Splatterhouse (2010) Review - H.P. Lovecraft Holiday Special

Alright kiddies, welcome to the first installment of the 2nd Annual Lovecraft Holiday Special, and incidentally the only review to be released on an actual holiday! Why are we so delayed this time around? Well, with working on the Kickassia review, Dexter: Season Three review, GameJams Episode 10, and the GameJams: Holiday Special in December, I've been pretty busy!

But anyway, what are we kicking things off with? The Splatterhouse reboot, which came out last November, and was released by Namco. Splatterhouse is a series that has been both grotesque and wonderful, and it follows the adventures of Rick, who was left for dead by a mysterious assailant when he and his girlfriend visited the West Mansion. However, a mysterious entity called the Terror Mask finds Rick and convinces him to don it so that he may come back to life, rescue Jennifer, and fulfill a dark agenda that the mask has in store.

The first game was unleashed in the arcade in 1988, and the sequels were released on the Sega Genesis in the 1990's afterwards. Then.... nothing. Splatterhouse fans were left for more than a decade without any new content until Namco announced that it was remaking the beloved gore-fest for the current-generation consoles... There is only one thing I can really say right off the bat, and let this statement set the mood for the rest of the review: god damn is it a manly game! Heavy metal soundtracks from the likes of Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, and Mastodon? FUCK YEAH! Tons of spectacularly gory deaths and blood? FUCK YEAH! Titties? To a very small extent, but FUCK YEAH! (I'll explain this later).

However, something that I have noticed is that the public opinions are very polarized when it comes to Splatterhouse. While users, or those who play Splatterhouse, usually give it somewhere from 7-8 out of 10, the critics are far more unforgiving: they usually give Splatterhouse anywhere below a 5 out of 10, like IGN. However, something that I have also noticed is how some of the critics who look at Splatterhouse give it such low scores because they try to hold it in the same standards as Bioshock or Fallout: New Vegas, much like how Siskel and Ebert held Friday the 13th: Part 4 in the same standards as finer films like Jurassic Park or Home Alone.

However, don't get me wrong - I'm not about to be a total hypocrite and do what I scolded hardcore TGWTG fans for doing in my Kickassia review, which was pleading critics to ignore the flaws in the film since it was focused towards a specific audience. Instead, I'm going to review this game based on its merits and demerits, just as any other reviewer, while also looking at it from the perspective of a gorehound, and from the perspective of somebody who just wants to have fun with a video game. While this means that there might be more lenience on the Story department, and the extreme displays of violence won't effect the score, I'll still focus on the Technical Aspects of Splatterhouse, such as Sound, Soundtrack, Graphics, Gameplay, etc, as I would with any other movie and game. With dishonest game reviewers out there, who might just give a game a horrible 'grade' because they feel like it, I want to write this review as fairly as my abilities allow:

How does this math add up? Is this reviewer upset that he didn't get paid to praise this game, or is he just horrible at math?

The Players

Story

Alright, the most important thing about an interactive medium is, of course, the story. Granted, some games out there do not initially appear to have very in-depth story modes because of two reasons: Firstly, players tend to ignore them for the sensation of other modes of gameplay, like the multiplayer in any Call of Duty, Battlefield, or Halo games. Secondly, all conventional types of stories have been done in most games, such as "save the world from evil aliens/zombies/Russians," "go on a revenge killing spree," or "save the girl." While most stories have been done or ignored, however, there are still ways in which games can do something different to make them distinct from the competition. In the case of Splatterhouse, while the original incarnations had the bare bones of a story in the works that didn't really go beyond "girlfriend kidnapped by evil, go save her," the reboot attempts to expand on the actual plot and go way beyond the originals.

Essentially, Rick Taylor and Jennifer Willis visit the West Mansion because the latter was invited to partake in an interview with the professor who works at Miskatonic University, Dr. West, a renowned necrobiologist. However, Rick is left for dead as West kidnaps Jennifer, and an ancient Mayan relic, the Terror Mask, finds its way onto the dying lover's face. A deal is struck - if the Mask brings Rick back to life in order to save Jennifer, he sheds as much blood as humanly possible, namely from beating the beasts in the mansion into oblivion. However, when it is discovered that Dr. West wishes to sacrifice Jennifer to bring the Corrupted (aka the Great Old Ones) from oblivion, it's a race against the clock to save her as Rick also struggles with inner demons.

