Splatterhouse (Xbox 360)Released: November 23, 2010
Developer: Namco Bandai Games
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
# of Players: 1 (offline)
ESRB Rating: M for Mature
Price: $59.99 (new), $49.99 (used)
Available: Now (also available for other systems)
Splatterhouse is a cult favorite series that harkens back to the days of the TurboGrafx-16 and the Arcade. To do this review justice I need to go back a bit and give a little history lesson about this series' roots.
The first Splatterhouse game appeared in arcades as early as 1989. It was a simple yet challenging game. The game proceeds in a side-scrolling fashion and is a beat-em-up by design. In 1990, the game was ported to the TurboGrafx16 with some alterations that make a difference to series stalwarts. The arcade version of the game had two short cutscenes (under about a minute each) that were meant to flesh out the story somewhat. You play a guy named Rick Taylor. Rick and his girlfriend Jennifer Willis are in the woods and get caught in a rainstorm so they proceed to run into the nearest house. This house happens to be West mansion, also known as the Splatterhouse due to all the rumors of the hideous experiments supposedly conducted there by Dr. West, a renowned parapsychologist. Upon entering, Rick and Jennifer are attacked by grotesque creatures. This encounter leaves Rick mortally wounded while the monsters drag Jennifer off into the mansion. Shortly after this the Terror Mask comes to Rick and fuses itself onto him, bringing him back to life and making him more muscular so he can save Jennifer. Its a pretty thin story but back then, games didn't really need one. Apparently the game did something right as it won the hearts of many and became a cult classic.
Splatterhouse 2 would see release in later years as well as a Splatterhouse 3. These games were also met with cult classic status and for years fans of the series begged and pined for another. The wait finally ended this November of 2010. Instead of releasing a sequel, Namco Bandai decided to go back and remake the original game. This was a smart move as it allows them to flesh out the series even more. The game has the same story as the first one more or less. You enter the mansion, Rick is attacked and left for dead, and Jennifer is taken away. The only key difference is that there is more focus. There is a definable antagonist this time in the form of Dr. Henry West (Dr. West never actually appeared in the earlier games, he was only mentioned) and his presences helps to drive the narrative forward. His motivations are something of interest and there are a few twists that can leave you kind of feeling awkward. The character progression for Rick is quite profound. He gradually goes from being a dorky, scrawny, metalhead to a badass, head-crushing, force of destruction. He begins to accept the power that the mask gives him and seems to start to revel in it. The Mask itself is a character as well, providing a bit of dark comic relief to the game. He will make comments throughout the game about your actions or about whats going on in the game. He can be a bit annoying sometimes but more often than not, he provides a welcome break in the action.
The visuals aren't too impressive. This is the equivalent of a B movie in this next-gen era of graphics. But in that, it has its own charm. Splatterhouse, as both a series and this remake, has never claimed to be anything more than 1) what the fans want of the series/game; and 2) the cheap fun killfest it always was. The music is fantastic. Metal blares in the midst of intense boss fights and goes a long way towards pumping the player up and making them feel like a badass. There are plenty of upgrades that you acquire over the course of the game and they definitely start to make you feel more powerful and destructive. These might range from giving you a bigger health bar, to increasing the durability of a weapon, to allowing you to pull off enemy's heads and throw them. This game is extremely graphic with gratuitous amounts of blood and gore. The collectibles in the game are even pieces of naked pictures of Jennifer (jenny in this remake) meant to entice the player to explore a bit more. The combat can feel a bit shallow at times. X is quick attack, Y is strong, and B is grab. You do get the option of performing Splatterkills which help break up the combat. The only problem here is that most enemy types have only 2 so you will end up seeing the same kill thousands of times before you're done with the game and it can get annoying after the first time.
The voice acting is very well done and believable particularly with Rick and the Mask. Enemy types can get quite repetitive and the camera can be a bit troublesome sometimes. I encountered a glitch early on where a set of enemies didn't appear so I was unable to proceed through the level. After pressing start and 'Restart at Last Checkpoint' it was all taken care of though. The worst part about this game is the load times. They are absolutely unbearable. Usually they take about 2-5 minutes. If you install the game to your hard drive you can cut down on this drastically but still expect to sit there for at least 20 seconds to a minute. With the technology now available, this is inexcusable and I don't understand how this is still a problem for developers.
Now for something that I always think about: replayability and achievements. The replayability is a bit average. After completing certain levels, you will unlock the original games in the series. This is a great bonus to add in as all 3 are quite entertaining even in this modern day. They show their age a bit but are still quite enjoyable. Also, there are Survival Arenas that unlock. These pit you against 20 waves of enemies that range in difficulty and task you with staying alive. If you complete them, you receive a rank. There are also naked jenny pictures in these arenas as well. A higher difficulty is also unlocked upon completion of the main game, but you can take your upgraded Rick through it and it doesn't pose too much of a problem. There are various masks you can download for Rick if you want to change his look up some but these are purely cosmetic. Now the achievements in this game are about average in difficulty. Most of them are quite easy and you will receive them on a first playthrough. Any that you miss will easily be obtained on a second. The difficult achievements come with scoring the highest rank possible in the survival arenas. Doing this requires you to go through all 20 waves of enemies as fast as possible and this is rather hard to do. Because of these achievements I'd have to score the achievements a 6 out of 10.
This game is exactly what it was meant to be. Its a fun excursion into crazy violence with enough story to keep you entertained but without straining your focus. The developers know these games were played for the intense gore and action and they have stayed true to that. Many reviews have seen this game getting less than average scores and that just doesn't add up for me. If you are trying to make the next halo and you put out this game, then yes I completely understand. But as I stated earlier, this series has always been about B movie entertainment and fun. This game is meant to just be a fun distraction destroying everything in sight. It won't change minds or hearts or annihilate records; but it'll damn sure keep you entertained from beginning to end.
Spllaterhouse for the Xbox 360 gets an 81 out of 100.
No comments:
Post a Comment