Splatterhouse is a brutal, challenging, underrated gem.
The story is more or less a remake of the first game, but it goes into much more detail. Rick joins his girlfriend Jennifer who is looking to get an interview with Dr. West. But something goes horribly wrong which leaves Rick on the verge of death and has Jennifer kidnapped. But right beside Rick is the terror mask, which tells Rick that if he puts him on he can bring him back to life and help him save Jennifer. Putting on the mask transforms Rick into a hulk with incredible powers. You would think that a game with tons of mindless action and violence wouldn't have much of a story, but it actually goes into a good amount of detail about the mask's motives and the history of Dr. West. Plus the game leads itself into some interesting twists.
Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, Splatterhouse is, of course, a beat-'em up, a rather fun and satisfying one that always provides a good challenge. The controls work exactly as they should, and while camera can occasionally get in the way in the heat of battle, it never does it enough for it to become frustrating. You will be battling your way through hundreds of mutated creatures that are familiar to those who have played the originals, severing limbs, and gushing out tons and tons and TONS of blood. This is definitely the bloodiest and goriest game I have played to date. There's blood and gore everywhere you look. When you take damage, Rick will actually show physical damage like torn flesh or a missing arm. When an enemy turns red, you can perform a gory splatter kill that rewards you with more blood. However, the kills do get repetitive since there isn't enough variety among them. Even the light puzzle solving involves tons of blood. If you are the squeamish type, this is not the game for you. There's a pretty good variety of enemies to fight throughout the game and the more kinds you meet, the more challenging they can be. You will be dying plenty of times in this game, but this is mostly out of challenge. However, dying each time results in sitting through absurdly long load times.
There are plenty of weapons at your disposal to help you out. Old favorites from the original games like the 2X4 and the chainsaw make a return, but now you can even use severed limbs, whether the enemy's or your own, as weapons. Like in the third game, you are granted the ability to transform and use more of the terror mask's powers and absolutely own enemies and bosses. Blood is needed to fill up the meter to power your transformation. In fact, blood is needed for most of the puzzle solving as well as buying upgrades and abilities.
Taking a note from Sonic Unleashed, Splatterhouse also transitions from 3-D to these fun and challenging 2.5-D sections at certain points in each stage, hearkening back to the classics. There are also some unlockables and items to be had. As you progress you'll unlock challenges for the survival mode, and even unlock all three original Splatterhouse games, adding an extra dose of nostalgia for fans of the series and a taste of history for newcomers. Scattered throughout each level are sexy pictures of Jennifer that you can add to your album.
The graphical design is rather good technically, but it's even better artistically. The game goes for a sort of Borderlands cell shaded look that suits the game. The environments are very harsh and gritty, mostly covered in blood and gore. It definitely screams Splatterhouse. The sound design is also pretty good, though the audio has some hiccups where the quality would change or the music would drown out the actors. Speaking of which, the voice acting is actually pretty good, with Jim Cummings as the terror mask being the big standout. The music is fantastic, especially if you're a fan of metal. There are even a few remixes of songs from the old games.
To sum things up:
PROS:
-Good graphics, especially artistically
-Maintains the Splatterhouse atmosphere
-Excellent soundtrack
-Challenging 2.5-D sections
-Challenging gameplay and battles
-Good voice acting, especially from Jim Cummings
-Interesting story with some twists
-All three original Splatterhouse games as unlockables
-Good variety of enemies and weapons
CONS:
-Long load times
-Some audio hiccups
-Repetitive splatter kills
-Camera can get in the way
So it's really a no brainer that fans of the series definitely ought to have this game. Those that just love beat-em' ups or violence and gore should also consider checking this out. It's a shame that it isn't getting as much positive reception as it should because this is an extremely fun and challenging beat-em'up. This is certainly one of the most underrated titles of 2010, and I certainly recommend giving it a chance.