Splatterhouse Review

Splatterhouse is an arcade game from the 1980s that many people have forgotten about for a long time. It was decent enough for the time, and definitely one of the edgier games of the arcade era, but is not remembered with the same fondness as games like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and other classic arcade icons.

Even though there was no one really clamoring for a modern iteration, that is the way the industry has been going as of late. Remakes of decades old franchises are in at the moment. Like many of its contemporaries, Namco Bandai has included the original arcade games in the package as an incentive for those with fond memories to buy up the new game.

Splatterhouse is essentially a mindless hack and slash attempt. This is about as generic of a game as a big-name publisher would be capable of releasing. You have light and heavy attacks, upgraded attacks, and assorted objects that you can use to bludgeon your enemies. Oh, and you can rip them to pieces with a special quick kill move similar to Mortal Kombat. The only somewhat original concept is inflicting maximum damage to regenerate health. The more blood on screen, the quicker your character heals.

The developers interestingly decide to switch between the third person brawling in 3D to a 2D side-scrolling concept similar to the arcade games. Unfortunately, the execution is lacking. You will find yourself dying at the hands of clunky, confusing controls. Instead of having action commands or something similar, they have strange button combinations to make it past obstacles.

The conclusion is not a good one. Splatterhouse is woefully mindless in its action. The controls are inadequate, along with a camera that is ineffectual during the third-person action and game slow-down with even a few enemies on the screen. This game clearly was not ready for prime time. Fans of the original games might want to rent it just to play those games, but for anyone else, you would be wise to just pass this game up completely. It’s an ugly sight to see and a sorry excuse for a game.