Slitterhead review: Silent Hill creator’s latest aims high, misses the mark

When a lauded creator goes independent to create their ain project, nan results are ever fascinating. More importantly, they’re typically rather weird. We’ve antecedently seen this pinch games for illustration Death Stranding, but Slitterhead is nan latest introduction into that eccentric pantheon.

Slitterhead is simply a caller action scary crippled from Keiichiro Toyama, nan head down classics for illustration nan first Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush. What Toyama’s squad astatine Bokeh Game Studio has created is dissimilar thing other I’ve played before. Slitterhead is imperfect, arsenic its action gameplay doesn’t wholly deed nan mark, and Bokeh’s ambition seemed to beryllium a small bigger than what it could execute arsenic an independent workplace moving connected its first game.

I don’t regret playing Slitterhead, though, arsenic it’s nan benignant of funky, imaginative acquisition you only get from creators who are not worried astir holding thing backmost now that they’re connected their own.

The rhythm of violence

In Slitterhead, players power a tone sent backmost successful clip and trapped successful an eternal conflict pinch bug-like creatures called Slitterheads that eat people’s brains and past person them arsenic mimics. The characteristic designs of these Slitterheads are each outstanding, arsenic is Akira Yamaoka’s soundtrack. With Siren, Toyama showed adeptness astatine creating a nonlinear narrative, and Slitterhead is rather akin successful that manner, arsenic each of its missions are group crossed nan span of 3 days.

It’s shooting for nan stars, but can’t rather get there.

Slitterhead’s communicative is nonlinear successful position of erstwhile events return spot connected nan game’s timelines, and its levels often loop backmost successful connected themselves. That tin get repetitive, but this attack leads to immoderate unexpected twists arsenic players study much astir nan tone (eventually named Night Owl), nan Slitterhead threat, and nan “Rarity” humans pinch typical powers that Night Owl possesses. Like The Last of Us Part 2, Slitterhead is yet a communicative astir cycles of unit and really innocents tin beryllium caught successful nan crossfire of those struggles.

Night Owl has nary problem jumping assemblage to assemblage for its individual gain. After letting players wallow successful those mechanics for immoderate time, Slitterhead yet takes a measurement backmost and critiques that successful a thought-provoking way. By nan extremity of nan adventure, I genuinely came to attraction for immoderate of nan Rarity humans arsenic Night Owl did, and I recovered myself jumping to nan bodies of random civilians less.

Slitterhead’s communicative is yet held backmost by its accumulation value. The crippled is not afloat voiced, but presents its speech for illustration it is. While this is apt a fund constraint for an independent studio, focusing connected written speech astatine nan bottommost of nan surface successful nan mediate of a conflict could beryllium tough. Some moments could person had much affectional effect if they were afloat voiced and not conscionable backed by a grunt audio clip. That’s emblematic of Slitterhead astatine large: it’s shooting for nan stars, but can’t rather get there.

Body-hopping scary action

Slitterhead is not a endurance scary crippled for illustration Silent Hill aliases Siren. This is simply a full-on action crippled pinch elements of assemblage scary arsenic players way down and termination nan titular monsters. Sometimes, these creatures will return nan inaugural and onslaught players; astatine different times, they will tally distant erstwhile spotted. I enjoyed chasing down Slitterheads, intensely hopping from assemblage to assemblage to support up pinch them arsenic they jumped crossed rooftops, down to thoroughfare level, and tried to get retired of sight. If they did, I past had to sightjack their perspective, Siren-style, and discern wherever they were successful nan situation to footwear disconnected nan pursuit again.

It’s a emotion I’ve only gotten from superhero games pinch chases for illustration Batman: Arkham Knight aliases Marvel’s Spider-Man, and nan 1 standout facet of Slitterhead’s gameplay. Eventually, nan enemies I chased did get backed into a area and transformed into massive, bug-like creatures for maine to return down. In these moments, Slitterhead’s attack to combat does not ever salary off.

Bokeh Game Studio

There’s not overmuch combat extent successful nan measurement of combos because nan thought successful Slitterhead is that players will beryllium hopping from assemblage to assemblage to onslaught nan creatures from different angles. Each quality nan Night Owl possesses creates a “blood weapon” to conflict pinch and tin usage typical abilities astatine nan costs of their health. Rarities person moreover much powerful abilities and passive buffs, making them overmuch much effective than a random quality disconnected nan street.

This body-hopping combat surely isn’t for illustration thing I’ve played, but its novelty wears bladed arsenic fighting doesn’t consciousness very good. Slitterhead lacks a precise lock-on system, only focusing connected an force erstwhile players clasp down nan near trigger to take sides aliases queue up a typical ability. It’s imaginable to deflect force attacks, but that’s ne'er really basal connected normal difficulty, and nan timing of erstwhile nan deflect parameter appears is off. Fights tin besides beryllium cheesed pinch definite Rarity abilities connected normal difficulty. The action not emotion awesome successful a scary action crippled is surely a large reddish flag.

Repetitive to a fault

Slitterhead’s gameplay yet does succumb to its repetitiveness. Although nan communicative is intriguing, its chases are exhilarating, and body-hopping during combat is novel, nan second 2 things don’t germinate passim nan crippled arsenic nan communicative does. Yes, I sewage entree to caller Rarities pinch different abilities, but nan strategies of nan Slitterheads I was fighting didn’t alteration much.

Over time, I besides discovered definite Rarities were amended than others, truthful I startted picking unsocial duos to bring into each level pinch me. Then, those levels were conscionable strings of nan aforesaid kinds of Slitterhead fights repeatedly, only occasionally breaking shape for a unsocial group portion aliases cinematic. Considering that nan combat itself already wasn’t rather that polished, I started to person little and little nosy arsenic Slitterhead dragged on.

Bokeh Game Studio

Despite those qualms, I admit Slitterhead’s boldness and nan truth that it’s not rather for illustration thing I’ve played before. That consciousness of novelty motivated maine to spot wherever nan escapade goes next. I’m funny to spot others’ analyses of Slitterhead’s story, and I dream nan ideas that this crippled introduces pinch its nonlinear building and body-hopping gameplay are expounded upon successful early games.

Slitterhead mightiness not execute its imagination successful a polished aliases refined manner, but I commend Bokeh’s efforts. We request this industry’s brightest minds to support experimenting pinch caller ideas and attempting to push gaming forward. Those efforts tin sometimes beryllium highly flawed, arsenic they are here, but they besides thrust arsenic an creator mean to caller heights. Toyama’s latest doesn’t unrecorded up to nan precocious barroom of Silent Hill aliases Siren, but it’s conscionable arsenic creatively inspired arsenic those classics. That’s why I’m still happy that this crippled sewage made — moreover if it’s not very good.

Slitterhead was tested connected Xbox Series X pinch a codification provided by nan publisher.