once fell in love Ophelia Price of the order of Tchernobog but you were both killed for reasons you wish to discover.

That is the storyline as far as I can make out, although the whole thing is a little vague. The development team say that they were inspired by the works of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Edgar Allen Poe, Sam Raimi, George Romero, John Carpenter, and H.P. Lovecraft. They wanted to make an inherently dark game with a psychological element as well as it being traditionally scary. I wouldn't like to say that they succeeded, but it scares the hell out of me every time I play it!

Gameplay

Kill everything which moves! Zombies, gargoyles, rats, mimes... everything! The title of the game gives it all away; it is a gorefest from start to finish and don't make the mistake of not killing something because it might not hurt you... put a couple of rounds in just in case. Gameplay is simple, classic and hard! If you consider yourself fairly good at FPS games then see how long you last on Blood. Enemies are fairly powerful and surprisingly accurate, not to mention the fact that you have to keep checking to see if a zombie is actually dead or just taking a break. Ammunition is, initially at least, in very short supply forcing you to use the entire range of unorthodox weapons (See weapons section) and not just running round with a shotgun in your hands which would be favoured in DOOM (ID).

Enemy AI is primitive at best, and can be related to the sort of level seen in Duke 3D. Some enemies will charge right at you, some move in then move away again, and other change their stance forcing you to make use of the full up and down aiming available in the game. There are the traditional items such as night vision, medikits, jumping boots etc. but I think these just get in the way of gameplay as you try and remember which key you assigned to each item.

Level design is one aspect which really sets this game apart from some of the others around at the time. The levels are full of secret areas, clever moving sectors and just generally attention to detail in a time where many other games were lacking. One of the best examples of a Blood level is the unforgettable train level (E1M3) with all the action taking place on a moving train. The game is split up into 4 episodes:

  1. The Way of All Flesh
  2. Even Death May Die
  3. Farewell to Arms
  4. Dead Reckoning

Controls can be configured to pretty much anyway you want, this includes mouse-look keyboard combos which were difficult on some games of that time. I warn you to check your key setup carefully, there are many commands used in the game and it is possible to bind two or more commands to one key without noticing. There is even the option of a parental lock although this is pretty much pointless, as it just seems to turn off the blood squirting out of your victims. Corpses, bloodstains and excessive violence are all still much a part of the game even with the lock on.

Environment

"I'm gonna paint the town … RED!"

As I mentioned before Blood is a twisted game. You start in a cemetery and move through most possible locations: Gothic cathedrals, ships, the fairground, towns, prison and some places I'm not even sure where they are supposed to be (probably some dark corner of hell), systematically cleansing the earth of the Cabal. This is a game full of dark humour and great lines by the protagonist, such as walking into a funeral chapel muttering "Open for business". In true Duke 3D style anything vaguely interesting might have a sound attached to it so use your 'action' button excessively. Blood takes the most innocent places and makes them into a nightmare. The fairground is a good example: Try kicking heads into a large mouth shaped goal to win a prize, or see the freak show full of body parts and a dismembered hand (which will try and strangle you). All these elements make you question if this is a darkly funny game or just a horrific game which your warped sense or humour finds funny. The sound is an essential part of this environment so make sure you have the volume up. One enemy in particular called the cultist (Basically an insane monk with either a shotgun or Tommy gun) yells some sort of foreign language at you whilst unloading shells in your direction and will haunt you with those screams.

Everything which you thought was innocent can be turned into something horrific in blood and this is probably the reason why anyone remembers it!

Technology

Blood was created using a slightly tweaked version of the Duke 3D Build engine. It has a little less trouble with rooms upon rooms and a few 'fancy' lighting options, but essentially it is the same framework. All enemies and game sprites are flat with multiple versions of each depending on your viewpoint. It is for this reason that enemies never look entirely 3D, but at the time of creation it was the tried and tested method which had been used to great success in all the build engine games and others (mostly the DOOM derivatives). It looks dated now, but it does the job!

Weapons

Some fairly inventive weapons which seem appropriate for the setting. Most of the weapons have an alternative-firing mode which was a fairly new concept at the time of production. All weapons are listed below with the primary and alternative firing mode:

-Pitchfork - Stab opponent

-Flare Gun - Set fire to opponent 
           - Flame explosion

-Shotgun - Each barrel individually
         - Both barrels

-Tommy gun - Rapid fire
           - Rapid fire spray left to right

-Rocket launcher - Fires rockets

-TNT + Lighter - Light, throw and explodes on impact
               - Light, throw in your own time, explode when fuse runs out

-Proximity TNT - Explodes when something gets too close to it

-Remote TNT - Throw and blow up remotely
            - Throw multiple bombs to blow up remotely

-Aerosol can + lighter - Flame-thrower
                       - Flame grenade

-Electric Blaster - Rapid fire
                  - Big blast (require charge)

-Skull Staff - Umm... Flames + stuff 

-VooDoo Doll - Stab (This can hurt you!)
             - Disintegrate opponent

In addition to this there is a guns akimbo powerup which lets you wield two of certain types of guns. Try it with the Tommy guns using the alternate fire.

