Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond
Available for Xbox 360 (XBLA), PlayStation 3 (PSN)
Game Developer: Vicious Cycle Software
Game Publisher: D3Publisher
Release Date: January 6, 2010
Official Website: www.d3publisher.us
Review Summary:
Whether or not you like platforming games, Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond provides an excellent challenge while providing a few laughs from cheesy lines to some hilarious references from popular games such as BioShock, Mario Bros., Mirror’s Edge and more. Despite having some control issues regarding the aiming, Matt Hazard is worth the challenge at a $10 price (or 800 Microsoft Points).
Rating: 3.25 out of 5
Read the full review below. Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond review In Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond, you play as Matt Hazard, blasting through hundreds of references to popular games such as Mirror’s Edge, Super Mario Bros., BioShock, Team Fortress, and more. The objective of the game is to recover Matt Hazard’s 8-bit former past. While searching for your 8-bit self, you will encounter a variety of jokes. They only seem to be funny if the game is making fun of its previous game, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, or some of the ending bosses. Each level takes about 10-20 minutes to complete with a total of eight levels to play, making the game about a few hours if you are good at it. I learned by the end of the second level that choosing the medium difficulty was going a bit steep as it seemed to take forever to finally make it to the ending boss and beat it. I would highly recommend choosing the easiest difficulty possible when starting the game to avoid being stuck on a level for a few days. The developers really seemed to put a lot of effort into making sure that the easy level of difficulty still provides quite a bit of challenge. This game does have a co-op mode which is what I feel the medium and hard difficulties are designed for, as you do need a friend to help beat some of the bosses considering the ridiculous amount of health each boss has at the end of each level.
In terms of feel, it almost felt like I was playing a mixture of the latest downloadable game Shadow Complex and Contra. You go along shooting from left to right, destroying any enemies that get in your way. In terms on control, I think the game could have used a bit of work. The most noticeable control flaw is the manual and automatic aim. The ‘manual aim’ allows you to stay in one spot and fire at enemies while aiming in a more precise mode using the left thumbstick. The aiming is incredibly hard to maneuver and it almost feels like this is something that should have been replaced by the right thumbstick. The ‘automatic aim’ can be infuriating a times as well. The downside to using automatic aim is that you can’t shoot down unless you are airborne. The game developers did put a few enemies underneath some of the floors you walk on, making it difficult to kill the enemies below you.
Level design in the game is simply amazing. As mentioned before, the majority of the levels you play are based on popular videos games. The first level you play has many BioShock references, from facing weird Big Daddy figures and running around in a boat with a design very similar to those found in BioShock. Another level features a few Mirror’s Edge references, such as the buildings being white with red boxes showing you where to jump from platform to platform.
The variety of weapons you have to choose from are actually quite good. From having an ice-gun to freeze your enemies to a rocket launcher for blasting your enemies away. After you kill a few enemies, you can unlock a mode called "Hazard Mode," which makes you immune to damage and gives you increased weapon power for a short period of time. This makes the game more exciting to play. For example, if you are holding a rocket launcher and enable the Hazard mode, you will be firing three rockets instead of one so you can destroy enemies faster. A select bunch of enemies chosen throughout the level will drop the same weapon every time, whether it be the Rocket launcher, Mini-gun, Laser, or a re-supply of grenades. That said, it does help you to get through the game if you are dying a fair amount.
Despite the difficulty being a little on the hard side and some of the aim being a little off, this game is still quite a fun and exciting game to play, especially with all of the video game references. If you are a fan of platform games, I would highly recommend checking this game out. The clever bosses, stunning level design, and variety of weapons for you to choose from just make the game that more exciting.
The Good:
– Creative level design
- Some replay value
The Bad:
– Controls can use some work
– Few good jokes
The Neutral:
– Difficulty is quite hard and does provide quite the challenge
###
Thank you to D3Publisher for making this review possible.
