A re-imagining of a classic Sega Genesis franchise, 2010's 'Splatterhouse' is a gory beat-'em up with infused horror elements. The game once again follows the series' main character, Rick (and his mysterious mask,) as he tries to save his girlfriend from the maniacal Dr. West, who has made a pact with the underworld and has summoned all sorts of heinous creatures to stand in your path. What ensues is an action-packed brawler that features more violence than almost any other game I've ever played prior, as the mask transforms Rick into a hulking monster himself.
The game's design brought me in mind of the old beat-'em ups that I used to play a lot on the Nintendo 64 and Playstation. It mainly takes place in a fully 3D environment, where you have to clear rooms of enemies either by using your fists, various weapons, or enemies' dismembered arms of heads. Like in the Devil May Cry series, many times doors will be blocked by spirits that will not let you past until you defeat the various enemies set against you. Although it's a very basic design that doesn't push the envelope in this age of high-definition, open-world gaming, it's still quite fun and pays homage to past years where these games were popular.
Although it's primarily a three-dimensional brawler, developer Namco-Bandai Games did a great service for fans of the old-school Splatterhouse trilogy from years ago. In an attempt to break up the game's style a bit to avoid repetition (and to pay homage to the series' past,) they included the occasional section where Rick will drop into a 2D environment. In these parts, the game's camera becomes fixed from outside of the environment and Rick must walk from left to right (in side-scrolling fashion,) pummeling enemies and avoiding obstacles such as spikes. It feels a lot like the original games and is a nice change of pace. Those parts were one of the most fun aspects of this game in my opinion.
In addition to its eight hour campaign, Splatterhouse not only includes several different challenge rooms, but it also contains unlockable versions of the original three Splatterhouse games (including an uncut version of the original.) These inclusions add a lot of extra gameplay and will keep you hooked for longer than eight hours. The challenge rooms themselves take a while to master because you have to beat each in a certain amount of time in order to earn a gold medal, while ever increasing amounts of different enemies attack you in waves.
The game controls pretty well, for the most part, although there are some issues where it lacks precision. Gameplay relies upon light, heavy and grab attacks, as well as the odd quicktime event (where you have to press a series of buttons to finish off a boss, for example.) Combos, dash moves and upgrades can be purchased through an in-game upgrade menu (where you essentially use the amount of blood that you've spilled to buy things.) Different attacks work well against each type of enemy and, on harder difficulties, the roll button is incredibly useful, especially against larger enemies such as the giant worms that you face sporadically. Despite the lack of precision at times, it's not that hard to pull off the moves that you want, so it doesn't ever become overly frustrating due to poor control. There is a lot of variety in the combat too, so it's fun to try to master different moves.
The mask also gives Rick a myriad of different abilities, including berserk mode. When you've gained enough rage (also earned by spilling a bunch of blood,) you are able to utilize this move to increase Rick's brute strength. There are also abilities where you're able to pull out long blades attached to Rick's arms, in order to decapitate and dismember enemies' body parts. Both of these rage moves allow you to take out large groups of enemies within quick succession and help you earn achievements along the way.
The game's visual style incorporates elements of cel-shading, but also more realistic visual elements. The character models are pretty well-designed and animate relatively well, although some animations aren't that fluid. One thing I liked a lot about the character model of Rick is that, as he gets injured, his body starts to deteriorate (skin falls off the bone, injuries appear, etc.) That was a nice touch.
The environments surrounding the insane action are always varied, detailed and employ the use of some good looking textures. This isn't a game that will make you want to have a top of the line high-definition display, but it doesn't look bad by any means. Then again, some of the visual fidelity in the environments tends to get lost at times due to the insane amount of blood. Each location has its own style and that prevents the game from looking stale or boring after a while. There are some frame rate issues and brief stuttering when you move the camera around the environments, but it doesn't affect the experience much.
Splatterhouse is a very campy game that doesn't take itself seriously and that is very evident in the writing and voice overs. Dr. West is a classic mad scientist character who's evidently insane, but it's the mask that steals the show with a ton of hilarious one-liners. He chimes in every so often. The audio sounds pretty good overall, but the soundtrack audio quality could be a bit better. The game's soundtrack is comprised of different heavy metal songs that play throughout the experience.
If you're a fan of the series, or a fan of this type of game in general, then you will find a fun experience within the confines of this game. However, it is definitely not for everyone due to its over the top graphic gameplay and character designs that may disturb younger players. It's a very traditional game that doesn't push the envelope much at all, but it's a fun romp that brings back nostalgic memories. Plus, you can't go wrong with the inclusion of the three classic Splatterhouse games, which are unlocked as you progress through the game. Collectible lovers will enjoy the fact that there are various (nude/sexual in nature) photographs of Rick's girlfriend spread around the environments for you to find pieces of.
Overall, I enjoyed Splatterhouse. It has some issues, but it was fun to play through and ended up being a good challenge on hard. I'd never played much of the original games in the past, so it was great to be able to play them in order to see why people loved them so much, and why they were cult classics. It's nowhere near a game of the year contender, but it's a decent (and underappreciated) game.
Rating: 6/10
Splatterhouse was released on November 23, 2010 for the XBOX 360, PS3 and PC.
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