Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood

Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood is an action-based, stylistic third-person shooter. As the sole surviving member of a Foreign Legion assault team the player is tasked with defending a nameless village from hordes of invading rebels. A particular emphasis is placed throughout on the game's distinctive visual design, which gives the notably bloody nature of the game a lighthearted feel. It's additionally augmented by a dynamic soundtrack, which reacts to in-game events and pace.

Gameplay is largely action oriented with a distinctive arcade bent; being explicitly designed with short, intermittent playthroughs in mind. The village's civilians have barricaded themselves within the Town Hall and must be protected until the arrival of a rescue helicopter, represented by an ever-present countdown timer. The Legionnaire must fend off successive waves of enemies within the small, defined area surrounding the Hall; each following wave being more numerous and better armed than its predecessor. As more enemies reach the Town Hall they forcibly wear away the barricades and defenses until the civilians are reached, at which point each successful attack will kill some number of them. If all of the villagers are killed, the mission is aborted.

The player is better armed than his opponents, bearing weapons that range from a pistol to a localized air-ride, despite being outnumbered by a wide-range of different enemies, such as suicide bombers and semi-automatic wielding assault units. Enemies will also opportunistically maneuver against the player depending on the circumstances, climbing over roofs and circling around his sides. For the majority of weapons ammunition is limited, and so at any point the player can rush to a local communications tent in order to call in support via drop ships, which supply additional ammunition and repairs for the Town Hall.

A general score is kept throughout the game, for entry on a high score board, which is represented visually by a slopping bucket of blood. It's filled by particularly violent achievements, such as successful head shots and pre-maturely detonating enemy bombers with well placed shots. Fortunately a secondary-fire option is featured, viewed directly over the shoulder, which increases the player's accuracy at the cost of movement speed.