The most sinister clown of recent years is back to water with pixelated blood the stages of a questionable beat 'em up.
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For some time now, the Terrifier movie saga has become a cult object for an entire generation, similar to what happened in other eras with films featuring Freddy Krueger, Jason, or the iconic Ash.
In the case of this title, the gore is much more pronounced than in the examples mentioned in stories that revolve around the clown Art; who finally appears in the world of video games with a title far from the genre in which a debut was expected, as the people from Relevo decided on a bloody beat ’em up that moves away from the stories of the films with a different proposal.
The title tells the story of a studio that seeks to monetize the long list of crimes of the clown by making a movie about the events, so Art and his henchmen decide to take matters into their own hands and start a merciless massacre on the film sets and surrounding areas.
Join me to explore a true revenge adventure that you may want to end as soon as possible.
Technical Section
Pixel art is always a good proposal for decorating the graphics section, in fact, in the horror genre itself, we’ve seen games like Evil Dead that boast this theme impeccably. In the case of Terrifier: The ARTcade game, a very good design of sprites is appreciated, mainly in the main characters, and the more exaggerated design of the enemies, which reminds a lot of the graphics of some of the latest Double Dragon, suits it very well.
The scenarios are something much weaker, I felt them absurdly repetitive and very class B, which I understand refers to the aesthetic of the films, but honestly, they didn’t quite fit in any way. Another negative point is that there are only about 8 variants of enemies (not counting the level bosses) which doesn’t help to avoid the feeling of repetitiveness.
A good aesthetic option is the implementation of two filters, one that simulates the wear of the magnetic tape on a VHS and the other the lines of the monitor on those legendary tube screens. Both options are very good, particularly the VHS one, but they can also be removed at the player’s discretion. Another touch that added points to the visual section is that the screen gets stained with blood and sometimes splashes with some part of an enemy’s body that hangs in the foreground for a few seconds.
The music has interesting elements like some metal riffs, but they repeat in an endless loop in each scenario, following the game’s tendency to repeat from its conception, which will make the player get tired sooner rather than later. The rest of the sounds manage to conform with some better effects than others.
The title is localized in Spanish in its Iberian variant, although there are parts of the interface that were not translated, I don’t quite understand what the reason for that was, that being said, the dialogues, the story, and the main elements were carried over to our language.
Gameplay
I’ve said it several times on the web, but the truth is that the beat ’em up genre has flourished again in recent years with the support of great games that quickly became modern standards representing the new era of “me against the neighborhood” of all time, cases like TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge or Streets of Rage 4 are the first that come to mind for fans of this type of production.
Unfortunately, Terrifier: The ARTcade Game does not enter this category of great examples. The reasons for this are several, one is the combat that results in a very slow, predictable, and basic experience from the start. The controls respond to a standard attack that seeks to initiate the combo and a strong attack button. The combination of these two variants creates some variation along with the possibility of running and jumping, but that’s where it ends. Another special attack opens the door to the possibility of taking out several enemies at once (although it doesn’t always fulfill that function) and delivering a finishing blow to defeated enemies is the only thing that adds some original component to the structure, although the novelty wears off quickly, even when trying with each of the selectable characters.
In addition, a creative variant that adds a certain flavor to the movies is that to recharge energy, you can kill innocent people without reason who are standing around in the scenarios, it’s not nice, but at least it’s an original option.
If the game offers the possibility of facing it with four different characters, the options feel quite similar and finally, it’s possible that anyone who plays will end up selecting Art over the other possibilities, simply because he is the most balanced character.
The final bosses of each section represent different members of the film production team, which is something interesting; the problem is that the enemies have a very simple and little varied attack pattern, even some become frustrating due to the specific moment when they must be attacked, such as Damien Leone, the final boss, to mention one.
Duration
The game can be completed without much difficulty in about two and a half hours, and while it’s extremely short for current standards, even for the genre, this time is more than enough for a title that feels extremely repetitive from the first 15 minutes.
Conclusion
I’m not a fan of the saga, I think someone who follows the character will have a better view of the game from the point of view of affection for the movies, but speaking from impartiality, I must say that Terrifier: The Artcade Game feels short and repetitive from the start, something that seems like an impossible thing to happen and yet it happens.
Add to this conclusion the fact that the combat, the very soul of the genre, is quite dull and takes place in levels that are very forgettable. To summarize, if you’re a fan of the franchise, you might be encouraged to have a playable memory, but if you’re not interested in the clown and you’re a fan of the genre, there are many better options to choose from, even some not so well-known.
Translator and video game localiser with a passion for retro titles and simulators. He has never let go of a controller since he was given an Atari 2600. He collaborates with different developers in the localisation of their titles into Spanish through Camelot Translations.
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