I'm playing
Splatterhouse at the moment & I must say, I'm absolutely loving it!
It pretty much follows the same premise as the original arcade game. Rick & his girlfriend Jennifer, visit the spooky mansion of Dr West where Rick is attacked & left for dead, Jennifer is then kidnapped by Dr West for reasons unknown at the start of the game. As Rick lies dying an ancient artifact known as
'The Terror Mask' calls out to Rick, saying that it will heal his wounds and help him save Jennifer if he puts it on. Upon doing this Rick transforms into an hulking being that is 'powered' by the blood of others & sets off to rescue Jennifer.
The original game was a classic side-scroller but this revamp is pretty much a 3D based battler with a Lovecraftian backdrop. Rick has basic punch, charge attacks & grab moves but new moves can be unlocked by spending 'blood' points you acquire through kills as you advance in the game, you can also wield weapons to great effect. Ones I've used so far are a Baseball bat, 2x4, Pipe, Machette, shotgun & a chainsaw. As well as these you can behead foes or pull their limbs off, these also can be used as weapons. At one point I even lost one of my own arms which I picked up & proceeded to smack demons with the soggy end! There are sections that revert to side scrolling play, which is very much an homage for players of the originals.
The game has lots of gore but in very over the top Evil Dead way, which is cool. Certain enemies when worn down glow red which is an indication for you to perform a
'splatter kill'. This is basically Splatterhouse's version of MK fatalities & reaps additional blood when performed. When your blood meter is full you can activate a berzerker mode which allows you to dish out masses of carnage whilst being invunerable, but only for a limited time. Some of the end of level bosses are huge & require a strategy in order to defeat them.
Theres a lot of humour in the game, the mask is for ever goading Rick all the time, theres some great one liners. Also for you collection freaks on each level there are torn photos of Jennifer that have been left as 'bread crumbs'. The photos when pieced together basically show Jennifer in various states of undress. Some might think it's a bit sexist or silly, but after all Jennifer is the female lead in a horror title so I think thats the point.
There are survival arenas to unlock adding replay value & the original arcade game & it's two sequels can be unlocked as you progress through the game making it the complete
Splatterhouse package. Oh it's also has a great metal soundtrack to boot.
So basically if you want a break from
Reach or
Black Ops & want to play a fun game that doesn't take it's self to serious, has Extreme gore, horror, nudity & heavy metal, then I heartly recommend
splatterhouse!
