When the "Blood Thrash" trailer debuted on the official Splatterhouse site May 7th, it made a lot of people very excited. Finally we were getting a real first look at the new Splatterhouse and what it was going to play like. However, a lot of it went by way too quickly to catch all of the details.
That's where I come in. I sifted through "Blood Thrash", capturing as many screenshots as I could. I managed to snag quite a few, and while going through the trailer to get them, I saw plenty of the details that I missed. So today I'd like to do a little deconstruction, showcasing some of the more interesting things about the "Blood Thrash" trailer that I noticed.
I thought this was a nice nod to the earlier games. Much like the first time you encounter Hell Guardian, the first boss of Splatterhouse 3, this Deadman is feasting on a pile of entrails, or some other kind of rotting, putrid meat. It's the little touches like this that the original Splatterhouse games were known for, and it's nice to see the guys at Namco Bandai picking that up and running with it.
Now this is interesting. It's some kind of "archdemon" that Rick is fighting, one with some kind of Lovecraftian tail or tentacle or something. That's a very interesting design, definitely a first for the series. But it's a design that certainly seems like it works here.
What is that thing?! A giant, mutated, rotting Boreworm? A demonic snake? Or something else I haven't thought of yet? Ever since seeing the brief shot of this thing flailing about, I've been intrigued by it. Also, this was one of the few times in the trailer that Rick seemed... well, not exactly intimidated, but definitely taken aback by something.
Here's a nice, gory shot of a Splatterkill in action. I just had to snap this one, as it showcases the amount of blood a Splatterkill can produce.
Oh, Robo-Ape. From the minute you were announced, the fans hated you. Why would Dr. West need a robotic ape to guard him? That didn't make any sense. Even I wasn't immune to the anti Robo-Ape sentiment, as A. the name is pretty ridiculous and B. whenever I hear it, I keep picturing the Mecha-Pon from Capcom's Strider. But then along came the October 2009 issue of Play Magazine that finally gave us a good look at the thing, standing face-to-face with Rick. Now here's an even better look at him.
The more I see of it, the more I think that the name "Robo-Ape" needs to be dropped, in favor of "Franken-Ape" or something that more accurately describes the thing. This monstrosity is about as far from robotic as you can get, but has Frankenstein-esque electrical nodes buried in its skull and some kind of crazy hammer for a left hand. It too is also rotting and diseased, as you can tell. It looks more like the result of some kind of unholy experiment West was conducting than a robotic ape guard thing.
...and there goes Rick after being nailed by that hammer. Ouch.
We've seen a lot of blood spilled in the trailer up to this point. It gets everywhere: on the floors, walls, Rick and even all over the screen. But there are a lot more fluids in a body than just blood. The original games showcased this beautifully: remember the splattered guts of the Deadmen all over the walls in Splatterhouse? How about the crud that damaged monsters would be bleeding in 3 after beating the hell out of them? As you can see here, there are in fact more fluids than just blood. This lovely puke green seems to be oozing out of these horrific monstrosities, and even more looks be coming, along with blood. Good, I say.
We've seen these albino creatures pop up in the trailer before, but what's this cylinder this one's coming out of? A teleporter? A matter rearranger? A cryogenic tube? An elevator? And perhaps more importantly, what's that junk in there with it?
Another shot of a Splatterkill shows Rick starting to rip the head off or out of the creature dubbed "Metamorl" by the fans on The Third Moon, due to its resemblance to the fourth boss of Splatterhouse 2, the Metamorl. If this is a reincarnation of the Metamorl from 2, it may be a nastier version that burrows into rotting flesh and reanimates or mutates it, or both. Hard to tell at the moment, but that's what some think are the case.
This should look familiar. The rib-spike attack (a tip of the hat to Splatterhouse 3) also features those flesh claws that rip up through the ground and damage enemies all around. I saw this move showcased in the demo, and it seems to be quite effective.
I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but Rick seems to be mutating even further than he did in Splatterhouse 3. Bone Wolverine-esque claws are protruding from the tops of Rick's hands, his spine is visible, the Mask is merged even further into his body... it makes him look incredibly feral. Rick's clearly a rampaging killing machine here.
I hope you enjoyed this short deconstruction of "Blood Thrash". As we move even closer toward the release of the game, keep checking back on either West Mansion or The Third Moon (the official West Mansion forum) for all the latest Splatterhouse news!
