New Gameplay vid on offical site

Check out the new gameplay over at the offical site. Bloody Glorious!!! :rtfo :rtfo :rtfo
After watching it a couple of times there seems to be some quick images of a "mutated" Rick.
One thing was a little confusing about it though....the vid was rated Teen. :blink:

I played some of what you see in that vid when I went to Worcester. :smug However, a lot of it - the majority of it, actually - I've not seen until now.

Looks like the mask is getting under his skin.

That was AWESOME! Starting to see a lot more Splatmosphere.

My eyes may be deceiving me but I see what appears to be Rick's body splitting open thus seeing his skull and ribcage underneath. Also his fingers are elongated blades. :D

My eyes may be deceiving me but I see what appears to be Rick's body splitting open thus seeing his skull and ribcage underneath. Also his fingers are elongated blades. :D

It appears his skull is elongated or the mask has. His ribcage is exposed implying he might have stronger defense. Also appears his hands are intact, however the bony spikes are protruding from his wrists, above his hands.

My eyes may be deceiving me but I see what appears to be Rick's body splitting open thus seeing his skull and ribcage underneath. Also his fingers are elongated blades. :D

It appears his skull is elongated or the mask has. His ribcage is exposed implying he might have stronger defense. Also appears his hands are intact, however the bony spikes are protruding from his wrists, above his hands.

They remind me of Wolverine's bone claws.

Anyone else get a chuckle out of the "Rated T for Teen" ESRB logo at the beginning? :lol

Also, I'm pretty sure this was pointed out before, but I really dug the giant Hell Chaos cutout outside the entrance to (I'm assuming) the theme park.

Check it

Finally some gameplay! Looks like a good brawler!

I know it's late to add that, but those blast beats were out of place. Totally. I don't mind heavy metal, in fact, I crave brutal death metal, but something more doomy would have fitted more :)

But enough of that! I'm happy with what I saw! And considering the bonus they're adding on the disc, I'm even more satisfied!

Haha. I think this game will have plenty of entertainment, but I don't see what it's got to do with Splatterhouse unfortunately. Rick has a mask on, that's about it. Still, it is scheduled to be one of the most violent games around - if it beats MadWorld I'll be impressed

They haven't shown much in the way of the story yet, and we're still only seeing maybe a tenth of the game here, if that.

Yeah, I mean the gameplay more than anything, rather than the story and context. Obviously the step into 3D will make the experience different. The old games have a claustrophobic feel to them, I felt like the places you were in were confined, corridors and tunnels and so on, not so much wide areas - but as they were 2D, that is potentially how it will always feel, and maybe they wanted to branch out more, I don't know. But it felt like you were stuck in a nasty situation and were gradually working your way through it, being confronted by more and more screwed up weird enemies, with no way to evade them really, you had to meet them head on, which made it more tense.

In the vids and pictures I've seen, it looks more like an adventure setting, and the gameplay more like an action game rather than a tense horror, as you can jump around and run about the place more athletically. Obviously it is horrific in nature, but I don't know if it is being made to be scary in terms of atmosphere and pacing, looking more and more like god of war, or mark of kri, something like that. In terms of a comparable atmosphere to the original Splatterhouse these days, I can't really think of a game. I guess there is Silent hill, but your character is a pansy in those games. I guess Dead Space does a good job of combining confinement, disgusting creatures and violence, along with actual means of fighting back.

I remember in the first game, walking down the hall of mirrors for the first time was really awesome. I don't know if there will be room for something like that in the new game, but as you say, maybe the jumping around and slaughtering sections are just part of it, with some more atmospheric parts at other stages. That would be good definitely! I just haven't seen anything else from the media in terms of that, it has all been extreme combat situations, or jumping off walls and stuff, not seen any more subtle bits as of yet

I have two things to say about the trailer.

1. holyawesome!!!!

2. ANGEL OF DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH!

But seriously, this is starting to HAEMMORHAGE splatmosphere, in my opinion.
That, and the monster scream at the end sounded exactly like something you'd hear in SH3, no?

That's actually the feeling I got from playing the demo, believe it or not.

That could just be the focus of the marketing right now, especially when you consider how well God of War III is doing. Got to appeal to the new kids, after all.

But NB has confirmed that there will be 2D segments on top of what you've all seen so far, and they're definitely claustrophobic and in tune with the original games (although a little more open in the sense of how you can do slight perspective changes with modern hardware).

Well, Mirror Rick has officially been confirmed by NB, so here's hoping that his intro will be of the same caliber. There's more too that I can't talk about, of course.

I've been clued into a few things that sound like they fit what you're wanting, besides the aforementioned 2D stages. That's all I can say, though.

Did the official Twitter and Facebook pages not say I approved of the splatmosphere? :smug

Agreed.

Awesome, thanks for the reassurance!

(Posted Image)
Seems as though you guys were right. The Mask is changing Rick.
Reminds me of [prototype], kinda.

