This Brutal The Raid-Inspired Beat-‘Em-Up Now Has A Playable Demo

An upcoming indie game inspired by action films like The Raid looks to deliver on the brutal hand-to-hand combat the film is known for. It may even invoke some comparisons 2012’s underappreciated Sleeping Dogs.

It’s called Acts of Blood, and though it doesn’t yet have a release date, it did recently receive a free demo on Steam that lets players fight their way through a portion of its main story. Players step into the shoes of an Indonesian college student named Hendra, who is seeking revenge after his father is murdered by a business rival. When the government’s corrupt legal system protects the killers, Hendra takes justice into his own hands and looks to make them pay for their crimes.

A look at Acts of Blood’s gameplay shows off its quick and bloody melee combat, with Hendra able to swiftly swap from punches and kicks to wielding melee weapons like bats, knives, hammers, and machetes. There are firearms as well, though the emphasis looks to be on the brutally efficient hand-to-hand combat. The environment plays a big role in combat too, with Kendra able to use parkour to run, slide, and climb through levels, as well as ustilize destructible objects in the environment as weapons.

Eksil Team, the developer behind the game, isn’t shying away from the brutality of it all. In the game’s mature content description on Steam, Eksil Team states the game includes blood, gore, and dismemberment, and that the violence is “frequent and integral to the gameplay experience, with detailed and realistic portrayals of combat injuries.”

Acts of Blood wears its The Raid inspiration, a 2011 film known for its bloody and bone-crunching fights, on its sleeve. If that wasn’t clear from the blood-soaked fights, The Raid and its sequel, as well as Acts of Blood, all take place in Indonesia. But its focus on melee combat also brings to mind Square-Enix’s Sleeping Dogs, another hand-to-hand combat-heavy action title known for its over-the-top environmental kills that was in turn inspired by Hong Kong action films. Sifu, a more recent beat-’em-up title, is another game Acts of Blood looks to be inspired by, though the 2022 game (despite its Mature rating) is far less blood-soaked than Acts of Blood.

In addition to playing through some of its story, the Acts of Blood demo includes an arena mode so players can fine-tune their combat skills, as well as outfit customization that lets players tailor Hendra’s look. Acts of Blood can currently be wishlisted on Steam.