Why bother?

Well it is not the greatest game in the world and if you don't like the idea of playing now what is an old game then this is not for you! However if it sounds like you might like it then at least download the shareware version to have a go (You will have to try and get it to work on your machine first, not an easy task if your under Windows XP as it is a DOS game there are guides online to help you do this, try VDMS sound). I play it for nostalgic reasons, it still makes me jump and those monks still freak me every time!

Sources:
http://blood.lith.com/ (Shareware version available here as well as cheats!)
www.geek.com
My own experience of the game


I watched Sam and Joel with fascination. I knew what they were doing was wrong. They had made a little noose. We stood very still by the woodpile, watching for lizards. A lizard darted out and then stood still. It looked like it was doing pushups on the grey wood in the sun. Everything was dry dry dry. It was fire weather. The sign outside of Boonville with the picture of Smokey Bear had the arrow pointing to the red: “Severe fire risk.”

Sam and Joel were Randy and Eddie’s cousins, but they lived far away. They came in the summer to visit. They had white-blond hair, and their father was an unbeliever.

Joel crept incrementally toward the lizard, then lassoed it, pulling it tightly in the string. He yanked the lizard off the ground, its legs circling like when in cartoons, Scooby’s legs scramble but he’s not going anywhere? Like that. I was sickened and curious.

You shouldn’t do that. It’s mean.”

We drew around to look at the lizard. It was the dry color of the wood and it had tiny grey claws, still scrambling.

Joel pulled on its back leg, not hard enough to tear it off.

“I’m going to tell on you!”

“We’re just looking at it.”

You shouldn’t, though. You should let it go.”

God made His People kill animals for Him all the time. And they didn’t even eat the animals. They would kill them and then burn them for God. We didn’t have to do this, because when His People killed Jesus, this was the last offering they had to make to God and then all their sins could be forgiven. This wasn’t for God, and I was pretty sure that Sam and Joel wouldn’t care.

The lizard was dying but it was not dead yet. It started twitching. Joel lay it down on the woodpile, and Sam smashed its head with a rock. The rock and the wood got bloody, but just barely. There was surprisingly little blood in the lizard.

from The Book of Revelation

Blood is a mystical liquid, with properties unique to it alone, as well as my favorite of the greater humors to play with. Whether my own, or someone else’s, it is interesting not only for its physical characteristics, but for its relative rarity. Although every person is full of it, it is seldom seen because it is only visible when skin rends due to injury and because injury also brings pain, few people like to see their own blood. Blood has always had many symbolic meanings, from death and strength, from love and virginity, self-sacrifice and hate.

Visually, blood is distinct. Fresh blood has a deep red color, ranging from the bright red of a chest wound, to the rich dark red of blood fresh from liver. Blood also has an odd effect in the light of seeming to both absorb light and reflect light, which creates interesting patterns in the right lighting.

As blood dries, it dulls from a beautiful red to an unsightly brown. Blood is also renowned for its ability to stain, much to the chagrin of the mothers of skinned-kneed children everywhere. Carpet, cloth, paper, skin; nothing is safe from a bloodstain. Due to blood’s already macabre reputation, the ability to use its staining powers as ink are frowned upon by most of society. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t tried it.

Blood isn’t known for the sound it makes, but some sounds have become synonymous with a great deal of blood loss. The gargling sound of a throat being cut, in tandem with blood spraying from the jugular, are not sounds that those who hear it forget.

To touch blood, it feels slick and is much thicker than water. Touching blood causes skin stains that are difficult to remove, as anyone who has tried to stem the flow of blood from one’s own nose knows. As blood dries, it becomes crusty due to water evaporation, leaving solids such as salts, metals, and organic materials.

While I have a friend who swears by it, I can’t say I like the taste of blood. It tastes vaguely of tears and iron, which are ironic in the sense that in the wars of the past, iron shed blood and tears flew in result. Why might I have tasted blood, you may ask? Well, the mouth is often used to help staunch a small wound.

Blood does not have a strong smell, but in a room where blood has been recently spilled, the nauseating smell of decaying blood is referred to as literally “stinking of death.”

Blood is a remarkable substance, not only for the many physiological reasons and physical properties, but for its many symbolic meanings. I’m glad that such a material is readily available, if one can stand the pain, and the fact that it is so easily replenished. Plus, just look at the expressions of those near you when you walk into a room with bloodstains on your lips.

Blood (?), n. [OE. blod, blood, AS. bld; akin to D. bloed, OHG. bluot, G. blut, Goth, bl, Sw. & Dan. blod; prob. fr. the same root as E. blow to bloom. See Blow to bloom.]

1.

