This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Splatterhouse | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | BottleRocket (until 2009), Namco Bandai Games |
Publisher(s) | Namco Bandai Games [a] |
Composer(s) | Howard Drossin |
Series | Splatterhouse |
Engine | Gamebryo |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Beat 'em up, hack and slash, survival horror |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Splatterhouse is a horror-themed beat 'em up hack and slash video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games in 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is a reimagining and a reboot of the original Splatterhouse which was released in 1988.
Splatterhouse received mixed reviews. While its graphics, soundtrack and voice acting were praised, it was criticised for its controls, difficulty, glitches and repetitive gameplay.
Splatterhouse is combat-oriented with main character Rick fighting various monsters in either hand-to-hand combat or with makeshift weapons, such as wooden planks and meat cleavers. Rick is able to attack his enemies with super strength and rip them apart. He can also chain attacks together into combos.
Rick can lose limbs, [1] but is able to grow them back over time. [2] Arms can be used as clubs to fight enemies.
Throughout the game, Rick collects blood from defeated enemies. Collecting a certain amount will allow the player to unlock new moves and perform special attacks. Players can find journals documenting Dr. West's history while photos of Rick's girlfriend serve as a breadcrumb trail to follow. He can perform "Splatter Kills", extremely gory finishing moves. There is also a platforming element with jump nodes to keep instant death falls to a minimum.
The game also comes with the original Splatterhouse arcade game, Splatterhouse 2 and Splatterhouse 3 as unlockables.
Jennifer Willis (Shanelle Workman) is to have an interview with Dr. Henry West M.D. (Richard Doyle), professor of necrobiology, at his house. Her boyfriend, Rick Taylor (Josh Keaton), comes along so nothing bad happens. Just as Rick is about to propose to Jennifer, the two are attacked by Dr. West's experiments, kidnapping Jennifer and leaving Rick mortally wounded. Rick knocks over a sarcophagus revealing a mask. Close to death, the Terror Mask (Jim Cummings) calls out to Rick, saying it will save him and help save Jenny if he puts it on. Having no choice, Rick puts the mask on and is transformed into a hulking beast powered by the blood of others.
Rick follows Dr. West and Jennifer through other dimensions and time periods and learns of Dr. West's plan to bring dark deities, known as "The Corrupted", into this world by sacrificing Jennifer. Dr. West believes The Corrupted will resurrect his dead love Leonora, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jennifer and originally died of cholera. The Corrupted intended to lay waste to Earth instead. It is revealed that Dr. West and the Corrupted had previously resurrected Leonora, but she was brought back as a demonic savage. West tried to contain her and bring her back completely, but one instance she escaped; Dr. West later found her holding a porcelain doll, horrified at the fate of the child she took it from. West was later summoned away from the town of Arkham and his home on a pointless errand, only to discover that the town's populace found out about Leonora, and imprisoned her to be burned as a witch. Rick encounters Leonora while traveling through time, emerging near the alit wickerman cage as the townsfolk are turned into monsters by the Corrupted. In an attempt to save Leonora thinking she was Jennifer, Rick was attacked by her demonic form, forcing him to kill her. A young Dr. West witnesses Rick stomping on her and loses his morality, vowing to tear down the gates of heaven and ascending on a pile of corpses, built from the townsfolk of Arkham and topped with Rick's dead body.
In the end, Rick succeeds in rescuing Jennifer and thwarting West's plans; however, the Overlord, leader of the Corrupted, emerges, summoned from the killings Rick committed through the game and constructed from the bodies of 10,000 monsters. The Mask informs Rick that he knew that Rick's killing would release it, stating that he wanted the Corrupted to know that it was the Mask that stopped them, and for that to happen, he needed to let them out. Rick and the Mask manage to kill it and sate the Mask's thirst for vengeance, but in the process, a stray spirit possesses Jennifer. Believing his deal with the Mask to be done, he tries to pry it off; however, aware of Jennifer's possession, it refuses. It is implied from West's reaction that the stray spirit is Leonora's.