It's hard for a story to be scary when the protagonist is utterly fearless and more than capable of handling the opposition. Could you imagine the new Rick walking down a shadowy corridor when suddenly a bloodied body falls in front of him, accompanied by a musical shock stinger? Rick sure as hell wouldn't be scared by it, so why should the player? I'm sure the new game will be scary in a broader way, but it looks like it'll be really hard to have traditional suspense and terror when the main character is DEADLIER than the monsters he's killing. Rick's true vulnerabilities would have to center around his servitude to The Mask and his love for Jennifer and the barbaric depths he'll plummet into to save her. There can't be anything scary about monsters jumping out of closets when Rick will just turn them into red mist a few seconds later, but The Mask and Jennifer will cause him pain that his brute strength and rage can't match, and that is where the story's horror and tension should be focused. I hope it is.

Also, I shudder to think what the game's 'sexual themes' are going to be.

I'm not sure what everyone's opinions on 'Mutant' Rick are, or whether or not he fits in the Splatterverse, but I will admit he looks totally badass.

HeavyMetalNinja, welcome to the board. As far as the atmosphere and confinement you speak of, there was another game that sorta came close, called Illbleed on Dreamcast. Since then, however, we haven't found anything that resembles that feel.

Scissorman, I understand exactly what you are saying and I think that when Rick is his normal stature, most enemies can be a challenge and something to worry about.

I'm not sure what everyone's opinions on 'Mutant' Rick are, or whether or not he fits in the Splatterverse, but I will admit he looks totally badass.

I second that. Damn I want figures from this game!

Also, welcome HeavyMetalNinga, glad to have ya.

I am pretty sure that Splatterhouse was never meant to be actually frightening, however it always had horror and violent elements. I am not sure how to categorize something that involves horror without evoking the emotion of fear.

Good to see the game has powerups. That's something that just doesn't appear anymore. Also notice the new health meter. Well, maybe not health. The meter might be completely for Rick's necro energy which I assume drains as he is in his mutant form.

Rick himself might be his health bar. Only Dire can really clarify that right now.

EDIT: I totally dig the caged monsters in the above pic. It is not hanging or chained zombies, but it is on the right track.

Someone once said Splatterhouse's "Reverse Survival Horror", the monsters are trying to survive you.

I don't think you're THAT almighty on any of the three games but I'd say it's alongside these tracks. But to me the mix of not being impotent (far from it actually) while facing these freaks is what made Splatterhouse tick. After all, this wasn't ever Clock Tower (a series I love to death, especially the first SNes game, but apples and oranges).

I'm digging the 'new' Mutant Rick if it's what we think it to be. But damn, this is like the 5th trailer or whatever that they're on the verge of showing a "splatterkill" and they -zip- cut away from it. C'mon guys, it's been two years already. Just one for the masses, how's that? :lol

much better

this has restored my faith in the game. good job namco!

Impressive.

Yeah, that's what I mean. The trend in recent horror games is that your character is a bit pathetic in comparison to the odds you're up against, as in silent hill, clock tower, eternal darkness etc. The horror and tension in these games comes from knowing that you are just a normal person in a dangerous and inescapable situation.

Splatterhouse was never a survival horror, I guess it was just a beat 'em up like Shinobi and Final Fight and all that stuff, but was designed to be horrific, and was inspired by horror movies in its tone. The sound effects and the music tied in so well with the visuals that it was nothing like any of the other beat 'em ups, and ultimately felt completely different, even if you were essentially doing the same kind of thing as you would in the other beat 'em ups.

In terms of Rick's ability to deal with his situation, I always felt like he was a normal guy, who was given a 2nd chance by the mask, thus turning him into something more than human. In that state he could then deal with the monsters, without it he would definitely have been wasted. However, it wasn't like he was just a killing machine, it was still a struggle. The mask just gave him the edge that would allow him to actually do it, it wasn't going to do it for him.

It kind of reminds me of Manhunt in a way, as you are up against seemingly impossible odds in that game too, but Starkweather helps you out (gives you weapons, gives you tips), but you still have to deal with it yourself. You are capable of wiping out every last bad guy in the game, it just takes determination.

In both games, your character feels like a capable killer, yet you are also aware that if you get sloppy, you will get slapped down. I like it because it's like the monsters / bad guys get a taste of their own medicine when they come up against Rick / James, it's like you turn the tables on them. That is fun, so long as there is a struggle. I wouldn't like it in Manhunt if you just walked around with a mini gun threshing everyone. Just like I'm hoping in Splatterhouse that it is a struggle, and the foes do seem like a threat to be overcome rather than just fodder for Rick to turn into putty. I'm greatly reassured by what Dire has said though, really want to play this game now!

And unfortunately I can neither confirm or deny at the moment. Sorry.

I saw Splatterhouse listed at Gamestop. Going to have to put some money down on that bad boy.

I'd like to play as Rick for a bit, without the Terror Mask. Having a skinny teenager hack at mutant freaks with a machete would be pretty awesome, and have a more survival horror feel.
THERE YOU GO.
Sections where the Terror Mask abandons Rick and the game has a survival horror feel.

Rob I do beleibe that on the main SH site it says that the regenerating gameplay is still in, so that's not reallly secret any more :p

Oh, and HMN, I alwayus thought that a level as regular rick would be awesome! Glad to see someone shares that viewpoint!

I'd rather have segments where you play as Jennifer personally if we wanted a survival horror aspect.