Published by: Namco Bandai Games Inc.
Developed by: Bottlerocket Entertainment
Release Date: November 23, 2010
Available on: Xbox 360; PS3
INTRO: Holy hell, it’s back! Splatterhouse is back! What’s Splatterhouse? Well, for those of you too young to remember, Splatterhouse was an arcade game back in 1988 which involved you fighting for your girlfriend’s life as a hulking beast wearing a Jason-esque mask. It spawned 3 home console versions for the Sega Genesis and has now finally landed on a next generation console.
What are you waiting for? Slip on the terror mask and let’s get soaked in blood!
GAMEPLAY:
After about an hour and a half of playing this game, I came to a very important conclusion. This is a game that The Arrow will LOVE. And if Johnny boy loves it, then it will be right up the alley of our AITH fanbase. In fact, I can’t remember the last game I reviewed that I thought Arrow would dig more than this one. It may have been created with him in mind!
This game is indeed a love story for people who love violence, vulgarity and boobs. Jim Cummings voices the terror mask, who serves as a constant narrator, a devil on your shoulder who is cheering you on, coaching you and telling you what to do (and for that matter, what not to do). All you know is that you’re Rick, and your girlfriend’s life is on the line. You’re going to die if you don’t put that mask on, and she won’t have much of a chance either. From the moment you put that thing on, all hell breaks loose.
Let me tell you folks, hell truly breaks loose and breaks loose quickly. The gameplay is about as straightforward as you get. This is the very definition of a hack ‘n’ slash game. You have a heavy attack, and a light attack. On top of this, when enemies are almost dead, you can use ‘splatterkills’, finishing moves that give the mask more blood (what it needs to level up and make you stronger, naturally). These involve a lot of ripping and tearing, and are performed with the analog sticks. I’d say that the first twenty times I tried these I messed up because the event went so quickly, but once you get them , you’ll never forget because there are only 5 or 6 of these animations in the game. Get ready to get hurt too. It’s not uncommon to see your arm get ripped off and you have no choice but to keep fighting until it grows back. Weird, eh?
You can also pick up a ton of weapons. They’re not imaginative, but they’re brutal and can include boards, guns, limbs and blades among other things. There are also ‘classic’ side-scrolling modes which seem awesome in theory but are really not so hot in execution due to a busted jumping mechanic that will have you falling down pits, on spikes and in environmental traps and have you cursing a lot. These levels do work as a nice distraction from the mindless mashing, but they’re not done well enough.
Along the way, you fight some awesome looking bosses but the enemies look like generic nightmare creatures. You’ll be picking up nude pictures of your girlfriend too, which should please many people. Why she’d leave ripped up pictures of her totally naked booty laying around I’ll never know, but some people will dig it. As a final note, I’d like to mention that this game is friggin’ hard. You’re going to die a lot, unless you’re an awesome gamer. I’m an average gamer at best and this game managed to frustrate me a lot, despite liking it quite a bit. Also, the loading screen while you wait to come back to life takes FOREVER, despite having really cool animations of enemies.
Gameplay: 7/10
GRAPHICS:
The graphics have a neat sort of cel-shaded look to them, and the colors are surprisingly vibrant and the blood flows like wine baby. There’s a ton of detail on every character, especially Rick. It isn’t all perfect though, as there are a few little glitches throughout the game, but I wont mention them because they aren’t gamebreakers. All I can say is get ready for a bloodbath. This game is a bloodbath.
Graphics: 7.5/10
AUDIO:
Sound in this game is fantastic. Every sound effect is fantastic, with lots of gushing, slicing, ripping, reating and popping. Enemies sound great too. The music itself is appropriate death metal riffs that change to more generic Splatterhouse music during sidescrolling parts. The voice acting is really good and plentiful, but sometimes the Terror Mask should just shut up because it NEVER stops talking. Cummings is really, really good (although it’s weird to hear him cursing like that) and the mask delivers lots of funny lines but it gets a bit much.
Audio: 8/10
FINAL VERDICT:
As if a fun revisiting to the Splatterhouse franchise wasn’t enough, you get all three classic Splatterhouse games as a bonus! As I mentioned before, if you’re a hardcore AITH fan, you’re likely going to dig this game. It’s got some frustrating flaws and the difficulty isn’t for everyone but Splatterhouse wears its M rating on its bloody stump and that’s something to be proud of. Get splattering!
Final Score: 8/10