When you think about it, the keyboard is the most complex video game controller in common use today, with over 100 distinct inputs arranged in a vast grid. Yet even the most complex keyboard-controlled games today tend to only use a relative handful of all those available keys for actual gameplay purposes.
The biggest exception to this rule is a typing game, which by definition asks players to send their fingers flying across every single letter on the keyboard (and then some) in quick succession. By default, though, typing games tend to take the form of extremely basic typing tutorials, where the gameplay amounts to little more than typing out words and sentences by rote as they appear on screen, maybe with a few cute accompanying animations.
Blood Typers adds some much-needed complexity to that basic type-the-word-you-see concept, layering its typing tests on top of a full-fledged survival horror game reminiscent of the original PlayStation era. The result is an amazingly tense and compelling action adventure that also serves as a great way to hone your touch-typing skills.
See it, type it, do it
For some, Blood Typers may bring up first-glance memories of Typing of the Dead, Sega’s campy, typing-controlled take on the House of the Dead light gun game series. But Blood Typers goes well beyond Typing of the Dead‘s on-rails shooting, offering an experience that’s more like a typing-controlled version of Resident Evil.
Practically every action in Blood Typers requires typing a word that you see on-screen. That includes basic locomotion, which is accomplished by typing any of a number of short words scattered at key points in your surroundings in order to automatically walk to that point. It’s a bit awkward at first, but quickly becomes second nature as you memorize the names of various checkpoints and adjust to using the shift keys to turn that camera as you move.
When any number of undead enemies appear, a quick tap of the tab key switches you to combat mode, which asks you to type longer words that appear above those enemies to use your weapons. More difficult enemies require multiple words to take down, including some with armor that means typing a single word repeatedly before you can move on.
While you start each scenario in Blood Typers with a handy melee weapon, you’ll end up juggling a wide variety of projectile firearms that feel uniquely tuned to the typing gameplay. The powerful shotgun, for instance, can take out larger enemies with just a single word, while the rapid-fire SMG lets you type only the first few letters of each word, allowing for a sort of rapid fire feel. The flamethrower, on the other hand, can set whole groups of nearby enemies aflame, which makes each subsequent attack word that much shorter and faster.
You’ll also use your typing skills to handle items, following on-screen typing commands like “grab blue key” or “eat sandwich” as necessary. And while there’s something a little cheesy about typing the word “reload” to reload your weapon, at least it’s an easy command to remember.
Typing tension
Simply typing out words to attack zombies might not sound as thrilling as, say, the average firefight in a first-person shooter. But Blood Typers encounters feel incredibly tense, especially when an ill-timed typo opens you up to an enemy counterattack (the game offers separate difficulty settings for both typing speed and general enemy strength).
When enemies attack in large groups—which happens periodically after an ever-present “horde attack” timer fills up—it’s often better to disengage from the group and back away for a bit of a breather. But it often takes a few precious seconds to switch out of combat mode and type out the best nearby word for an active escape route. The very awkwardness of the control scheme feels like a very intentional way of making you feel less like a superhero badass and more like an average joe trapped in an overwhelming horror-movie situation.
Blood Typers also makes use of a lot of the familiar survival-horror game tropes for increasing that tension, including strict limits on ammunition and inventory space. You’ll end up zigzagging back and forth across the intricate multilevel maps, placing various weapons and key items down on any available flat surface for temporary storage as you do. Then there’s the lack of a real pause feature and item- and location-limited in-game saves, adding lost-progress stakes to each death.
While the five scenarios in Blood Typers all end up feeling a little overly similar in the end, there’s just enough variety in the settings and enemies to keep things interesting throughout. Even after you’re done, you might be compelled to crank up the difficulty and force yourself to type even faster the next time. And when your coworkers marvel at your newfound typing speed, you’ll know that the risk of a typo on that interoffice memo doesn’t hold a candle to the fear of a zombie just waiting for you to tap the wrong key.