Namco Bandai's been on a roll lately. A month after the release of the "Blood Thrash" trailer, we got an all new, story-driven trailer created for E3, nicknamed "Make a Wish." It debuted on IGN June 8th, along with a nice preview of the game that mentions, among other things, tossing bad guys into grinders and finding nude pictures of Jennifer. The more I hear about it, the more intrigued I'm getting.
"Make a Wish" met with nearly unanimous praise from the Splatterhouse fan community, and with good reason: it's the best trailer Namco's released yet. Just like I did with "Blood Thrash", I've gone through it and captured a lot of screenshots, noting many of the little details that flash by too quickly. Also, due to the fact that so much of this trailer was story-driven, I've added commentary on possible aspects of the story based on what we've seen. Enjoy!
"Make a wish? Okay."
There it is. West Mansion. This does remind me a bit of the shot of the mansion from the opening of the original Splatterhouse. It's nice to finally see it at last.
"I want us to be together until the end of the world."
Got a bit of product placement here: Rick's wearing a Mastodon t-shirt. As I recall, this t-shirt was mentioned in one of the last statements released to the press before BottleRocket was pulled off the project.
"Jenny... I'm s-sorry..."
Going by that IGN article, Rick's on the verge of death here, having had his guts literally ripped out by West or one of his creations.
And speaking of which, here's our first look at that bastard. Dr. West, everybody. Here's hoping we get to kill him at some point.
Looks like the contents of Jennifer's purse have spilled out in the struggle. Perhaps some of this is used to track her.
So Rick was planning to propose to Jen at some point during or after this trip to West Mansion, it seems (or maybe he did on the way there, for all we know right now). Setup for part 3, perhaps? That is, of course, if Namco Bandai is following the overall structure of the classic trilogy's storyline.
"RICK!!!"
I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's nice to see the classic Namco logo return. I've missed it.
"She doesn't have to die... I can help you. I can heal your wounds."
At this point, the Mask has soaked up some of Rick's blood and is about to make a deal with him, one that will forever change his life. And if Namco Bandai is truly following the storyline of the classic trilogy, we know what that ultimately entails.
I absolutely love this picture. They really nailed the look of sheer terror on Jennifer's face. Rick looks pretty freaked out too.
"We can save her, if you trust me, if you put me on..."
This is the first time we've ever seen the view from inside the Mask. It reminds me of the moment you realize you're looking at the inside of Darth Vader's mask as it's put on him at the end of Star Wars Episode III: in both cases, you're witnessing the birth of an iconic character from their point of view.
So what's with these coffins? Was the Mask being kept in one, or was it part of one?
I'm posting this picture for one reason: I want some people to shut the hell up. This is proof that Rick is not wearing shorts: what he has on is what's left of his pants. I tell you, if I read one more comment about how Rick looks like "John Cena in a Halloween mask," I'm going to find a way to reach into my monitor and smack the shit out of every single person I see that posts it.
"What have you done to me? What am I? WHAT AM I?!"
Oh yes. Yes yes yes. That is exactly the kind of thing I've been wanting to see, much like the entrail-eating Deadman in "Blood Thrash." This is so reminiscent of the original Splatterhouse, with its corpses strewn everywhere in the first stage. Also, some think this could be Biggy Man's stage. Judging by the amount of carnage here, I'd say that's a definite possibility.
There's a lot of interesting stuff going on in this picture. One, we have trophies on the wall. These tropies move, and their otherworldly nature seems to suggest that West may have been hunting his own creations for sport. Two, the setup of this room is extremely familiar: as it was pointed out to me, it bears a strong resemblance to the original arcade flyer. Very nice. Finally, the picture on the wall looks a lot like Jennifer. But that can't be. So who is it? Does this tie into what were told of the story so long ago, that West has taken Jen because of her resemblance to his late wife?
First things first: Yes! The shotgun! This picture is taken from the scene right after the chainsaws start hacking through the elevator door. Rick looks taken aback, and with good reason...
...this is who's waiting for him. Yep, meet Biggy Man, aka nuBiggy. He's not exactly the awesome Dave Wilkins redesign that was shown to us last year - which is extremely disappointing, because I really wanted to see that image brought to life - but at the same time, it's not this horrid abomination that Biggy was originally intended to be in this game. He's kind of a combination of the two. Taken on his own, nuBiggy is quite awesome. His skin does some interesting nuances (bubbly flesh in several places and such), the chainsaws look great and the bag looks pretty awesome (both perhaps inspired a bit by thedarkcloak's awesome Biggy redesign). Still, after being teased by Dave's awesome redesign, I can't help but to feel disappointed. It's certainly not a dealbreaker, though. Besides, I can't shake the feeling that Namco's got something very special in mind for nuBiggy here... and I'm not counting Dave's redesign out of the picture just yet.
"You're mine, Rick! Until Jen's back safe in your arms... you're mine."
This seems to be a classic "I used to be this" moment Rick is having. Too bad his thumbs are too soaked in blood to avoid staining the picture, not that it already doesn't look blood-spattered enough.
Here we get our first good luck at the 2D stages of the game. Well, you guys are getting a good first look at them: I saw this particular stage in action when Dan Tovar was showing me the demo back in April at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival. That giant crusher/grinder must be manuevered under, and those Lovecraftian beasts must be avoided by jumping from ring to ring. Yes, that's a bit more platform-y than the original games, but I like it. Gives it a bit more variety.
AWWWW YEAH!
I hope you enjoyed this short deconstruction of "Make a Wish." Again, 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!
