Despite what Grammaw and Grampa say about the entertainment industry becoming increasingly dark and violent, as a hardcore gamer I cant help but see the coming Rise of Cute and look upon it with dread. Take a look at the state of our world: In movies, its common knowledge that PG-13 outsells R, and Disney and Pixar are in a deathmatch to see who can out-cute one another; in music, we lost our death-worshiping gangsta rappers and replaced them with male models who advertise the joys of owning X brand of Y product (and dont even get me started on the unending cycle of boy-bands); and in Japan we have... well, just look at the colorful, saccharine-sweet RPGs being made in a state of cultural isolation. To top it off, the status quo holds that Mass Effect is pornographic and Harry Potter is the epitome of evil.
Lets face it, Grandpa: The "good guys" have won, and now the world is in dire need of DARKNESS.
If art is supposed to help us see (and grapple with) our own dark side, then Splatterhouse is more than just a room-clearing button-masher. The player character wears some kind of evil death-mask, which conjures up images of faceless executioners and psychological studies stating that men can do anything when they lose their identity behind the protection of a mask. Hes brutally jacked-up on testosterone to the point where I dont think he even cares about his wardrobe (imagine any of the protagonists of Star Ocean 4 saying, "I think Ill just wear my comfortable gore-drenched cutoff jeans today"). But best of all, our Vorhees-inspired hero is going to be losing limbs during his one-man war. Losing limbs, regenerating limbs, tearing limbs off enemies, beating enemies with selfsame limbs. Instead of looking into a mirror and softly whimpering "Who am I?", this guy is going to be wading through fountains of gore and most likely never expressing any emotions outside of the strict limits of what is allowed to be felt when one is bashing something to a bloody pulp.
Namco, teach this world of sickening "goodness" what it really means to be a hero!
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