Silent Hill director's next game Slitterhead debuts early look at the monster-whacking
Plus a playable dog?
Two years ago, a team made up of former Silent Hill developers announced a horror game of their own called Slitterhead. The debut trailer was full of creepy shape-shifting monsters and evocative cityscapes, but relatively light on concrete details. We now have a clearer picture thanks to a recent dev diary that shows a few pre-alpha clips. Slitterhead seems to have a heavier focus on combat and a cute playable dog. Genuine shocker there.
In-game footage is scattered throughout the video, but the good stuff starts to show up at the 3-minute mark. Take a quick peek:
I certainly wasn’t expecting that much monster whacking, but who’s to complain when the enemies look that ugly? The glimpses at combat have our protag equipped with a bat, a gun, and at one point, sharp Freddy-Krueger-claws. There’s also some kind of supernatural ability that makes red energy seep up from the ground and restore the player’s health. Soaking up the blood of the dead perhaps? Are we the real monsters?
The creatures in Slitterhead seem to disguise themselves as normal-looking people, before opening their mouths and exposing their teeth. When the uglies do come out to play, they do so through slits in people’s heads. Hence the name. I haven’t quite worked out the playable dog’s purpose in all this.
Slitterhead comes from developer Bokeh Game Studio, which is made up of horror game veterans. That includes Keiichiro Toyama, who directed the original Silent Hill and a few Siren games. Siren’s concept artist Miki Takahashi and character designer Kazunobu Sato are on Slitterhead, too. Plus, the sick, bouncing soundtrack has none other than Silent Hill composer Akira Yamoka behind the decks.
Slitterhead doesn't have an official release window yet. Regardless, the team will have some competition now, as Konami have announced a slate of Silent Hill projects coming over the next few years.