I preordered the new Splatterhouse game and got the code for the replica mask display, which will take a good while to get here. But I've been a fan of the Splatterhouse games since I first discovered it in the arcade. My older brother was always into horror and dark stuff, so he would sometimes come across very odd games like Phantasmagoria and of course Splatterhouse. When I saw the trailer for the new Splatterhouse game, I had to get it.
Its an awesome game if you like horror and gore, because there's a ton of it. There is voice acting in this game, and the voice of the mask is none other than Jim Cummings, who is well known for voiceing Tigger and Pete and many other Disney characters. Hearing him swear and talk about how he loves violence and blood is just too funny. He has some very hilarious lines.
The gameplay is a little like Devil May Cry, where you enter a room and have to defeat all the enemies to unlock the door. Only you usually have to defeat them by throwing them onto spikes to drain their blood into a thingy that unlocks the door. There are also instant kill moves you can do when an enemy is weak, like pulling their arms off, ripping them in half, and other such mayhem. As you take damage, you start to see parts of your flesh torn off and some enemies can even tear your own arms off. Of course, you can use the mask's power to regenerate and replenish your energy if you have enough blood stored up. Blood points also build up over time, and you unlock new moves with them. What is funny is that if you lose an arm, you can still pick it up and use it as a weapon. lol
So yeah, its a very blood soaked game. Anyone who doesn't like violence and gore should stay far away from this one. Its a very fun gore fest, but I feel like its too short. Of course, a lot of games these days are too short for my taste, but at least you can replay this one with your current upgrades, even if you choose a higher difficulty. So you can play through on easy, then go on to the harder difficulties with your current upgrades. You can also find pieces of pictures of your girlfriend, some of which are explicit. I'm not sure what finding them all does, since I haven't, but I think all you get is a trophy. You can download different masks for your character too, which is neat, but not very practical since you have to pay extra. Also, as you play, you can unlock the three original Splatterhosue games. They are just like the originals released on the Sega Genesis.
One bad thing about this game is the loading times. They're not too terribly long at first, but every time you die, you have to sit there and let it load all over again, which gets boring and frustrating. It makes many nods to classic 80s horror movies, so if you like cheezy horror and violence, this is your game.
As for wether to get PS3 or 360, it depends. The PS3 can play Blu-Ray, but 360 can't. The PS3 doesn't seem to have as many independant games as the 360 does, but it has a decent amount. I figured the PS3 would eventually get more attention after the big format war over HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray won, so the PS3 can be a source of entertainment in more ways. The 360 is made by Microsoft, so they have many loayal companies that make games only for their system. However, a good number of companies are going over to the PS3 side and have released their games on both systems. The main reason I got a PS3 is because it can not only play games, but play Blu-Ray, and has a little more graphics power behind it. The 360 has more memory, but a smaller processor. Now they both have motion control, so they're muscling out the Wii as competition. Look very hard at the pros and cons of each system before you decide on one. I've been Sony loyal since the original Playstation, so I may be a bit biased.
