Summary
Slitterhead’s recent gameplay reveal got a lot of people talking. The game’s unique combination of visceral high-octane ultraviolence, OVA-inspired bio-horror, and pulpy manga character design helped set it apart from other horror announcements at this year’s Summer Game Fest, and the game’s setting—the fictional city of Kowlong, inspired by Kowloon Walled City in late 20th century Hong Kong—promises a locale unlike anything else in horror. Despite all this, it was the reveal ofSlitterhead’sSiren-inspired possession mechanic that really stood out.
Playing the role of Hyoki, a disembodied supernatural parasite who can enter and control living creatures, players are tasked with using the bodies of Kowlong’s civilians to hunt down and destroy the parasitic Yegouzi hiding within the city. With little regard for the safety of the city’s civilians—the player is expected to possess a civilian, use it to fight monsters, then discard it for a new host when the current one is too damaged to continue—the ruthless nature ofSlitterhead’s possession mechanic really helps sell the idea ofplaying as a non-human entitywith little regard for the lives of the surrounding humans.
While alienating the player from the citizens of Kowlong works thematically, the lack of moral consideration for the game’s NPCs runs the risk of letting the player see behind the curtain. While the idea of Kowlong’s civilians merely being a resource definitely emphasizes Hyoki’s distance from humanity,Bokeh Game Studioneeds to be careful that this doesn’t also distance the player from the game’s world. NPCs might be a resource, but they still need to feel alive in order for using them as a resource to remain dark and disturbing.
Beyond humans, theSlitterheadgameplay traileralso showcases Hyoki taking possession of a dog. While Bokeh Game Studios has not yet announced other animal possessions, the ability to possess Kowlong’s rats, pigeons, and stray cats could definitely add another layer of depth to the mechanic.
Thankfully, a number of games have already found solutions to controllable NPCs feeling like lifeless and generic computer code. Most recently,Watch Dogs: Legion’s ‘recruit any NPC’ approachused a set of random variables to generate an almost endless series of NPCs for the player to recruit—from human-statues prone to heart attacks, to suburban moms with a secret penchant for hacking and infiltration. A little backstory goes a long way.
Taking things one step further than many other games, the citizens of Kowlong have all been hand-crafted, with each of the city’s controllable inhabitants being given unique backstories and character traits by theSlitterheaddev team. The game’s director,Keiichiro Toyama, has discussed how each NPC in the game will feel unique, moving and attacking differently based on their backstory. In a recent interview with IGN, Toyama discussed how, at one point in the game, players will be able to possess and control a homeless man who used to be a professional boxer, and the character’s movement and fighting ability will reflect that backstory.
Slitterheadis not anopen-world game; instead it is split up into a number of ‘stages’, each approximately 30 minutes in length. With the game being split up into various stages, Bokeh Game Studio has been able to curate a finite number of unique NPCs within any given environment—rather than having to create systems to generate an endless number of characters within an expansive open world environment. This should hopefully allow each controllable NPC to still feel meaningfully alive, despite being used primarily as a resource for combat.
There’s still a lot that gamers have yet to find out about Bokeh Game Studio’s upcoming action-horror adventure, but players won’t have to wait too long to dive into Kowlong and discover its secrets for themselves.Slitterheadis set to release on November 8. In the meantime,Slitterhead’sWatch Dogs Legion-style player vessels are a clear selling point.
Slitterhead
WHERE TO PLAY
Set in the densely cluttered streets of “Kowlong,” filled with obscurity and chaos, this battle action-adventure game casts players as the “Hyoki,” an entity devoid of memory and physical form. His only motive is to eradicate the monstrous beings known as “Slitterheads” crawling around the city, disguising themselves as humans.Roaming the vibrant neon-lit cityscape, players must seek out allies among humans known as “Rarities,” infiltrate and track dangerous organizations, and engage in battles harnessing the power of blood. As the suspenseful drama unfolds, delve into the mystery behind Hyoki’s existence and the appearance of the Slitterheads.
