Splatterhouse

 PlayStation 3
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 96 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 63 out of 96
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 96
  3. Negative: 6 out of 96
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. davygravy93
    Sep 7, 2022
    6
    A pretty good hack n slash if you pretend the horrible 2d platforming sections don't exist.
  2. Wrath_4givnez
    Mar 14, 2013
    7
    A fun, if flawed, game. Behold one of the more anticipated attempts at breathing life into a long dead and forgotten franchise. Did it succeed? Well, aside from it's sales, it entirely depends on your taste. If you were the kind of fan who honestly believed that the Splatterhouse series was more of a survival horror game, you'll be sorely disappointed. Those who saw it as a throwback toA fun, if flawed, game. Behold one of the more anticipated attempts at breathing life into a long dead and forgotten franchise. Did it succeed? Well, aside from it's sales, it entirely depends on your taste. If you were the kind of fan who honestly believed that the Splatterhouse series was more of a survival horror game, you'll be sorely disappointed. Those who saw it as a throwback to cheesy "gore"ror movies like Evil Dead would be pleased with this. You play as Rick Taylor, your average dorky collage student who struck it lucky by falling in love with Jenny Willis, a girl WAY out of his league. Rick and her are on their way to the "West Mansion" to get an interview with Dr. West about necrobiology. Rick believes this is the perfect time to propose, but before he can bring out the ring, they are ambushed by monsters, mortally wounding Rick and kidnapping Jenny. With his dying breath, Rick reaches out to an evil looking Terror Mask (which promises him a way to save Jenny), and puts it on.

    This is where the nitty gritty of the game starts. It's your job to kill. A lot. Blood is your currency, and your foes have it. Either pummel monsters to death with your bare fists, smack them around with an assortment of blunt instruments, cut them up with chipped and worn meat cleavers, or rip them apart with your Berserker Mode. And while the combat can be very VERY fun and satisfying, the lack in variety of enemies, the repeated combat scenarios, and the limited grabs can make the game seem a little more shallow than it is. Not to mention the final "event" in the game (in place of a real boss battle) is rather disappointing. This game is a bit of a niche title, so if you aren't into beat-em-ups in a horror environment, then this really isn't for you.

    The downsides are that the camera can be a and a half, and there are a few glitches in the game (mostly texture glitches, but nothing really gamebreaking).

    The story is shallow, but interesting. It's not just a "save the princess/world" plot. Every now and then (just enough to be relevant), it goes into a bit of a psychological delve into both Rick and Dr. West. With Rick, while he acts like an upstanding guy, he eventually quickly enjoys the power that he's given, and even confesses a few of his personal demons (such as cheating on Jennifer with a guy... no, I'm serious. Rick is Bi, which I think hasn't been done before in a linear story like this) to the evil spirit that was goading him into giving into his darker desires (all in the name of vengeance, of course). Meanwhile, Dr. West is a madman that really didn't start out that way. He was an honest scientist that wanted to explore the benefits of necrology and black magic, for the good of humanity, but the forces of evil, circumstance, and the easily frightened townsfolk of his hometown (Arkham) changed his view, and started him on his path to release a genocidal evil all in the attempt to try to bring back his lost love. The only downside is it's sequel hook for a sequel that will, regrettably, will never come.

    If you are a fan of metal, you may like the soundtrack to this game. A fair list of artists came to input their music into this game, and it fit's with it's over the top "gory monster fest" tone...

    It definitely feels like a casual game. You'll most likely knock a full playthrough in 7 hours, more or less. To more advanced players, i suggest playing on the hardest available difficulty to get a bit more of a challange, especially out of the faster and bigger enemies, as well as the bosses. HOWEVER, if you're feeling up to it, beating certain parts of the game unlocks the original 3 Splatterhouse games (one at a time). They ARE difficult, and they ARE a good 4-6 hours of gameplay EACH, for first timers, at least... maybe even longer (due to deaths and retries).

    For someone looking for a violent and cheesy good time, that pokes fun at itself more often than not and that has various references to horror titles of yesteryear. it's worth a buy, especially now considering the likely drop in price. To fans of Splatterhouse, it's also worth a buy. Most other people should give it a rent/borrow/ buy it used for $10 or something, and anyone looking for a serious game should probably go looking somewhere else.    … Expand
  3. Alex_Pilgrim008
    Aug 15, 2023
    7
    This ultra-gory reboot is an underrated hack 'n slash. It's basically an update of the old games with a "God of War" - type slant. As you progress, you'll upgrade attack moves, discover hidden collectibles, earn in-game achievements and equip melee weapons/firearms. The story mode is a lengthy mix of 3D brawling and 2D platforming segments. Five survival horde maps and the original threeThis ultra-gory reboot is an underrated hack 'n slash. It's basically an update of the old games with a "God of War" - type slant. As you progress, you'll upgrade attack moves, discover hidden collectibles, earn in-game achievements and equip melee weapons/firearms. The story mode is a lengthy mix of 3D brawling and 2D platforming segments. Five survival horde maps and the original three games are also included. I would rate this with a 7.7 out of 10.… Expand
  4. Onask
    Oct 7, 2018
    7
    Juego muy sólido y muy castigado por la crítica profesional.

