Unlock original arcade games
Content-wise, there’s a decent amount to get through, even away from the eight-hour campaign mode. With inspiration gained from the original arcade hit, Splatterhouse not only features a main campaign and a survival arena (where you have to fend off waves of monsters) but when you complete it you also unlock ports of the three original arcade games. Needless to say, the gameplay in these retro outings feels quite dated compared to modern day brawlers, but it’s a good chance to relive some of those memories, or discover why Splatterhouse became one of the first console games to come with a parent advisory warning. In a throwback to those days, Namco has also included some 2D side scrolling, platform sections in the main campaign that break up the constant brawling and tough boss battles rather nicely.While it’s clear that there’s a lot more Namco could and should have done during these platform sections to make them more current and exciting, jumping over spiked pits, rolling past swinging axes, or jumping over huge chasms, still has a place on modern day consoles. The platform sections in Splatterhouse are rather shallow, but do they require a degree of skill and timing to complete and provide some decent entertainment, albeit not much of a challenge.
The main bulk of gamplay involves fighting hordes of monsters with a range of weapons and moves that you unlock as you progress. As you slay monsters and spill blood, you fill up your blood bank and can spend points on upgrading across a number of attributes and skills such as fast attacks, heavy attacks and grabs. You can level up to five times in each of these attributes, so overall there are 40 different combos that you can unlock from ‘Splatter Slash’ (slicing enemies apart,) to the ‘Meat Shot,’ where you can use enemies as a deadly projectile. And it’s quite a rewarding system too; not just because you get access to bigger and powerful moves, but it’s very handy to be able to access the upgrade screen at any point in the game. This means that if you get stuck at any point, or if you die, you can then spend your points in an area that you think might facilitate your efforts, such as upgrading your dodge manoeuvre so you evade attacks more effectively.
As you progress, the combos that you access get more insane and brutal, but also become harder to pull off as you combine face buttons and triggers together. The upgrade system is fairly basic, but you will need to use a range of moves to get past some tough enemies and there’s more than enough moves to allow you some creative freedom. And that’s really the highlight of Splatterhouse, and what it’s really all about. It’s not going to win any awards for its repetitive gameplay, linear levels and bland environments, but there is satisfaction to be had out of mastering the art of combos and enjoying the grotesque, visual delights that come as part of knowing how to charge attacks, pull off ground pounds or slice enemies apart with the likes of the ‘Splatter Jump Slash.’