Slain- into the Pandemonium

Into the Pandemonium

It’s no secret that I harbour somewhat old-school proclivities when it comes to which games tickle my nads in the most pleasing and sado-masochistic fashion. Give me a copy of any of the 2D Castlevania games, Ghouls n Ghosts, or something plucked from the Soulsborne series and I’m at home on a gnarled throne. There’s something about the uncompromising brutality of these games, their airtight controls and their bleak yet beautiful aesthetics that resonate with me in a way that few other titles can manage. So with From Software promising no new souls games, Capcom long having abandoned the Ghouls franchise and Konami doing their best to ram ‘Vania into a pachinko shaped coffin then I really must slump to a wearied knee and give praise to Wolf Brew Games for their love letter to these paragons in the guise of ‘Slain-Back from Hell’.

Originally funded via Kickstarter and released to a slew of negative reviews in early 2016, the developers chose not to take to twitter in a series of prolonged slanging matches and instead took the criticism onboard, re-tooled and re-released the game several months later with tweaked mechanics. This admirable approach wound up largely placating the disgruntled as well as winning new converts along the way and should serve as an object lesson in effectively dealing with criticism with leathery thick skin and busy fingers that other developers should aspire to.

On my radar for quite some time, the game had called to me due to its classic art style and touted soundtrack by ‘former Celtic Frost member’ (sadly not Tom or Martin), so when I recently stumbled upon a physical boxed copy of the PS4 version, I snatched it in my spiked gauntlets, hailed Satan, and braced myself for a teeth-grindingly good time.

The first thing that will strike you upon booting up the game (apart from the merciful lack of four hour patch downloads) are the visuals. The word ‘sumptuous’ springs to mind as hyper stylised pixel art and lovingly fluid animations are complemented by dazzling particle effects atop rich multiple layers of parallax scrolling.

Every screen is like an 80’s heavy metal album cover in motion, replete with viscera, chains, wolves, witches, skulls, fire and blood. It should come with a warning sticker from the PMRC and a patch to sew onto your sleeveless denim jacket…. Or get your mum to sew onto your sleeveless denim jacket.

It’s often said that the best retro inspired games pull off the much vaunted trick of conjuring what your minds-eye remembers the sixteen bit games of your youth as looking like back when they were the pinnacle of cutting edge, blasting the pimples off your dizzied face as you entered your initials.  Slain manages this in spades. It speaks of an alternative universe where the Saturn captured the zeitgeist to pave the way instead of Sony’s polygonal pitch and it left me a little slack jawed and grinning from ear to ear.

The music (by Curt Victor Bryant, guitarist on…ugh…Cold Lake) fits these bloodied brooding vistas like a studded wristband and despite a lack of variety, manages to conjure up the perfect atmosphere for this jaunt into mythology and the netherworld. Doomy guitars and pounding toms abound, spiralling sinister from your speakers as they mesh with the splinter and crunch of the sound effects, bringing the visceral weight of the combat to life. And there’s plenty of combat.

Gameplay hinges on platforming staples with a heavy debt to games like Symphony of the Night (although significantly more linear) and Dark Souls ilk Salt and Sanctuary (although significantly more forgiving). The parrying mechanic is paramount, with well-timed blocks leaving opponents open for a devastating riposte which is ultra-satisfying each and every time you pull it off. Deflecting projectiles, charged attacks, a SOTN inspired backstep and elemental weapons round out your arsenal, which whilst never expansive, also never feels limited thanks to the tightness of the design. Each level is a one way gauntlet where old school tactics such as pattern memorisation and sheer reflexes are your sharpest tools. It’s unashamedly arcade style fun, with a handful of secrets strewn throughout to encourage replay but ultimately its simplicity is its strength. And it flexes like a Norse god.

A perfect companion to other recent throwbacks like Maldita Castilla, the sumptuous Shantae games, and the mighty Shovel Knight, Slain promises an afternoon Dante would relish. Bathed in blood and shaded by twilight, your journey will be brief but bountiful. Bosses are plentiful and enemy variety is high with each new area introducing new foes, new traps and new attacks to decode, all whilst teaching you the importance of new mechanics via their patterns and design. It’s intuitive, it never drags, it never meanders, it never falters. It will piss you off though. But as with all games that ram your face so gleefully into the muck, it promises elation as each hurdle is bested. And busted.

Hail Bathoryn. Hail Slain. Blood, Fire, Death. Play it in your leather pants.

Andi Lennon