Now, here is something that I think is pretty obvious about Splatterhouse's story: It's like a b-movie. The story is obviously not going to be a work of art like Bioshock, and it's not going to be a super serious adventure like Halo Reach. However, I believe that the people at Namco took the appropriate approach when writing the story for Splatterhouse, which is to not make it take itself too seriously. When I picked up Splatterhouse for the first time, and experienced my first death, the Terror Mask, an ancient Mayan relic, called me a, to quote, "fucking pussy." Yeah, you're obviously not meant to take this game's story super seriously, and I think that's what makes Splatterhouse appealing to any gamer who is just looking for a good time. With Splatterhouse's addition of the Mask's dark sense of humor, the addition of nude photos of Jennifer you find on your quest in order to track her down, and super-graphic violence, this game definitely resonates b-movie. If you want an epic story that will touch your heart, and stimulate your brain, you should look elsewhere because you will not find it here.

However, while Splatterhouse is obviously a game that doesn't take itself too seriously, the story in itself is territory that many gamers are familiar with. While the story is a very fleshed-out version of the first game's narrative, there are a lot of familiar motifs touched upon in Splatterhouse that will leave you wanting a little more. For example, Rick battles with his inner-demons, something that we have seen in the likes of The Darkness or Silent Hill 2, and he journeys to rescue the girl of his dreams, something that we have seen in the likes of Super Mario Brothers (obviously) or Rocket Knight Adventures. Gamers might get turned off by the Story mode's somewhat 'traditional' plot points, but I believe that one huge factor saved it from receiving a horrendous 'grade' in my book.

The work of H.P. Lovecraft, the main reason why we're kicking off the 2nd Annual H.P. Lovecraft Holiday Special, has a huge presence in Splatterhouse, mainly inspiring many of the plot elements and motifs that are present throughout Splatterhouse's story mode, and even in the general design of some of the enemies. While some obvious references can be seen throughout Splatterhouse, such as graffiti of Cthulhu or an advertisement for a Broadway play starring this cosmic terror, there are also some points in Splatterhouse where the story takes a turn for the interesting thanks to Lovecraftian influences. For example, while the antagonist Dr. West may have been inspired by the movie Re-Animator in the 1980's, many elements of the first Splatterhouse games taking their inspiration from gore-fests in this time period, the designers at Namco dug a little deeper into the history of horror and used Lovecraft's stories to inspire plot points surrounding Dr. West, such as the fact that he does not age (an ode to "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"). There are also journal entries by Dr. West that you can collect as you progress in Splatterhouse, and these add to the narrative by providing a backstory that is fun to follow (for those playing Splatterhouse for story).

Overall, I believe that while the story would be lacking since it touches on the same plot elements that we've all seen before, like saving the girl and battling inner demons, the addition of Lovecraftian motifs and influences really brings it up. Mind you, it does not make the story mind-blowing, and does not let me excuse the weakness in the story, but it does bring a refreshingly original twist to the tried-and-true formula that the plot follows. Let's face it: how many games have we seen that have been heavily influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, anyway? Not many, and Splatterhouse benefits from this because it breathes some life into an otherwise predictable story.

Gameplay

Gameplay is also a vital part of a game, as that's what most people play them for. In terms of speaking, I'm going to get straight to the point and say that Splatterhouse follows the "God of War"/"Devil May Cry" tradition of gameplay: kill waves of enemies with light/strong attacks, kill more things with a Super Mode, and have many upgrades that can be purchased when enough enemies are felled. However, I'm not going to go down the road of pissing on God of War fans like I did in my Dante's Inferno review, for two reasons: a) Splatterhouse actually deviates from the God of War formula of gameplay by removing the need for colored orbs/souls to heal or purchase upgrades, and b) a God of War developer helped make Splatterhouse so SUCK IT, FANBOYS: http://www.thebitbag.com/2010/08/08/spl ... ands-down/ .

