Splatterhouse PS3

One of my college favorites returns! I must admit: It's Stupid. It's also fun. It's STUPID FUN! Like any good slasher film, If you take it too seriously, you're gonna be disappointed. Go into it expecting bloody, good fun and you might just find yourself having a good time! It's like a poor man's God of Gore War with even MORE blood! You start off with a weak, but quick, punch (Square), and a chargeable Strong Punch (Triangle). You can grab enemies with "O" and "X" makes you jump. Beat enemies 'til they're almost dead, they flash red and if you press "O" you initiate a fatality-like move which usually involves pushing the analog sticks in certain directions. The screen goes black when you do this and it shows an up-close view of you ripping off someone's head and pulling out their lungs, for example. Doing this earns even more blood points. Yeah. the game allows you to "buy" new moves with blood. You can buy things like: Sqaure, square, square, square where you release a flurry of punches. Square then holding Triangle makes Rick do an Uppercut. You eventually earn a Bone Berserker mode. Holding L1 (the move modifier button) and hitting Square when in this mode extends two bone blades from your arms and you can scissor enemies in half.

The plot of the game remains the same as the original: Your college girlfriend is kidnapped by Doctor West and you must explore his mansion and his estate grounds, splattering everyone, everything in your path. There's really light puzzle elements, mostly flipping switches or impaling enemies in certain places to open doors. There are some QTE's involving (again) the analog controllers or hitting certain butttons at certain times. There are weapons scattered around the areas too. 2X4's and Lead Pipes... your own arm when it gets severed... you know, fun stuff like that!

Occassionally, the camera will switch to an exclusively side-scrolling perspective, where enemies will run at you from the right or the left, and obstacles will appear in your path, like saw-blades and buzzsaws, for example. This is, of course, a throw back to the original and it does a pretty good job nostalgia-wise. Other elements are there though too, like the Blood-Worms and attacks by possessed furniture, as well.

If it's nostalgia you are looking for though, look no further than the original 3 games! No matter how good/bad the disc game turns out to be, the originals emulated here make it worth the price of admission! I've already unlocked the first game and I am VERY happy to say it is the ARCADE original! Rick is so much more agile in this version versus the TG-16 game! The enemies are much more animated and the backgrounds have many more animated elements to them too! Again, the game is extremely old and as simple as they come --BUT-- for a trip down memory lane and to see what the 1990's deemed as shocking and mature game material, again, it is sooo worth it!

In itself, the game is really almost nothing more than a brawler. The game drops the "F-bomb" probably just as much as House of the Dead: Overkill and the Mask's voice and constant quips can be a tad bit annoying at times... Again, think cheap, B-Grade, Slasher-movie, set your expectations a tad lower and you might find yourself almost pleasantly surprised at times. There does seem to be quite a bit of game to it. There's Story-Mode. There's the arena-like Survival mode. There's Soft-Core pictures of Jennifer to find pieces of. Discover Dr. West's Journals. There's another Mask you earn after game completion, along with a Harder Difficulty. There's also the inevitable "Downloadable Content" option in the Menu Screen too. It seems as if Namco may actually support this game for a while!

The graphics are good enough. They almost resemble "Borderlands" in a few ways. I haven't seen a single instance of slow-down or screen-tearing yet (on the PS3 version at least). Hopefully, any of the performance issues discussed in the early Hands-On previews were fixed.

Yeah. Eurogamer gave it a pretty low score. I admit, it's not gonna set the world on fire, but it is exactly what I expected it to be, and the 3 bonus games from my youth bring back enough cool memories to make the $60.00 price tag MUCH more than worth it!

For reference here is a long interview with the developer.

http://www.ripten.com/2010/11/23/namco-tells-us-why-splatterhouse-is-the-most-brutal-and-metal-game-youve-ever-played-getsome/

Heh! Great minds think alike...!

...and apparently, you and I do too!

Umm, if it was metal wouldn't he be trying to end life with the mad scientist rather than saving it?

That shit ain't kvlt.

aspro said:

Also, here is a fansite abuot all thinsg Splatterhouse -- including the shoes.

http://splatterhouse.kontek.net/index.html

He tracked me down on DeviantArt, and seemed to love my Splatterhouse fanart. Not sure if he ever put it on on his site, though.

This game is sweet. I initially bought it just to get home versions on the original three Splatterhouse games, but the reboot is so full of nostalgia and fan service it carries the game alone. It even takes plot points and dialogue from the Japanese manuals. The red mask from the TG16 game has an appearance as well. The soundtrack is good, not only because of the metal but because of the inclusion of music from the old games. The only thing I wish they did was add more monster variety, namely because the Splatter Kills get really repetitive. By the last chapters, you'll be totally sick of decapitating those arm-whip demons.

^That's gross.

This game is not going to make it huh?  Between the commercial failure of Enslaved, the critical panning of their new action game and this one, it's not looking good for Namco's new product develoment plans.

Back to Tekken and Pac-Man I guess.

EDIT: Just saw Cooper's post.  That's good to read that they did the appropriate fan service, that was one of my foremost concerns, because it is a franchise that has a fervent following, and I was conerned this was just going to be a misguided cash-in.

SteelAttack said:

GOTY.

That is just vile.

Coopersville said:

Coopersville said:

Splatterhouse 3's first floor boss' bum doesn't fair too well in this game.