The fluid which circulates in the principal vascular system of animals, carrying nourishment to all parts of the body, and bringing away waste products to be excreted. See under Arterial.

⇒ The blood consists of a liquid, the plasma, containing minute particles, the blood corpuscles. In the invertebrate animals it is usually nearly colorless, and contains only one kind of corpuscles; but in all vertebrates, except Amphioxus, it contains some colorless corpuscles, with many more which are red and give the blood its uniformly red color. See Corpuscle, Plasma.

2.

Relationship by descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity; kinship.

To share the blood of Saxon royalty. Sir W. Scott.

A friend of our own blood. Waller.

Half blood Law, relationship through only one parent. -- Whole blood, relationship through both father and mother. In American Law, blood includes both half blood, and whole blood.

Bouvier. Peters.

3.

Descent; lineage; especially, honorable birth; the highest royal lineage.

Give us a prince of blood, a son of Priam. Shak.

I am a gentleman of blood and breeding. Shak.

4. Stock Breeding

Descent from parents of recognized breed; excellence or purity of breed.

⇒ In stock breeding half blood is descent showing one half only of pure breed. Blue blood, full blood, or warm blood, is the same as blood.

5.

The fleshy nature of man.

Nor gives it satisfaction to our blood. Shak.

6.

The shedding of blood; the taking of life, murder; manslaughter; destruction.

So wills the fierce, avenging sprite, Till blood for blood atones. Hood.

7.

A bloodthirsty or murderous disposition.

[R.]

He was a thing of blood, whose every motion Was timed with dying cries. Shak.

8.

Temper of mind; disposition; state of the passions; -- as if the blood were the seat of emotions.

When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth. Shak.

⇒ Often, in this sense, accompanied with bad, cold, warm, or other qualifying word. Thus, to commit an act in cold blood, is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion; to do it in bad blood, is to do it in anger. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated. To warm or heat the blood is to excite the passions. Qualified by up, excited feeling or passion is signified; as, my blood was up.

9.

A man of fire or spirit; a fiery spark; a gay, showy man; a rake.

Seest thou not . . . how giddily 'a turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five and thirty? Shak.

It was the morning costume of a dandy or blood. Thackeray.

10.

The juice of anything, especially if red.

He washed . . . his clothes in the blood of grapes. Gen. xiix. 11.

Blood is often used as an adjective, and as the first part of self-explaining compound words; as, blood-bespotted, blood-bought, blood-curdling, blood-dyed, blood-red, blood-spilling, blood-stained, blood-warm, blood-won.

Blood baptism Eccl. Hist., the martyrdom of those who had not been baptized. They were considered as baptized in blood, and this was regarded as a full substitute for literal baptism. -- Blood blister, a blister or bleb containing blood or bloody serum, usually caused by an injury. -- Blood brother, brother by blood or birth. -- Blood clam Zool., a bivalve mollusk of the genus Arca and allied genera, esp. Argina pexata of the American coast. So named from the color of its flesh. -- Blood corpuscle. See Corpuscle. -- Blood crystal Physiol., one of the crystals formed by the separation in a crystalline form of the haemoglobin of the red blood corpuscles; haematocrystallin. All blood does not yield blood crystals. -- Blood heat, heat equal to the temperature of human blood, or about 98 ° Fahr. -- Blood horse, a horse whose blood or lineage is derived from the purest and most highly prized origin or stock. -- Blood money. See in the Vocabulary. -- Blood orange, an orange with dark red pulp. -- Blood poisoning Med., a morbid state of the blood caused by the introduction of poisonous or infective matters from without, or the absorption or retention of such as are produced in the body itself; toxaemia. -- Blood pudding, a pudding made of blood and other materials. -- Blood relation, one connected by blood or descent. -- Blood spavin. See under Spavin. -- Blood vessel. See in the Vocabulary. -- Blue blood, the blood of noble or aristocratic families, which, according to a Spanish prover , has in it a tinge of blue; -- hence, a member of an old and aristocratic family. -- Flesh and blood. (a) A blood relation, esp. a child. (b) Human nature. -- In blood Hunting, in a state of perfect health and vigor. Shak. -- To let blood. See under Let. -- Prince of the blood, the son of a sovereign, or the issue of a royal family. The sons, brothers, and uncles of the sovereign are styled princes of the blood royal; and the daughters, sisters, and aunts are princesses of the blood royal.

 

© Webster 1913.


Blood (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blooded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blooding.]

1.

To bleed.

[Obs.]

Cowper.

2.

To stain, smear or wet, with blood.

[Archaic]

Reach out their spears afar, And blood their points. Dryden.

3.

To give (hounds or soldiers) a first taste or sight of blood, as in hunting or war.

It was most important too that his troops should be blooded. Macaulay.

4.

To heat the blood of; to exasperate.

[Obs.]

The auxiliary forces of the French and English were much blooded one against another. Bacon.

 

© Webster 1913.

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