    Un gameplay muy satisfactorio, con litros de sangre y vísceras por doquier, un estilo artístico muy llamativo (con un cierto aire lovecraftiano) y ciertas secciones en 2D que recordarán a los más veteranos a los clásicos de las recreativas de finales de los 80/ principios de los 90.

    Recomendado.
  5. elolugo
    Nov 23, 2021
    7
    Fun beat em up. Really cheesy difficulty. It seems that devs wanted to extend gameplay by preparing surprises for you to die a lot.

    Recommended if youre a fan of gore, violence and heavy metal
  6. ULTRAPARANOID
    Jan 24, 2020
    7
    "I love this ride!"

    I mean, this game is awesome. I played it much times on PS3 and X360, and 100% completed this on both platforms. The gore looks amazing. Best voice work I've ever heard. Jim Cummings as Terror Mask is incredible! (Winnie-the-Pooh **** you all the time -- what could be better?) Fighting mechanics are great -- beating and slashing are really enjoyable, and splatterkills    "I love this ride!"

    I mean, this game is awesome. I played it much times on PS3 and X360, and 100% completed this on both platforms. The gore looks amazing. Best voice work I've ever heard. Jim Cummings as Terror Mask is incredible! (Winnie-the-Pooh **** you all the time -- what could be better?)

    Fighting mechanics are great -- beating and slashing are really enjoyable, and splatterkills are beautiful, but them not enough.

    Graphics are good. Comic style is cool. But last levels of the game looks bad -- the lighting is awful. In the dark corners it looks very beautiful, but in the open air it sucks.

    The story is good, and unfinished. Now we know why Dr. West is a **** and why he kidnapped Jen, and how the Mask found Rick. It's bad that's we will never see the second part of this game. It have some perspectives. Refereces are great -- horror movies and Lovecraft's stories that added with fan love -- from horror fans to horror fans.

    I love this game, really. But bugs and other flaws are prevent me from rating above 7. It's a good project and great remake, I think you must try it at least once.

    X360 version looks better than PS3 version. You can install the game on your system and it will be work faster and better. But sometimes (I don't know why) this game may be crashed. After 2 phases it may lagged, and you will need restart your system. It happens, but very rarely, and yeah, on both systems.    … Expand
  7. JamesDrawsThngs
    Jul 22, 2020
    7
    If ever one were to ask me what I would consider to be an underrated gem, my mind almost immediately thinks about this game. What was meant to be a hard-hitting, gruesome reboot of the classic Splatterhouse franchise ending up battered and scarred through a tumultuous development cycle, and raked through the coals by most major publications. Make no mistake, Splatterhouse 2010 is as jankIf ever one were to ask me what I would consider to be an underrated gem, my mind almost immediately thinks about this game. What was meant to be a hard-hitting, gruesome reboot of the classic Splatterhouse franchise ending up battered and scarred through a tumultuous development cycle, and raked through the coals by most major publications. Make no mistake, Splatterhouse 2010 is as jank as they come. Most criticisms that are levied against the game are completely justifiable. However, purely from my own experience with the game, I still had a blast playing it, and given the hell the developers went through to try and finish it, I'm surprised it released as well as it did.

    Much of my critiques are levied against the game's technical issues. The first thing you will likely notice is the game's performance. It's just barely able to squeeze out 30 fps on a good day, but the second large amounts of blood and particle effects show up, that's when it starts to chug along. The general graphics themselves are also pretty rough. As far as the general presentation is concerned, often it does a poor job of conveying to players exactly what can and cannot be interactive, leading to a few cheap deaths. This specifically applies to sections where Rick is meant to interact with white-highlighted objects that he can climb on. The highlight is not nearly strong enough for players to immediately notice, and this especially applies to the rooftop areas where it is far too bright and saturated, making it far more frustrating than it realistically should have been. The overall graphical presentation itself is just as rough. While I certainly dig the cel-shaded approach, it certainly has its fair share of graphical pop-ins and just general muddy textures (though one could easily argue that adds to the grimy, bloody atmosphere). The audio design also takes a hit with either delayed or missing sound effects. There's also the infamous load times which, while not quite as egregious as, say, Sonic '06, does start to get irritating since the game is quite difficult in a few areas (a lot of it stemming from the aforementioned environmental cues).