Anyway, one of the things that makes the typical action adventure formula unique in Splatterhouse is the fact that, instead of simply collecting colored orbs to acquire power ups or more weapons, Rick needs to spill as much blood as possible by killing the enemies in different ways. This could be a result from smashing them with different weapons, like 2x4s or iron pipes, or performing Splatterkills, a quick-time cinematic kill that slaughters the enemies in spectacularly gory ways (ripping out a colon, anyone?). Depending on how you kill the enemies, you get more blood that can be used to unlock more abilities. Cool, right? See, in order to make a game worth playing, you need to have an original concept that hasn't been done before, and this is a perfect example of what sets Splatterhouse apart from, say, God of War. The overall gameplay in general is really fun and mindless, and that's what Splatterhouse is all about: killing loads of enemies. The addition of throwback levels also makes Splatterhouse unique to other action games, 2d sidescrolling sections that emulate the original titles in the series, and that were added to bring some variety to the gameplay.

However, don't be mistaken, the first playthrough of this game will be somewhat frustrating because it is pretty difficult. Without memorizing their patterns, the enemies can be tough at first, and you will die frequently before you master the controls and reduce monsters to paste with your bare hands. What is nice about Splatterhouse is that it is not horribly difficult, but some of the battles will make you want to rip your hair out, especially near the end with the strongest enemies.... unless you use your Super Mode, where you essentially transform into a huge behemoth that can kill almost everything with one hit, especially with the help of the Mask Attacks. One of the problems that I have with Splatterhouse is that it is sometimes made really easy with the addition of the Super Mode, especially in tough boss battles where the challenge is taken down several notches when you can breeze through the biggest baddies in Splatterhouse with several hits. One of the weaknesses in Splatterhouse's gameplay is that it is unforgiving in some battles without the use of the Super Mode, but it is a walk in the park when you do use it. What Namco needed to do was possibly balance this game mechanic a bit better, possibly requiring more blood to activate the Super Mode or having it last less time. That way, Splatterhouse can provide some healthy challenge without being made too easy when the player utilizes the Super Attacks.

One last thing I must mention about the gameplay is that, like Darksiders, another game in this genre that I heavily enjoyed playing, Splatterhouse suffers from a slight delay in the reaction time when a button is hit. I've died in combat many times because of this, as any delay might cause the quicker enemies to annihilate Rick without any hesitation. Understandably it's very frustrating, but it's not game breaking; experienced players can work around the delay without any issue. However, there are a few bugs when playing the 2d sidescrolling levels, as you seem to experience some delay in movement that cause you to die one too many times, ESPECIALLY in the sidescrolling section for Stage 3: In The Shadows of the Abyss. These bugs are a little more annoying, but patience usually prevails. They aren't game-breaking, but they are far more annoying.

Overall, the gameplay for Splatterhouse is simple but fun, but there exists some technical issues that bring the score down in this department, such as the wonky difficulty curve and the delays in reaction times.

Graphics

In comparison with Story and Gameplay, I believe that Graphics are not as important to take into consideration when finding out if a game is playable, or if it is to be avoided entirely. However, what Graphics do help reflect is how long a game was in development, and if a lot of effort was put into the final product. Don't be mistaken, however, as a game can have some very pretty graphics but lack any originality or polish in gameplay mechanics that still make it a poor game. As an example, I believe that while "Halo 3"'s graphics go have a polish to them, the gameplay is remarkably similar to its predecessor, and it is nothing more than a shinier "Halo 2." Something I also want to bring up is that while Graphics can help show the amount of effort put into a game, I do not mean that gamers should rage and whine if their system of choice does not render a game to where it is using the maximum resolution that it is capable of, like gamers did with "Alan Wake:"

