With a release date slated for summer 2026 on Steam, Acts of Blood has turned heads all over, coming across as one of the more exciting reveals of the Summer Games Fest event this year. It's a third-person beat-'em'-up that seemingly draws inspiration from other noteworthy titles, including Sifu and Sleeping Dogs, with one particular feature that stands out more than others. Casting a lens on the recently released trailer for the title, the Sniper Elite franchise of tactical first-person shooters seems to have let Acts of Blood borrow one of its hallmark traits, and apparently, fans are already impressed.
The official gameplay trailer of Acts of Blood showcases what appears to be brutal combat gameplay in the name of critical hits, finishers, and even gunplay, thanks to the firearms that the protagonist can seemingly put to good use. After landing a critical hit, mainly the combo finisher, an anatomical X-ray of the target is shown, similar to the X-Ray Kill Cam functionality observed in the latest Sniper Elite games. Although the title in question is yet to come out, said feature can effectively make the gameplay more punchy and immersive for players to get into.
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Acts of Blood Benefits From Sifu's Gameplay and Sniper Elite's Style
Sifu takes pride in its cutthroat, over-the-top melee gameplay, but according to what developer Eksil Team has shown so far, Acts of Blood intends to go beyond the aspirations of the latter. While Sloclap is currently busy working on Rematch, its upcoming multiplayer football game, players are excited that Acts of Blood gets to benefit from not just Sifu's relentless combat, but a quirky touch from the Sniper Elite series as well, upping the ante even more.
The visceral hand-to-hand action aside, the game will sport an X-ray animation for some of the protagonist's finisher moves to add more depth to the gameplay and make it more engaging. The latest release in the Sniper Elite franchise, Resistance, has a similar feature despite the stark difference in combat type. Sniper Elite: Resistance features brutal ways to take enemies down, but without the aforementioned X-Ray Kill Cam zeroing in on one's kill, fans would agree that it wouldn't be the same. As for Acts of Blood, this is what the game plans on utilizing as well.
It bears mentioning that a gameplay demo of Acts of Blood has already been out since November 2024 and can be played for free on Steam. It sports a demo-exclusive story mission and an Arena Mode that pits the hero against hordes of enemies.
And it's not just the fighting that fans are looking forward to—Eksil Team's upcoming thriller manages to blend parkour with combat à la running, climbing, and jumping. Sifu is one of the best kung fu games in the business for reasons more than one, but that too does not have the parkour element to play around with. On that note, Acts of Blood is showing promise for its full release, not to mention the added expanse of outfit customization that ought to keep players engaged with the aesthetics.
Acts of Blood Follows a Heart-Wrenching Revenge Story
Eksil Team describes the plot of its title as a revenge story, where the protagonist Hendra is out to lay waste to the murders of his family. The events of the plot as it unfolds are deemed gut-wrenching, similar to the Sifu live-action movie currently in development, so the potential is something to look forward to. That said, there's no defined release date for Acts of Blood at the moment outside of the 2026 launch window for PC, but this could change as next year approaches near and the developers are able to specify a date for the upcoming beat-'em-up. Here's hoping that the release is bug-free and players are able to have a good time punching through the streets of Bandung, Indonesia.
