Slitterhead Can’t Make the Same Mistakes as Ghostwire: Tokyo

by

Slitterhead Can't Make the Same Mistakes as Ghostwire: Tokyo

Highlights

  • Slitterhead, from Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, promises a mix of horror and action in a unique gameplay experience.
  • The game’s combat mechanics and possession abilities add a new dimension to traditional horror gameplay.
  • While leaning heavily into horror aspects, Slitterhead aims to differentiate itself by focusing on body horror and terrifying gameplay.

As a long-time fan of horror games and the works of Keiichiro Toyama, I’m both excited and a little apprehensive about Slitterhead. Having grown up playing Silent Hill and Siren, I’ve come to expect a certain level of psychological terror and unsettling atmosphere from Toyama’s creations. So, when the first trailers for Slitterhead showed off fast-paced combat and possession abilities, I was taken aback.

Keiichiro Toyama, the creator of “Silent Hill,” is launching his new studio, Bokeh Game Studio, with their first game titled “Slitterhead.” With Toyama’s background and initial promotions hinting at horror elements, fans anticipate a chilling experience featuring unsettling creature designs and a thought-provoking storyline.

Slitterhead seems to be stepping up the action instead of just sticking to horror elements, as suggested by its Summer Game Fest trailer. Initially, it appeared to follow in the footsteps of Silent Hill or Siren. However, based on the comparison with Ghostwire: Tokyo, it now appears that the game will share more similarities with action-horror titles. Both games are set in urban Japanese locations saturated with neon lights and infested with malevolent spirits. Interestingly, both games have been promoted similarly; Ghostwire: Tokyo was initially marketed as a horror game but later turned out to be an open-world FPS with horror elements. Slitterhead could potentially follow this trend.

Hopefully, Slitterhead Won’t Lose Sight of Its Horror Elements

Slitterhead Is Looking More and More Like an Action Game

During this summer, the trailer for the game “Slitterhead” unveiled its distinctive mechanics with an intriguing flair. In the horror genre, known for its focus on atmosphere, narrative, and terrifying adversaries, these innovative gameplay elements came as a refreshing surprise. The players are given the ability to inhabit multiple characters, each with their distinct shapeshifting capabilities and combat techniques. The footage in the trailer highlighted an engaging and quick-moving combat system that seems essential for perfecting various melee skills and the possession mechanic to overcome the game’s gruesome foes.

The game appears intriguing yet not necessarily terrifying based on the gameplay footage. Contrastingly, the game’s unveiling in 2021 presented Toyama’s past works, specifically “Silent Hill,” and labeled “Slitterhead” as a new horror endeavor. This implies that it would be a horror game. However, similar to “Ghostwire: Tokyo,” the promotion initially emphasized fear elements before disclosing it was more of an action game with horror themes instead.

Some gamers were left feeling let down by the lack of significant horror elements in “Ghostwire” as advertised, despite the possibility that “Slitterhead” could still deliver frightening experiences, despite its focus on combat. While it’s true that combat and horror can coexist, games like “Outlast” may lead some to believe otherwise. However, granting players too much power or making them overly focused on reaction time and flashy moves, as seen in “Devil May Cry,” could diminish the subtler elements of atmosphere and mood that horror games aim to evoke.

Marrying Slitterhead’s Action and Horror Elements

Many have argued that Slitterhead isn’t meant to be a horror game, but that is not exactly true. It’s extremely apparent, not only through the game’s approach to art direction but also through its marketing, that it is meant to lean heavily into horror aspects. At the same time, it can’t be denied that its combat is taking a front-row seat. But Slitterhead can differentiate itself from Ghostwire: Tokyo, which also puts players in the shoes of a superpowered protagonist, by keeping its eye on the bloody, gruesome ball.

An approach to rephrase the given text in a more natural and easy-to-read manner could be:

Read More

2024-07-23 18:33