Blood Wake

Making and release

Lead artists Tim Dean and Matt Small conceived a concept described as "Twisted Metal on water"^[2] Stormfront eventually settled on Microsoft as publisher, which wanted a partner for an original IP likened to "Crimson Skies on water"^[2] Microsoft backed Blood Wake with a television advertising campaign on release.^[3] The game reached sixth on the NPD sales charts in November 2002 with over 340,000 units sold.^[3]

Ralf Knoesel, the lead programmer, built the core game engine during his time off after Stormfront finished Hot Wheels Turbo Racing, which started development.^[2] Robb Mills is the composer of the game's music.^[2] Rather than being available when the Xbox first launched, Blood Wake arrived thirty days later as part of a second wave of titles.^[3] Press excitement at the 2000 E3 led to high expectations for the game.^[3]

Due to robust sales, it was among the earliest games in Microsoft's Platinum Hits program, receiving a new box design and a reduced price upon re-release.^[4]

What the cited sources add

The single-player story mode assigns the player a particular boat for each mission, starting with a Speedboat and introducing more powerful boats as the story progresses.^[1] Multiplayer mode supports up to four players with game types that are limited at first but unlock through story mode progress.^[5] Hidden game modes include "Blood Ball," described as multiplayer soccer-on-water using a 10-meter diameter soccer ball and heavily armed gunboats.^[5] The game engine allows designers to vary sea and sky conditions to create different gameplay environments.^[5]