    Stepping a way from technical issues, the game simply leaves people with a bad first impression. The game does a terrible job of teaching players the mechanics of the game, whether it be because tutorial text faintly appears on screen for a few seconds, or an incredibly helpful healing mechanic is not immediately made known and you end up dying continuously in just the first couple of areas. It's also very easy for Rick to get stuck in a stun lock and within a few hits you're already a pile on the floor. A hearty challenge is one thing. Shoddy programming is another. The game also throws in these 2-D segments once in a while as throwbacks to the classics. While neat and concept (and actually pretty fun for the most part), the game's physics and controls do not compensate for the change in perspective, making the platforming in these moments incredibly stiff, once again leading to unfair deaths.

    With all that said, why do I still enjoy this game? Well, because once you start to get into a groove and working around all the quirks, it's a solid beat-'em up at its core. Your moveset is incredibly basic starting out, but as you progress you'll gain access to bigger, more devastating special attacks, longer streams of combos and much needed improvements to health regeneration. Once you make your way past the first couple of levels, the combat starts to become legitimately satisfying. Adding to your devastating moveset are the occasional weapons you find lying around, ranging from nail-crusted 2X4s to pipes to shotguns. Fragile as they are, they can pack a punch and really help you out in a pinch. While some of the early levels don't leave you with the best impression, levels like the meat factory and carnival are some of the best parts of the game being equal parts creative and fun. And while the 2-D sections have their control issues, most of the time I found them to be fun switch-ups from the regular gameplay loop. There are also a couple of collectables you can discover in the base game, most notably the first three classic Splatterhouse games and some very...personal photos of Rick's girlfriend Jennifer.

    By far, though, the biggest surprise I got from this game was its emphasis on story. Not only that, but there was real, genuine effort put into it. It helps to flesh out the universe of the series and adds an interesting dynamic between Rick and the terror mask. The voice acting is also incredibly solid, with Jim Cummings and Josh Keaton being the highlights.

    Really, the best way to describe this game is simply, "rough around the edges". If you are willing to look past the game's technical shortcomings, you'll find a damn solid action game underneath. If your a fan of this style of game, or are just a sucker for gore and metal, I'd say this is worth a look.    … Expand
  8. grantjackson112
    Aug 30, 2023
    6
    This game starts out pretty fun in the beginning but drops off hard. The story is very forgettable and the gameplay becomes repetitive. The biggest thing that bothered was the weapon system. You can't hold weapons in an inventory and the weapons break... so most of the game your are smashing everything like the HULK with your hands. So, the take down animations... they become fun at firstThis game starts out pretty fun in the beginning but drops off hard. The story is very forgettable and the gameplay becomes repetitive. The biggest thing that bothered was the weapon system. You can't hold weapons in an inventory and the weapons break... so most of the game your are smashing everything like the HULK with your hands. So, the take down animations... they become fun at first until you realize there are only 8-10 takedowns in the entire game. Each take down animation takes roughly 5-7 seconds to finish and when there's 20 enemies surrounding you it prolongs the game and becomes redundant. I found myself wanting to finish SplatterHouse as fast as possible and just get it over with. It feels like the developers did the same thing. They must've made the game as fast as possible because it does not feel like a full game. There is lots of wasted potential and it feels like an extremely rushed product. I almost forgot to mention the frame rate issues too...my god is it horrible. I think this game would've benefited greatly if it was released 3-4 years later on PS4 and XBOX 1 or at least backwards compatible for either system. The biggest pro of the game is the graphics, easily some of the best graphics and art design of any game from 2010.

    Overall I'd give this game a 6 for the PS3 port. If it was released on new gen consoles without awful frame rate i'd give it a 7.5    … Expand
  9. dl_MARFI_lb
    Jun 28, 2022
    7
    This is one of the best slashers of all time, but the optimization is very bad, this is because I rate it 7/10.

Awards & Rankings

44
#44 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2010
41
#41 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
59

Mixed or average reviews - based on 49 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 49
  3. Negative: 9 out of 49
  1. GamingTrend
    Feb 24, 2011
    66
    It's too bad that Splatterhouse couldn't be brought to this console generation and become a competitive franchise.
    Read full review
  2. Games Master UK
    Feb 18, 2011
    65
    Big, stupid and, at times, unpleasant. But despite that it can be gruesome fun. [Feb 2011, p.82]
  3. MEGamers
    Feb 16, 2011
    60
    In this day and age, there is no way a game like Splatterhouse could have the shock value it so obviously yearns for, not to mention that all the blood in the world couldn't cover up its various deficiencies.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »