The Fans Speak
To close this final article out, here's some thoughts from a few of your fellow fans.
Splatterhouse was one of my favorite games of 2010, and I feel it did a better job of serving as a 3D beat-em-up action title than its arguable rival, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Everything in SH is designed to appeal to longtime fans of the series as well as present an appealing game to people who have only realized the series' existence with the new game's release. The visual style is part gothic, part visceral, part apocalyptic, and all disturbing in some sense or another. I honestly liked the sound design, combining what I felt were fitting metal tracks with Howard Drossin's original score, and the voice acting cast is fantastic. Jim Cummings' take on the Terror Mask just may be my favorite overall element of the game, all things considered.
The gameplay is fast, brutal, and cathartic. The combat is fun with all the different ways you can pulverize enemies, and Splatterkilling the enemies has personally not grown old for me. Rick has a large movelist that expands as he collects more blood, but while he has a lot of disposal, he never feels TOO powerful so as to make the game too easy. On the contrary, the game can get pretty tough at several parts, though the ability to recover life via the Splatter Siphon does help curb the difficulty and keep it fair on the whole. I love the main game, which is neither too tough nor simple and with fast and smooth gameplay combined with all-too fitting aesthetics; it is also a fantastic bonus to include the original SH trilogy on the disc so newcomers to the series can experience what they missed.
Not everything is perfect, though, but no game is. Regardless, I admit that the lack of new enemies in the last four stages of the game was a bit disappointing, not to mention the final "un-boss" and the abrupt cliffhanger ending. The graphics can get a bit screwy when enemy bodies just suddenly wink out of existence and leave behind a piddly trail of blood, though this is only a mild discrepancy. Also, the sound emulation on SH2 and 3 is screwed up, slower- sounding than the original games. Splatterhouse is an awesome game, though it's unfortunate it did not receive as many accolades as it should have gained. It has its faults, to be sure, but for what it is and what it does, it certainly deserved more respect. Nertz to bad reviews; what counts is that I was pleased with the developers' effort in doing the Splatterhouse name justice. I'll definitely remember it fondly, just as I will every corpse-smashing ghost-punching Biggy-shooting entry before it.
- Mike Plasket
Rest In Peace. These words have never meant anything in the world of Splatterhouse. Neither the hero nor the villains, and certainly not the victims, knew the peace of the grave. It was disallowed by the cruel gods, and so it was to be, that the Splatterhouse franchise itself would fail to ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. After too long within the cold comfort of the soil's embrace, Splatterhouse was to be resurrected before it's adoring desciples in the infancy of a new decade, a new century that had never known it's razored touch. I was one of those desciples, whispering black prayers to blacker souls to release my gaming icon from The Beyond for years upon untold years.
Some would say that the resurrection never truly took place - that the stillborn husk, abandoned by it's parents and shunned by an impudent world - known as Splatterhouse 2010 was only a shadow of the real thing. I would disrespectfully disagree. It was an imperfect creature, this Splatterhouse...abused by the orignal team responsible for it's revival, nearly corrupted beyond repair in the process, but the House That West Built was rescued by a cult of devoted programmers, artists and fans, all posessed with the same prime directive: punish this generation with the sweet Hell we all took for granted in glory days past. There was no hope of COMPLETELY repairing the damage done, of course, but it was the desperate hope of this sanguine cadre that enough of The House's essence would be preserved, that it might do justice by it's invisible legions of devoted worshippers, who'd suffered long and hard in it's absence.
And it did. Even if the world around it refused to acknowledge it.
Our world has grown child-like, and naive; it thinks it can move on from Splatterhouse, that it HAS moved on from Splatterhouse. In a time of Halo and Call of Duty, there can be no room for such a silly thing as West Mansion, and it's endlessly trapped inhabitants...can there? What the world at large does not realize, is that Hell is forever. It has a place for each and every one of us...there's a room for us ALL in West Mansion. Try to outrun it - you can't. Try to hide from it - it already knows where you are. Try to pretend it's not there - you're already inside. In the cold months of 2010, Splatterhouse was announced Dead On Arrival. The only problem is...Splatterhouse is a place where Death never comes. No sweet release here...Splatterhouse is a place where the act of dying goes on forever, the death-rattle on your tongue until the stars burn out. Once opened, the door to West Mansion, once opened, can never be closed. The world may look away...but it changes nothing.
"Rest In Peace", Splatterhouse. You'll be back.
- Mike "corpsemonger" Wasion
The 1980's saw a resurgence of horror movies, ushering in a new era focused on masked maniacs, grotesque creatures, and viscera. Near the end of the decade, in 1988, Namco released Splatterhouse to the arcades, a game that effectively combined all the elements of cult faves from the years past in one gore soaked adventure. Nothing caught the spirit of 80's horror better, nor purer, then Splatterhouse did.
Twenty two years later, after a troubled development stage, Rick Taylor was back with a brand new game and an extra sharp axe to grind. Splatterhouse '10 was supposed to be the franchise's big comeback, but unfortunately, upon release, the game was railroaded right out of the gate and left to die a quiet death by Namco. As any fan here at West Mansion will tell you, it was quite a disheartening and bitter experience. Were the reviewers right, though? Was the game not worth the time or effort? Not by a long shot.
Splatterhouse '10 was everything I could of hoped for and more. Just like the originals it caught the retro 80's splatterpunk vibe perfectly, the heavy metal soundtrack and sidescrolling levels serving to enhance it even more. The gameplay, while nothing new, is fun and satisfying, letting you dish out vicious blows and disgusting finishing moves. The voice work is perfect, especially Jim Cummings as the mask....he strikes a nice balance between gleefully psychotic and darkly sinister. The game is not with out it's faults....long load times, small glitches here and there, and some texture issues...but nothing game breaking. All in all, I feel the game is a great end to the series, as much as I'd like to see it continue on. As I fought through the halls of Dr. West's decrepit mansion a smile found it's way to my lips. I felt like I was ten again, popping Splatterhouse 3 into my Genesis late at night when I should of been sleeping. I felt a wave of nostalgia. I felt right. It felt like Splatterhouse....and that's all that matters.
- Joe "B-MovieKing" Hasson
Splatterhouse 2010-The Game That Dared To Be Itself
It was a fine day on the job when a co-worker, knowing of my interest in video games, dropped off a copy of Electronic Gaming Monthly she had found on the communal magazine table. Checking out the cover of the July 2008 issue, I thought “Hmmmmm….that looks a lot like a bulked-up Rick from Splatterhouse, but it’s probably just a wannabe tossed into another lame crime game”. Looking closer, I saw that the impossible had happened-it was indeed Rick and the Terror Mask, and Splatterhouse was being resurrected for a whole new generation! For a diehard Splatterfan, it was too good to be true! Checking the net for more info, I discovered West Mansion and the Third Moon, meeting the game’s most hardcore and involved fans. During the coming months (and years), it was a roller coaster ride of anticipation-release dates came and went, disappeared, and were pushed back by over a year. While previews showed some knockout concept art by Dave Wilkins and incredible looking game mechanics such as regenerating limbs, a wide variety of brutal combat moves, and wicked weapons, there were aspects that left one wondering if the designers knew what they were doing. The proclamation that the soundtrack was going to be “All Mastadon, all the time” was the first red flag. Blood seemed to be replaced by glowing green ectoplasm straight out of Ghostbusters. Nazi Zombies, time travel, a Wicker Man, giant lizards, ninja turtles, a Robo-Ape, and worst of all, the transformation of franchise staple Biggyman into a lardassed thug that was nothing short of a sweaty child molester with chainsaws on his hands. I christened this new version BigFattyman, but thankfully he was one of the first things to go when Namco, seemingly concerned about the increasingly Fantasy turn this hardcore horror game was taking, jettisoned Bottle Rocket in favor of an in-house design team. The new design team led by Dan Tovar restored Biggy to his skinned, sack-headed glory (even though he still had a huge pot belly-and you can see him unmasked in the end credits). They labored for over a year reskinning Bottle Rocket’s work and turning the fantasy elements into horror. There were cool marketing efforts featuring ‘infected’ Splatterhouse T-Shirts, sponsorships of various Metal Festivals, and unique promo items such as the badass Splatterhouse shoes. While each new glimpse left me more convinced that things would turn out as they should, at times it appeared the game would never get finished. Until that magical day on November 7th of 2010 when a friend in the broadcast industry sent me a promo copy of the game…
Despite all my misgivings, the game turned out to be everything I was hoping for-and beyond. There has never been a game that nailed its voice acting more perfectly. Jim Cummings as the Terror Mask managed to bring the evil relic to life, seducing and conning Rick and being damn funny while doing it. The Mansion levels were suitably creepy, becoming more organic as the game progressed. The Meat Factory and Dandyland levels featured bizarre, twisted imagery at its best. Unlockable moves allowed the player to first master the basics and then expand into an incredibly deep and involved fighting system. The carnage inflicted by weapons was satisfying and visceral. Enemy limbs and heads proved in many cases to be even better weapons. Several survival arenas allowed Splatterheads to refine and hone their skills to a deadly degree, making even a replay of the game on Brutal difficulty a snap. Even the dreaded heavy metal soundtrack proved to be excellent, used in all the right spots with a more traditional score by Howard Drossin given most of the screen time. And the blood-oh, my, the blood. Not drops but rivers, and all building up in the Terror Mask to unlock even deadlier ways to rip foes apart. The extended fight with Biggyman (after being teased throughout the level) had to be the game’s high point, although the Furniture Boss ranked a close second. Fighting against a variety of different Mirror Ricks wasn’t bad, either. And the unlockables were just the sort of things fans of the series really wanted-the insane ramblings found in Dr. West’s Journal to fill out the story along with naked photos of an incredibly hot Jennifer. That isn’t to say everything in Splatterhouse 2010 was perfect. Level three-the ‘future NYC’ level-was a big letdown. In level six, who didn’t want to fight the cyclopian Spawn of Cthulhu lurking in West’s huge storage tank? The wicked looking Mantipedes seen in early shots of the game were now only glimpsed as experiments stored in vats in West’s lab. And most disappointing of all, the ending was somewhat lacking, not allowing players to directly attack the towering Corrupted Boss-but even that served to reinforce the fact that Rick was fighting to save and protect Jennifer, not to satiate his bloodlust as implied by the Mask. Splatterhouse 2010 dared to be itself-a game made by fans for fans with no apologies for what it was.
Aside from a stroke of genius that had heroine Jennifer appear as a centerfold in Playboy, the game was virtually abandoned by Namco’s home office in Japan upon its crucial release period with little to no media attention (or payoffs to gaming magazines or websites). They even managed to screw up the release of the ‘preorder Gamestop bonus’ Terror Mask Statues (statues which ended up being extremely well done, and which Namco seemingly still has a huge surplus of). Despite that, the game connected solidly with its target audience. The people who were anticipating it loved it as a whole-and the people who didn’t, well, they can always go back to Mario, Banjo-Kazooie, Madden, and the FPS of the month. Unfortunately, the lack of exposure and uninformed critical reviews led to bad sales (along with most of Namco USA being put out of a job, including Tovar’s team). Fans became more disenheartened when some planned DLC that would have eliminated the game’s biggest weak point (the lackluster ending) was abandoned, along with all fledgling plans for any licensed merchandise. Even the release of the game’s soundtrack was cancelled. It’s somehow fitting that the last time Namco had something to say about the game was on the official Splatterhouse Facebook page, entreating us to “stay tuned for some exciting Splatterhouse news”. Months later, we’re still waiting. Despite all that, Splatterhouse 2010 will join its forbearers as a cult classic cherished and replayed by the people it was meant to please. And who knows-West Mansion might lie abandoned for years, but perhaps the day will come when someone stumbles into its embrace once again-if not Namco, perhaps another developer. Will there be an interactive VR version of the game done in twenty years for the PS6 that puts you INSIDE the Terror Mask? For this fan, Rick, Jennifer, Dr. West, and the Terror Mask will never truly die.
- Brick McBurly, Jida-geki Legend And Chick Magnet
I think most of the problems are due to the whole switching developers thing and really I blame BottleRocket for most of the problems with the game. Why? They really had no idea what they were making IMO. I would really have liked to see what could have been had the final dev team had the game from the start. I think it would have been much better. Sure the game had lots of blood and gore but there were quite a few things about it that I didn't feel had any place in Splatterhouse.
The two real disappointments were 1. The ending which was abrupt and really gave no sense of closure to any events that occurred. As much as everyone loves Biggy; I love Demon Jen and to see that battle shaping up and then BAM credits was just a downer. 2. Biggy; as iconic a character in his original form why did they change him to look like a deformed hillbilly with chainsaw hands? The fight with him was the most excellent part of the game but would have been even better if he had been maybe a recurring threat throughout the game and if he looked more like the concept art that was up at one time.
I don't say this to sound like I'm bashing the game at all. Quite the opposite really; I loved the game overall and the inclusion of the original trilogy was icing on the cake. These are just afterthoughts of things that I thought needed to be in the game. I'm really just sad that it wasn't all it could be and that we will probably never get another one.
- forum member Robocop2
Splatterhouse was a series I was a little late to discover. I saw my first Splatterhouse game inside of a video store, sitting in the Sega Genesis section. Splatterhouse 3, with it's blood splattered box art and intimidating characters jumped out to me. On the box was Rick, in his monster form, holding an Axe and preparing to butcher a large demon. I was enthralled with the box alone, and went to the counter to rent it and ran home as fast as I could. Upon turning on the console, I was greeted with an amazing intro sequence (for the Genesis it was pretty impressive) and found myself immersed in the world of Splatterhouse. Not long after that, I discovered the remaining games in the series, and even saw a Splatterhouse arcade machine at my old laundry mat. Sadly, it would soon be replaced by Xmen Vs. Streetfighter and I would never see it again.
Of course, like all adults, I'm very sentimental about what I grew up with. Splatterhouse is no exception to this rule. Now being an adult in his mid 20's, I find myself playing Splatterhouse games more often than newer games such as Halo, Call of Duty, Mass Effect, etc.. The Splatterhouse series was one of my first leaps into the fascinating world of obscure games. With the more popular games you generally get a pretty idea of what you're going to get. With games like Splatterhouse on the other hand, it's an adventure in of itself to pick up a game that's not terribly well known and give it a shot. It may be thanks to Splatterhouse that I now have a collection rich with hidden gems. It opened my mind a bit and encouraged me to explore the hidden depths of gaming.
The Splatterhouse series has always been somewhat of an underdog. The arcade game was far too often disregarded as a violent rip off of Kung Fu, and the sequel didn't fare much better. The third game was often disregarded for being a clone of Double Dragon or Streets of Rage. Now entering todays modern gaming market it seems Splatterhouse '10 has again suffered the same fate. Disregarded as a God of War/Arkham Asylum clone, though it has little to do with the latter. It's not fair, and big name publications like IGN and Gamespot haven't made things any easier with comments such as "a poor game is a poor game".
Regardless of what they say, Splatterhouse '10 is a damn fine game that strives to be the best at what it does. It offers intense and challenging combat, some pretty good dialogue, and plenty of the trademark Splatterhouse gore. I own about 25 Xbox 360 games and I've played about twice that amount, not counting XBLA content and all, and I can easily say Splatterhouse '10 is one of the best games I've played on the system simply for the fact it knows the crowd it caters to. We're not just gore-happy fanatics either, despite the image the good people at G4 may like to paint of us. We appreciate the fact Splatterhouse '10 has kept the spirit of the series alive, and has retained the most important element of video games: gameplay. While many games today are content to deliver compelling storylines and moral choices, Splatterhouse says fuck all that and just gives you enemies in a room that you have to kill.... And that's how I like it.
- forum member Heretic9
"Anthem of the Angels"
After seventeen years of laying dormant in the gaming macabre populated by such titles as Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, and Clock Tower, the so-called "Survival Horror" originator Splatterhouse returned from the depths of gaming hell to shock and scare the crap out of modern gamers today...
Unfortunately, this new Splatterhouse failed to do this...
Gamers were presented with a hulking and mysterious hero in which parent company Namco Bandai expected them to remember after nearly 20 years, or in gamer's lingo, 3 system generations ago. "He's Back?" they thought; "We didn't even know he was missing?" To be fair, how could they expected to know? Namco's other series (even though without recent sequels) were kept alive (or better said, kept current in memory) through several game collections, digitalized download offerings, or even the occasional cameo in other series. For some unknown reason, Splatterhouse was kept in the dark like some sort of ignored bastard child.
Despite the world's forgetfulness, the question that intrigues us is that why wasn't the world fascinated with this new Splatterhouse as we were in the years of gaming past? Has it been as done before? Was Splatterhouse simply no more than an old trick that the world has tired of?
We must say "NO!" to this assumption. In truth, Splatterhouse 2010 had the gore, horror elements, and all around chaos that the originals had, but at the same time, the remake had lost something. In this humble observer's opinion, through this re-establishing, Splatterhouse had lost its mood or better yet, soul.
Let me explain further.
Even though nostalgia allowed us to see this new Splatterhouse through rose (er...blood) colored glasses, the sad truth is that Splatterhouse 2010 was probably made for anyone BUT us in mind. Like several titles that are pulled through the ringer today, it could be argued that SH fell victim to what I would like to call Dudebro syndrome. In short, instead of going for everything that made the original unique and special, Namco focused on the basic idea (or assumption) of Splatterhouse (BLOOD, BLOOD, and MORE BLOOD) and immediately took everything that people expected from an American Horror B-Movie and mixed. This includes cheesy special effects, generic monsters/villains, par-standard rock music, and loads of unnecessary nudity.
As silly as this may sound, such a method is not without merit. After all, the original Resident Evil (called Biohazard in Japan) was created as a mockery of an uninspired American Horror B-Movie with terrible voice casting (this is why all the Japanese versions have English voice acting), a barely reasonable plot, and of course, the violent-like body motions when the characters talk. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously. After the success of the first game, the process was steam-lined and cleaned up for the second game (with each game in succession soon after to stand on its own two feet i.e. its own identity). Perhaps Namco sought the same for its slumbering series...
The sad thing is that unknown to themselves, Namco had given Splatterhouse its own methodology, but yet it chose to ignore several key factors. For example, Splatterhouse can be easily considered to be a survival horror game for that your character is left facing unrelenting terrors without the proper tools to guarantee your success. Splatterhouse's twist on the genre is that by definition, you are as much as a monster as those you fight against. The main difference between the two groups is that of intelligence. You have the ability to rely on your reflexes as well as the physical ability to use your surroundings to your advantage (i.e. makeshift weapons). Unlike this new game, you were NOT the juggernaut (...bitch). You rarely have the ability to regenerate health or correct your mistakes. It was very much like a true horror movie: one false move could easily cost you your life (as well as the life of your loved one). Another variation on this would be the fact usually in survival horror, you are free to explore, but at the end of the day, you are trapped in a setting in some way. For a game called "Splatterhouse," why is it that you only spent about 60% of the game in said house? Clown zombies are okay and all, but it takes away from the game closing a form of net on you and your avatar in-game. It definitely would have added more to the "classic mythology" to which the house is alive and somewhat sentient through more exploration.
Another example that could be cited as Splatterhouse methodology is that the mysteries of your surroundings and your enemies were often unexplained yet as time passed on (or games in better terms) they came into their own. As your character when further and further down the rabbit hole, he was faced with something bigger, badder, grosser, and stronger than the last. There really wasn't a connection or evolution between the monstrosities you found in the first 3 Splatterhouses. It was simply your nightmares come true. In the case of the last game, it can be said that there is a huge difference between new creations being inspired by that of horror's past (80s horror films, etc) and simply chalking the whole experience as part of Lovecraftian horror. The only terrible thing about this point of view is that this sort of horror lacks on that of the spiritual world. In the original Splatterhouse, we are presented with a mad scientist who uses his scientific knowledge to create literal walking monsters. It is only when he opens a portal to a world of spirits; a place in which science is considered invalid, but also where nothing of flesh should exist does he meet his demise. Lovecraftian horror does contain such things, but at the same time, to those with the proper knowledge, it can be all explained through scientific terminology and reasoning, similar to that of alchemy or wizardry. In the case of the spirit world, it contains no boundaries or restrictions. In a state of mind, a being from such a place could easily be the ultimate enemy. The Splatterhouse legend of "man-made monsters" existed way before Rick and Jennifer's adventure into the house, so what proper escalation would it have been to overcome the horrors created by human pride and ignorance only to find something that has no earthly ending to it?
Speaking of state of mind, another factor that was deeply, deeply ignored from the original was the gamer's point of view to why they should care about the quest at hand. In this case, Splatterhouse isn't all about blood and guts; it's also one of gaming's saddest love stories. To paraphrase the game Heavy Rain, "How far would you go to save someone you love?" (Namco should have JUMPED on something like this early in the game development) This message is something I feel that is downplayed in this newest Splatterhouse. To see how deeply this meaning is changed, one only has to look towards this new portrayal of the game's heroine, Jennifer. As advertised in the media (ironically less often than naught in the gaming media) "Jen" is presented as a very skimpy young woman who is very, very open about her sexuality (and physical form to boot). It seemed like several key factoids in the game (especially her journals) seemed to be simply based upon sexual innuendos. While I apologize if I sound like a prude, the fact is that this new "hip" Jennifer greatly contrasts to that of "Classic" Jennifer. Is the fact that this girl loves to leave the hero pictures of her tits and bush everywhere make it that theirs is a love destined to be together forever? I can see boobs on the 'net for free, but it doesn't mean I would go save said girl if trapped in a mansion full of monsters. After all, aren't these the types of girls that usually die first in a nightmarish landscape such as this?
