for those of you who remember the original game which was released in 1988 you will be in no way surprised to see that the series has recently been resurrected with new life and a lot of new blood. originally splatterhouse was criticized for being too violent and controversy soon surrounded the game in many countries, resulting in the game being toned down for some regions. though it had such a frosty reception from some groups it was an instant hit with gamers in both arcades and on home consoles leading to another two games being made soon after. the gorey hacking and slashing seen in splatterhouse is one of the earliest examples of survival horror as we know it and if it had not been for the series its possible that the survival horror genre may not have gained as much ground as it has in the past decade.
the story though similar to the original game is written by gordon rennie (judge dredd, necronauts, warhammer fantasy). when jennifer willis is invited to the house of the estranged Dr. for an interview her boyfriend rick taylor being the protective type tags along. for whatever quirky reason rick choses that night to propose to jennifer but he doesn’t get far, attacked by west jennifer gets kidnapped and rick is left for dead. during the commotion rick knocks over an ancient sarcophagus containing a mask which calls out to him telling him it will save his life and jennifers if he puts it on. with no other choice and the life force rapidly draining from his body he puts on the mask, instantly his body starts to change leaving him in the form of a large muscular beast who feeds on the blood of others to survive.
the gameplay plays a lot like the original in that you have to hack through and pulverize the many creatures you meet on your journey to rescue jenny from the clutches of the evil Dr. west. this of course is easily done because rick is for all intended purposes the hulk, and so the mayhem begins. the controls are simply enough and at the start bashing buttons will result in a guaranteed kill but bashing buttons will only get you so far because as the game progresses you will need to adapt and learn new combo’s in order to survive. executing special moves though incredibly violent and disturbing can be great fun and once learned serve rick well in his task. the terror mask that rick wears requires blood in order to reach its full potential so you get a certain amount for each creature killed, the blood collected can then be used to buy extra moves that level the playing field even more for rick.
included with the steady line of kick and punch combo’s is the ability to wield melee weapons such as 2x4’s, baseball bats, iron bars and even chainsaws and shotguns – all work well on the various creatures and demons encountered throughout the game. borrowing from the original game seems to happen a lot but its more of a clear thought out homage than a lifeless reimagining, even side scrolling makes a few appearances in the game giving fans of the original series a warm feeling inside. i was surprised to see how much jumping had been incorporated into the game, rick has to jump across crumbling bridges and platforms – timed wrong its fatal because under some of this jumps can be spikes or all kinds of traps. the creatures themselves though cannon fodder for the most part are not really that smart and going at them fists first can usually work but the game has its fair share of level bosses or super creatures which require not only lighting fast button bashing but thinking too.
the game is built in the style of a graphic novel but it caught me completely by surprise when i realised it was done with cel-shading.. i’m not the biggest fan of the look but it actually suits this game really well. there are many levels in the game all varying in different styles and looks and they are each rendered so well that i found myself stopping to look and marvel at the carefully constructed level design and lighting. the sound design is deeply atmospheric thanks to the score being composed by howard dossin (afro samurai, baldur’s gate) and complements the game perfectly with its almost nostalgic sound. when the action really takes off and during crucial battles the score is replaced by some of my favourite metal bands such as lamb of god, the haunted, mastodon and many more all lending some of their best tracks to the game.
so is the game that good? honestly i expected a few cheap thrills from splatterhouse, in short i didn’t expect much but i was wrong. the creatures are challenging enough once the game gets going and the platform puzzling elements all serve to slow you down just enough but not too much so that you are cursing the game. there were times when the fighting got so brutal that i doubted i’d ever get passed but once i upgraded my skills it was not a problem. in terms of replay value there is a lot of fun to be had, once skills are unlocked and the game finished it can be done again with those skills, there are a number of collectables to find such as audio journals from the deranged Dr. west and pictures dropped by jenny – trophies/achievements too are plentiful giving you that rewarded feeling a bit more than most games. even all 3 of the original games can be unlocked and fully played, if that’s not enough there is also a survival mode which really tests your skills. i really enjoyed splatterhouse and it was a lot of fun but its not going to be everyone's liking, if you don’t like gore and ..more gore then you probably won’t like the game but its worth a rental at least and a definite play for fans of the franchise, after a full play through i’m giving splatterhouse an 8 out of 10.
