Review: Warhammer 40K – Angels of Death “Trail of Blood”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The Blood Angels strike back at their enemies on multiple fronts, both on the planet below and the stars above.

OUR TAKE

Three episodes in and I could not tell most of these guys apart, even if you put a giant space marine gun to my head. Thankfully, the two plots we’re following, the space marines on the planet looking for their leader and the Sword of Baal fighting off mutinous ships, are very distinct in how they’re handling their respective goals. The space marines are dealing with more direct combat, mowing down forces into bloody piles of mush while having lots of moments for quiet soldier pontificating. Meanwhile, the Sword of Baal is pretty much commanded by the lady captain who rules with an iron fist (and distractingly jutting out teeth that I cannot help but notice) in defending the ship by some force that has taken over several nearby ships and needing to strategize each move, which all are much grander in scale and force. So, if one of these plots gets a little boring for you, it can switch between them for more variety and better pacing. It’s been a good way of holding my attention so far, even if I still feel quite lost in terms of who these people are and what the heck is going on beyond the obvious.

If there are some consistent critiques I am finding myself having with Angels of Death after nearly a third of its total runtime, it would be that the stylistic choices it has chosen to go with sometimes work against them. For example, the continued use of the red only filter of color. It’s still an interesting visual style, even if its connection and meaning is not very clear without at least some cursory research. Remember these guys are space vampires, I feel the need to remind you of this ludicrous detail. Except now it’s the third episode and it’s honestly starting to wear thin on style points. I don’t necessarily need more color, since the shading of the black and white and gray are able to be show the image clearly enough. I guess it’s more about my eyes starting to not know where to look because this isn’t a very aesthetically pleasing. It would also possibly be more effective if it was used in key moments for emphasis, perhaps when one of the Blood Angels goes into their Red Thirst and showing us through their eyes what they’re feeling and experiencing. Just a thought. I’ll give it another episode before I start really picking apart my issues with the Space Marine plot.