To complain about a game just because it might have subpar graphics like that is, in my opinion, childish, and I believe that people should not base a lot of a game's merits or demerits solely on how pretty the overall product is. That's like saying that a broken toaster is still a good one because it is still shiny and pretty looking. Anyway, I'm going off-topic here so let's re-rail my train of thought: how do "Splatterhouse's" graphics hold up? Splatterhouse uses a cel-shaded graphical engine that, honestly, gives it a look that fits very well with the overall mood of Splatterhouse . Splatterhouse developers did a very good thing in choosing to present "Splatterhouse" in cel shading because it not only allows gratuitous amount of blood and violence to be portrayed, but it also emphasizes the almost lightheartedness that it has in its self-awareness. Granted, it doesn't have the light, cartoony appearance of other cel-shaded games like Cel Damage or Team Fortress 2, as it has some great lighting that contrasts the b-movie feel with the more visceral aim of maiming beasties with your fists. In my opinion, I firmly believe that "Splatterhouse" would not have achieved the same b-movie atmosphere if it had been rendered with any other type of graphics, so I'm glad that Namco chose to go with the cel shaded engine.

The level design is also something to write home about, as it never really gets boring. There is a large variety of locations that Rick traverses, from the West Mansion, the ruins of New York, an evil carnival, and even the fictional town of Arkham (a product of Lovecraft) in the 1700's! The variety in level design is a nice treat, and the rendering in the cel shaded style makes it all the more fantastic to look at! However, this section is not all praise, as quite a few people have mentioned that they've run into glitches that vary from lapses in animation to Splatterhouse crashing on them! While I'm happy to say that Splatterhouse has never crashed on me once, I can say that the only real glitch that I've run into comes to us in the form of animations glitching when the action in combat gets a little too busy. However, this is only a minor complaint, as it does not distract from the fact that "Splatterhouse" is still a really fun game to play!

All in all, the graphical presentation of Splatterhouse really is a treat because its cel shaded rendering leads to a very pretty game! The level design is also a thrill, as Splatterhouse never really gets boring, seeing as each area presents a new challenge! the only graphical complaint is the presence of animation glitches, but they don't break Splatterhouse, so if you can stand a minor glitch in your gameplay, then "Splatterhouse's" graphical presentation is spot on!

Sound

Okay, I'm going to break away from the 'professional writing style' in this review and share an analogy for a moment... Imagine Winnie the Pooh. Now imagine him calling you a 'fucking pussy' while also asking you to spill as much blood as possible. That is what happens in this game. No, I'm not joking. Seriously. That happens. Ladies and gentlemen, the Terror Mask is voiced by Winnie the Pooh. So literally, Winnie the Pooh is asking you to murder critters... I want that image to sit with you for a while.

While you do that, let me just pull up the listing of the full soundtrack for Splatterhouse:

Okay. What happens when Winnie the Pooh tells you to murder scores of monsters while Mastodon, Lamb of God, and Municipal Waste jam out in the background? You get the greatest experience in gaming ever.... okay, I'm exaggerating, but let me just say that you cannot go wrong with a soundtrack that is full to the brim with heavy metal tunes in a game that is all about killing things. When I find requests for my podcast GameJams, people often ask me to find some metal tracks that would go great with their action games, or their FPS games, or just any game that requires you taking the life of another creature. The developers in Namco made the right move here, as the soundtrack for "Splatterhouse" is not epic in the way of "God of War" or "Fallout 3", but is epic in the way where people who want to kill things can rock out while doing so. The shining moments for me in this game are the boss battles and Survival Mode, where Splatterhouse makes full use of its licensed soundtrack, so what follows is the most hardcore killing spree in any game you will find. Namco also made some metal songs of their own for the soundtrack, so while they are not as intense as the licensed music, they still do their job very well! Below is an example:

A rendition of the ending theme from the first "Splatterhouse," "Sento Nel Core."

