Blood of Mehran Review for Xbox Series S/X
Recently released on October 7, Blood of Mehran is developed by Blowfish Studios and Permanent Way Entertainment and billed as “a thrilling tale of vengeance, love, and tears, set in ancient Mesopotamia.” Its interface, controls, and play style will be instantly familiar to anyone who’s played Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia, God of War, or even Elden Ring. I don’t think Blood of Mehran reinvents the wheel compared to these other games, but what it does, it does very well. You play as the titular Mehran, a former soldier who turns rogue after his commander betrays him and murders his wife and daughter. After escaping from a vast, labyrinthine prison out in the desert (the game’s first major set piece), Mehran and a fellow escaped prisoner named Scheherazade connect with a rebel effort against the cruel new king, who happens to be the same treacherous commander that ruined Mehran’s life.
I will say that the game made me hesitant at first. After a short cutscene that’s a flash forward (I won’t spoil it, although it’s literally the first thing you see in the game), we jump back to a memory of Mehran’s peaceful life with his wife and daughter. The memory starts out in washed-out grayscale, and the more of the world you explore, the more it fills with vibrancy and color. It’s absolutely beautiful—but the graphics take a heavy toll on performance. To give the game the benefit of the doubt, the laggy movement might be an intentional effect since you’re in a bit of a surreal memory state, but it becomes very noticeably slow and jerky. The more I played through the memory scene, the more nervous I got. After all, if I had to pick between stunning graphics and smooth performance, I’d probably go with performance every time.
However, I’m delighted to say that once the memory scene ended and the game started properly in the desert prison, both the graphics and the performance improved significantly. I’m currently making headway in the second part of the game, which takes place in a huge moonlit city, and I haven’t noticed any lag or performance issues since the initial memory scene. Everything runs smoothly, and the attention to detail—from sunlight glinting off a soldier’s armor to shadows dancing on stone walls to water shimmering on the surface of a lake—is breathtaking. The game team clearly put a ton of effort into building a fully realized, authentic facsimile of ancient Mesopotamia, and their care is apparent. Props to them. My only other nitpick when it comes to graphics is that the cutscene characters’ mouths really don’t line up with the words their voice actors are saying, which wouldn’t be a big deal except there are a LOT of close-ups of their faces. In general, the cutscenes are very well done, but the disconnect between the mouths and the voices can be a bit distracting.
Blood of Mehran retreads on familiar ground when it comes to the game mechanics and interface. Anyone who’s played the most basic action-adventure game will be at home with the combat, skill tree, items, merchants, and combo moves. You start out with a basic sword and a parry ability, but you can quickly buy upgrades, gain skills, unlock dangerous combos, and, of course, pick up new weapons and armor. Early on, you gain a shield to pair with your sword, which becomes invaluable against enemies that sling high-speed projectiles at you. You also have two “chakras” that can heal you and a rage bar that steadily fills up the more enemies you fight. When the bar is full, you hit a button combo to release a devastating set of attacks, all while taking reduced damage. The combat is not hard to get the hang of, but the game doesn’t pull any punches (pun intended) when it comes to enemies. There are plenty of times when you have to fight enemies in large numbers, and if you don’t think up some strategies to take them down, they’ll surround you and all attack simultaneously, dropping your health bar to zero in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, it’s easy to parry, dodge, or just run away to a slightly less crowded area to catch your breath.
Blood of Mehran may not break new ground when it comes to the action-adventure genre, but I had a blast playing it and can’t wait to continue. The graphics, lore, and voice acting all create a rich environment that shows a serious attention to detail, and the combat is fun and familiar to action RPG lovers. My only serious concern—the laggy performance in the initial memory sequence—seems to iron itself out once the game starts properly, and I really didn’t have any other problems. Blood of Mehran is available now on Steam, Xbox, and PS5, and I highly recommend it.
9/10
For more information, visit HERE
Related: Reviews by Ian Robinson-Lambert
I've loved video games ever since I started playing Mario Kart on my parents' Wii back in seventh grade. These days, you can find me playing a mix of historical RPGs and horror (shout-out to Assassin's Creed and Resident Evil). I also love a good puzzle, and of course I still have a soft spot for the Super Mario series!
More Stories
Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare Available Now on Netflix, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch 2
Red Dead Online’s Holiday Celebrations: A Merry Call to Arms, a Festive New Showdown, the Return of Krampus Shotgun, Plus More
SLEEP AWAKE Review for PlayStation 5