Splatterhouse (Xbox 360)

The Splatterhouse franchise rises from the dead in this new high-definition revamp! The new Splatterhouse is not a sequel, but rather a re-telling of the original story following poor battered hero Rick as he dons the Terror Mask and works his way through hordes of demons, monsters, and other beasties to save his girlfriend, Jennifer, from the mysterious and evil Dr. Henry West.

Like the previous classic entries in the series, Splatterhouse is a beat-em-up style action game in a horror setting. And like previous entries in the series, Rick is transformed into a hulking beast of a man when he puts on the Terror Mask. In the classic games, Rick’s primary attack was to punch enemies with some kicking involved, and occasionally picking up crude weapons, such as a 2×4 piece of wood. Like the previous entries, players work their way through horror-themed environments inside a creepy mansion with boss battles at the end of each stage.

All of these features remain in the HD revamp, but there are several levels of depth added. Two buttons are used for punching, another for grappling, and there are “modifier” buttons which add sprint options and mix up the “standard” attacks. Over two dozen combos and special attacks are available for players to unlock and master adding new levels of variety and depth to the beat-em-up formula. Rick can still pick up various weapons and items, and even turns parts of his body into a weapon once the abilities are unlocked. Rick also has several finishing moves at his disposal, which can be activated when beaten enemy characters feature a red halo around their body.

Through the gameplay, players spill and collect gallons of blood and splatter from enemy characters, and this blood works as currency to purchase upgrades to weapons, attack combos, more health, and the like.

Rick will show several levels of damage to his body as he is attacked and hurt featuring anything from exposed ribs to a missing arm. While limbs regenerate over time, health must be siphoned from enemies. With health recharging occurring largely whenever the player wants it, Rick takes damage fairly easily forcing players to carefully monitor and maintain their health during the mayhem of the gameplay.

Splatterhouse features collectibles such as pieces of sexy pictures of Jennifer and logbook notes in the form of gramophones strewn throughout the stages. These can be viewed in the Collectibles section of the main menu.

Besides the regular Story mode, there is a Survival mode which expands with more stages as players progress through the Story mode. Survival mode simply puts players in a stage with the challenge being, perhaps obviously, survival. Like Story mode, there are pictures that can be collected through the Survival mode.

Splatterhouse also features another bonus–which is the original trilogy, once they have been unlocked through regular gameplay.

Splatterhouse is a one-player game and also allows for custom soundtracks. Beyond original music, the standard game features over a dozen Heavy Metal songs which are typically played during action-heavy sequences. Some bands featured include Cavalera Conspiracy, High on Fire, The Accused, and Five Finger Death Punch.