In the case of "Classic" Jennifer, less is more in a matter of speaking. In the original trilogy, we are presented with a girl with similar traits to that of "Carol-Anne," of the Poltergeist film series. She is innocent, presented in pure white (despite the presence of blood and gore everywhere) as if she gives off her own glow. This is the same attraction that unfortunately, what has the monsters coming back for her time and time again. She is so loyal that she would follow you into an already confirmed haunted mansion (e.g. the Turbografx Comic says it was Rick's idea). She apologizes to you and pledges her love mere seconds before her death at your hands. She even marries you after all of the crap your brilliant idea had put her though. She is your partner, your missing piece, for life. It is how we see (or at least, wish to see) our significant others. It is this that would give us the strength to overcome anything to hold them in our arms again. Such a comparison makes the fight personal. How Namco believed that a half-assed Snooki or Paris Hilton wannabe could be better than this is beyond me. It should be that there can not be anyone else for Rick period; not that "oh, he's a nerd, and he's lucky to get a hottie in the first place." It should be love that leads the game, not convenience.
The final factor that I would like to present that greatly changed the mood of this new Splatterhouse is that of its music. It seemed like somewhere, Namco got the idea in their heads that heavy metal instantly equals horror setting. Again, why advertise to the metal heads instead of the people whose actually going to buy the game? I'm not saying that the songs chosen were bad (I actually have ASG's credit theme "Dream Song" on my Zune as we speak) but again, it takes away from the mood of Splatterhouse. Splatterhouse's setting should be presented as freaky and rapid, but at the same time, it is also a place of melancholy and great sadness. To give an example, I remember finding this years ago while searching for info on the new game and for some reason (especially to a person whose not really a Breaking Benjamin fan), the song really moved me. It could be used to represent Rick's death, his own struggles with the mask's influence, the setting of being surrounded by the undead, his ongoing struggle to find Jennifer and his vow not to abandon her, the sure hopelessness of this situation, Jennifer's transformation and eventual death. Hell, it could also describe the fact that two star-crossed lovers are placed into an impossible situation. So many emotions and thoughts from ONE song versus 10 others about killing, blood, and death. Again, not to repeat myself from the other topic, but I believe Splatterhouse's essence going beyond "just mindless killing."
So, at the end of the day, I'm sure people (even the people at Namco) are reading this, thinking what the hell. Don't get me wrong, I love all of the little cameos and hints at the older games. I especially thank you for including the original games and even putting our names in the game, but at the end of the day, it does take more than a few references here and there to re-create the same feeling for new generations in which we all have experienced with the originals back in the 80s and 90s. I really wanted this to succeed! Fuck, I even bought 4 copies for myself, family and friends. For this little effort Namco Bandai (our friends such as Dan and Mark are NOT INCLUDED in this comment), you have simply proven to the new generation to what people often accuse the classic trilogy of being: another mindless brawler. Instead of being a best seller, you guys have made it into a cult classic, but unlike that of the original trilogy, that it isn't enough.
BUT ALL IS NOT LOST....
If you really want to save Splatterhouse, this is what we MUST do!
1. Continue to release Splatterhouse related items on other systems. Put Splatterhouse 3 and the original Arcade on Wii's Virtual Console. Hell, do the Famicom game if Nintendo will let you. PSN is starting to put Turbografx games up for PS3 and PSP. Let Splatterhouse be one of them.
2. If your company actually considers Splatterhouse to be a staple and true classic, treat it like such. Include it in the Namco Museums. Have Rick cameo in new games. (I would kill for him as a hidden fighter in Street Fighter X Tekken or vice versa; picture it, Rick vs Wesker for King of Survival Horror!)
3. I'm guessing a sequel is out of the question, but then again, if this piece of shit could get a sequel, then why not Splatterhouse? Anyhoo, I would either go the Prince of Persia Epilogue DLC route to wrap the game up nicely or do an digital download reboot similar to Bionic Commando ReArmed or the new Section 8. If this happens, I would hope to see a re-release of Splatterhouse 2010 a la a GOLD or Director's Cut edition with all DLC included for a good price (see link on "piece of shit"). Just please don't call it Game of The Year edition...
4. I would put the regular 2010 game up on Games on Demand for 360 and PS3 A.S.A.P. to reach a wider audience, and maybe even consider a demo. Yeah, I know its a bit late, but then again, if the almighty Black Ops can do it, so could you!
Again, thanks for your time, and thank you for reading. See you next mission (er....house, whatever)
- Martin Joseph Keating III
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