As for the really weird "Winnie the Pooh" analogy, the Terror Mask is voiced by none other than Jim Cummings, who is most famous for his voice work as various Disney characters, such as Pete or Winnie the Pooh. While he spouts a lot of cheesy lines, they are delivered in a way where, personally, I thought they were hilarious. It was obvious that Jim had a lot of fun with this job, and it clearly shows! I've heard a lot of complaints from other reviewers where his voices got grating in combat, but I didn't really find this problematic. Personally, I think that they just got irritated when the Mask called them a pussy when they kept dying, as was the case with my little brother who got POd when Winnie the Pooh kept telling him that he sucked when he continued to die in the beginning of Splatterhouse . If you get past that, though, I really don't have any issues with Jim Cummings's performance as the mask.

However, there is a minor complaint where there are some audio glitches in Splatterhouse where sometimes, audio cues are missed, so if you go past a certain point in a level after clearing out a big battle, a conversation you are meant to have will not happen. This isn't a huge problem, but it is worth mentioning.

Replay Value

So, now that we've gone over everything technical that "Splatterhouse" has to offer, how is the replay value? Sometimes, to make a good game, the replay value is extremely important, as it is one of the biggest reasons why gamers want to keep their copy around after beating the main story mode. If a game has nothing else to offer, why keep it? In the case of many games, the replay value comes from factors like multiplayer ("Halo Reach," "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2"), or from the addition of other modes of play ("Left 4 Dead 2"). In the case of "Splatterhouse," there are multiple reasons why the replay value is very high.

Apart from Story mode, "Splatterhouse" has a large variety of other modes to choose from that will not leave you bored. First off, there is Survival Mode, where you can battle through 12 scenarios that are unlocked as you progress through the story. Essentially, you battle through 12 waves of enemies that get increasingly more and more difficult. However, there are several nice twists: you get boxes of weapons to splat enemies with, you can collect more photos of Jennifer (for achievement whores), and you are provided with plenty of blood to kill enemies with! There is also a neat twist: There are 10 'secret' missions that are not specified anywhere in the survival mode, so you also need to figure out what to do to beat Survival 100%! While, personally, I think this mode is too easy since they literally throw blood at you, it's still a helluva lot of fun if you want to take a break from the Story Mode, or take a break from anything else in general, and just throw back a cold one and ruthlessly murder monsters in cold blood!

There is also the perk of adding the original three "Splatterhouse" games that you also unlock as you progress through story mode, so there is absolutely no reason why you won't be able to try your luck in completing the original series as well! Be warned, though, they are HARD... they were made during the time where the term Nintendo Hard was applicable, so if you haven't practiced and memorized these games, they'll punish you HARD. The final thing I must mention is the additional task of collecting photos of Jennifer, journal entries, and listening to West's record players in Story mode, but this is mainly for those who really want all of the achievements! Still, adds to the Replay Value, right?

However, we need to address the one issue I have with "Splatterhouse" that slightly affects the score for this section, and that is revisiting the Story mode on higher difficulties. If you play this game on Medium or Easy mode, you are initially going to have a difficult, if fun, romp through smashing demons to a pulp. However, after you beat these modes, you have the option of playing through Hard mode while retaining the abilities you purchased in previous difficulties. I would not have a problem with this, seeing as other games did this in the past ("Dante's Inferno," as an example), if not for the fact that this makes Hard mode extremely easy... I was able to breeze through Hard Mode in an afternoon when I chose to retain the abilities I purchased in my playthrough of Medium Mode. There are also no real differences between difficulties, like more enemies or more levels, and I was really let down by this. In this respect, the Replay Value in story mode is not really worth it unless you want to collect the collectables found in Splatterhouse .

Overall Verdict

Overall, while I went over a lot of the strengths that Splatterhouse has above, and I highly recommend it to those who just want to have a mindless good time and beat the shit out of everything that moves, it became more and more clear to me that there were a lot of bugs in "Splatterhouse" that showed that, with a little more polish, it would have been a perfect game! Does this mean I hate Splatterhouse ? Certainly not, "Splatterhouse" is awesome! I just firmly believe that, with a little more polish, "Splatterhouse" would have become a modern classic! Maybe, with a little hope, it may become a modern cult classic like "Ico" or "Psychonauts"! One can only hope!