According to Makoto Iwai, a then-senior vice president of Namco Bandai's American branch, he was tasked with finding a game to release that would be popular with American audiences. Realizing that a sequel to Splatterhouse might appeal to older audiences interested in games like Grand Theft Auto , and seeing Capcom's success with Resident Evil , Namco Bandai approved the concept. [3]
In early 2009, BottleRocket revealed that Namco Bandai Games had made the decision to cut the developer from the project, and had already taken back their console development kits. [4] With no other projects or funding on their plate, BottleRocket was effectively shuttered as a result. Namco Bandai Games explained that the move was due to a "performance issue". [5] The project was handed over to the internal development team at Namco Bandai Games who had recently completed Afro Samurai . Weeks later, it became known that Namco Bandai Games hired members of the original development staff from BottleRocket to help finish the game. [6] [3]
The game's story and dialogue was penned by comic book writer Gordon Rennie. [7] [8] Howard Drossin composed original scores and the protagonist Rick Taylor (in his non-possessed look) was modelled after him.
Splatterhouse was originally announced by Namco Bandai on May 29, 2008, with an expected release for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2009. [9] [10] [8] In June 2009, Namco Bandai said that the game would be delayed to the following year, [11] [12] which they later narrowed down to a Q3 2010 release date. [13] [14] Splatterhouse was finally released on November 23, 2010. [3]
As part of promotions leading up to the game's release, Splatterhouse was featured on the cover of Fangoria issue #295 in June 2010. This was the first video game ever featured as a central cover on the horror magazine. The cover featured custom artwork by Dave Wilkins (the game's art director), and the article featured an interview with the design team by Fangoria's lead video game coverage writer Doug Norris. [15] In addition, Namco Bandai announced a partnership with Globe International to create a special edition shoe based on the game, [16] and Playboy featured character Jennifer Willis as a centerfold in its December 2010 issue. [17] [18]
Splatterhouse: Music From the Video Game | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | November 23, 2010 |
Genre | Thrash metal, heavy metal, groove metal, death metal |
Producer | Howard Drossin |
Note: Splatterhouse co-producer Dan Tovar is a member of the bands Invisible Enemies and WolfShirt. Also, Cannibal Corpse, In Flames and Gwar were mentioned by Tovar in the 10/2009 issue of Play Magazine as being on the soundtrack; [19] however, this ultimately proved to be false.
Aggregator | Score | |
---|---|---|
PS3 | Xbox 360 | |
Metacritic | 59/100 [20] | 62/100 [21] |
Publication | Score | |
---|---|---|
PS3 | Xbox 360 | |
Destructoid | 7.5/10 [22] | N/A |
Edge | 5/10 [23] | 5/10 [23] |
Eurogamer | 6/10 [24] | N/A |
GamePro | [25] | N/A |
GameRevolution | C [26] | N/A |
GameSpot | 4.5/10 [27] | 4.5/10 [27] |
GameTrailers | N/A | 6.4/10 [28] |
GameZone | 6.5/10 [29] | N/A |
Giant Bomb | [30] | [30] |
IGN | 4/10 [31] | 4/10 [32] |
Joystiq | N/A | [33] |
Official Xbox Magazine (US) | N/A | 7/10 [34] |
PlayStation: The Official Magazine | 3/10 [35] | N/A |
The Daily Telegraph | 6/10 [36] | N/A |
The Escapist | N/A | [37] |
The game received "mixed" reviews on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [20] [21]
Eurogamer said of the PlayStation 3 version: "Splatterhouse is only reasonably good at being the classless procession of shock and bad taste that it wants to be." [24] GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd said of the game: "All the gore in the world can't disguise Splatterhouse's laundry list of clumsy mechanics." He criticized the camera, load times, glitches and cheap deaths, but praised the story and the inspired artistic touches. [27] IGN's Arthur Gies said: "Some occasionally slick visuals and funky design are undermined by camera and framerate problems and enemy variety that dries up halfway through." [31] [32]
The A.V. Club gave the PS3 version a B+, saying, "Going by mechanics alone, Splatterhouse is solid, though uninspired. But the extra touches help elevate it from passable distraction to entertaining diversion." [38] The Guardian gave the same console version four stars out of five, calling it "a vulgar, noisy, shallow, juvenile, gruesome gem of a game that never forgets to be fun, even when going out of its way to be as appalling as possible." [39] However, The Daily Telegraph gave the same console version six out of ten, saying that "On the whole, Splatterhouse achieves what it sets out to do, even if it is spoiled in parts by some sloppy execution and technical niggles. It's mindless, tasteless and ultimately throwaway, but as the mask often intones: 'I could say I wasn't enjoying this ... but that would be a lie.'" [36] The Escapist gave the Xbox 360 version a similar score of three stars out of five, saying, "The recycled brawling mechanics and frustrating platforming don't do anything to support the cliché story and no amount of blood, profanity or nudity can save Splatterhouse from mediocrity." [37]
Tom Vote of 411Mania gave the Xbox 360 version 5.4 out of 10: saying, "While offering a decent soundtrack, and copious amounts of blood and gore, the game ultimately falls flat in several areas." [40] However, Jeffery Harris of the same website gave the PS3 version 7.2 out of 10, saying: "I don't think the game is as bad as some reviews have made it out to be. I think the new Splatterhouse is a fun albeit somewhat flawed and disappointing game with a really solid story and a unique art design and presentation. I think the game lacks some certain control and gameplay polish and it could've used a better climax and maybe a couple extra stages. It feels in some ways like an incomplete game that could've used another year of development due to the already tumultuous development process the game went through in early stages with BottleRocket." [41]
Tekken 6 is a 2007 fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Games. It is the sixth main and seventh overall installment in the Tekken franchise. It was released on arcades in November 2007 as the first game running on the PlayStation 3-based System 357 arcade board. A year later, the game received an update, subtitled Bloodline Rebellion; both versions also saw a limited release in North America. A home version based on the update was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October 2009; this was the first time a main installment was produced for a non-Sony console. A port to the PlayStation Portable was also released shortly after.
Splatterhouse is a beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Namco in 1988. It was the first in a series of games released in home console and personal computer formats. This game would later spawn the parody Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, the sequels Splatterhouse 2, Splatterhouse 3, and the 2010 remake Splatterhouse, with the classic games being added to Namco Museum since 2017.
Splatterhouse 2, known in Japan as Splatterhouse Part 2, is a beat 'em up video game developed by Now Production and published by Namco for the Sega Genesis in 1992. It is the sequel to Splatterhouse, as well as the third installment of the Splatterhouse video game series, following Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti.
Splatterhouse 3, known in Japan as Splatterhouse Part 3 (スプラッターハウスPART3), is a horror themed beat'em up video game released by Namco for the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1993. It is the sequel to Splatterhouse 2 and was one of the first games to be given a rating by Sega's own Videogame Rating Council. In North America the game was given an MA-13 rating by the council for its graphic violence and gore. Unlike its predecessors, it was not originally released in Europe. The game was included as an unlockable extra in the 2010 remake, with new artwork replacing the digitized photographs for legal reasons.
Beautiful Katamari, released in Japan as Beautiful Katamari Damacy, is a video game by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. Beautiful Katamari is the fourth game in the Katamari series of games following Katamari Damacy, We Love Katamari, and Me & My Katamari.
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is a fighting video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 based on the anime Dragon Ball Z. The game was developed by Dimps and published in North America and Australia by Atari, and in Japan and Europe by Namco Bandai under the Bandai label. It was released in Japan on June 5, 2008, in Europe on June 6, 2008, North America on June 10, 2008, and in Australia on July 3, 2008.
Tales of Vesperia is an action role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio. The tenth mainline entry in the Tales series, it was released for the Xbox 360 and published in Japan and North America by Namco Bandai Games in 2008, and in European territories by Atari in 2009. An expanded port of the game for the PlayStation 3 was released in 2009 in Japan. An enhanced version, subtitled Definitive Edition, was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in January 2019. The gameplay is similar to previous Tales games, featuring a new version of the series' trademark action-based "Linear Motion Battle System", while also introducing new elements such as online leaderboards.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, known in Japan as Naruto: Narutimate Storm is a 2008 fighting video game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 3. It is based on the popular manga and anime series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto, and the first installment of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series, followed up by Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (2010). The game has since been remastered and released as part of the series Trilogy on newer platforms in 2017, as well as mobile platforms in 2024.
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2, originally released in Japan as Gundam Musou 2, is a tactical action video game based on the Gundam anime series, and the sequel to 2007's Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. It is developed by Omega Force and is published by Namco Bandai Games. The game was released in Japan on December 18, 2008, with a North American release on April 21, 2009, and a European release April 24, 2009.
Dead to Rights: Retribution is a third-person action video game. It is the reboot of the Dead to Rights franchise featuring Grant City police officer Jack Slate and his canine companion Shadow. Developed by Volatile Games and published by Namco Bandai Games under the Namco label for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is a video game based on the manga and anime franchise Dragon Ball. It was developed by Spike and published by Namco Bandai for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game consoles in North America; internationally it was published under the Bandai label. It was released in Japan, North America, Europe, and Australia during the second week of November 2009. In Europe, a limited edition pack of the game was also released that included bonus collector material.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, known in Japan as Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm 2, is a 2010 fighting video game developed by CyberConnect2 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the second installment in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, and the sequel to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, published by Namco Bandai Games. It is based on the anime and manga series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. The story and cast are based on their Part II manga appearances, known in the anime as Naruto Shippuden. The game mainly stars title character Naruto Uzumaki, a teenage ninja, and his fights against the Akatsuki terrorist organization.
Clash of the Titans is a 2010 video game developed by Game Republic and published by Namco Bandai Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is based on the film of the same title. An abridged version for the BlackBerry developed by Glu Mobile was released three months earlier.
Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom is an action-adventure video game developed by Game Republic and published by Namco Bandai Games. It was released in November 2010 internationally and January 2011 in Japan.
Knights Contract is a 2011 action video game developed by Game Republic and published by Namco Bandai Games for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The story, set in a fantasy version of Medieval Germany, follows the witch Gretchen and former executioner Heinrich as they seek to stop the schemes of the alchemist Dr Faust, who has revived Gretchen's sisters as vengeful monsters in pursuit of their power. Gameplay has Heinrich exploring linear levels and fighting monsters, with Gretchen as a computer-controlled companion and spellcaster.
Inversion is a third-person shooter video game developed by Saber Interactive and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released on June 5, 2012 in North America, July 12, 2012 in Australia and on July 13, 2012 in Europe for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was later released for Windows on June 8, 2012 in Europe, July 12, 2012 in Australia and July 26, 2012 in North America. It features gravity manipulation and destructible environments.
Namco Generations was a brand name created by Namco Bandai Games for modernized remakes of their older video games. It was introduced in 2010 in conjunction with Pac-Man Championship Edition DX for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Galaga Legions DX was the second game to use the brand, being released in 2011. Two other games were in production under the Namco Generations label, a Metro-Cross sequel named Aero-Cross and a remaster of Dancing Eyes, both of which were cancelled.
Ridge Racer Unbounded is a 2012 racing video game developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by Namco Bandai Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the eighth installment of the Ridge Racer franchise following Ridge Racer 7, the first mainline title not to be developed by Namco, and the first in the series overall to be released on Windows. Unbounded is also the most recent game in the series to be released on home consoles as its successors only focused on handheld devices.
SkyDrift is a 2011 airplane racing video game developed by Digital Reality. It was self-published by the developer on the Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3 platforms. The Xbox 360 version was published by Bandai Namco Partners.