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The Dishwasher Vampire Smile
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is the sequel
to “Dead Samurai” and shares the same stylized gameplay. This is a side
scrolling game. It is a violent blend of quick-paced game play with
stylistic dark graphics. This time, Ska studios kicked it up a notch and
delivered a very addicting game.
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is a unique
game. When you first walk into it, it takes you off guard. I truly was
not ready for this game and was very surprised at just how fun it was
from the very beginning. The story to it is somewhat confusing in the
beginning (as it was meant to be). You start in a prison in space that
you have to break out of. During your time, you have multiple cut in
scenes that bring you to, what it looks like, a medical hospital. The
whole game is filled it blood on the walls, body parts strewn about, and
signs or screens telling you how futile your efforts are to fight.
But your fighting is anything but futile.
Every slice, stab, blow, or kick sends your enemies flying or gushing
blood. Upon killing an enemy, his corpse normally explodes with blood,
covering the walls and floors. There are also finishers that you can
press either B or X to access. Each one of these finishers lobs off a
head or other body parts completely annihilating your enemy. It also
seems to restore some health back to you when you execute a perfect
finisher.
You can also fly. Yes, I said fly… Pressing the RS (Right Analog Stick)
will surge you forward, through walls or enemies in a cloud of smoke or,
depending on your character, a spray of blood. You can teleport or fly
through the air with this, and in combat, this Is your best ally. Being
able to teleport behind an enemy and unleash havoc on them really
quickens the games pace and helps deliver the action packed punch this
game contains.
The levels themselves
are well designed and are not easy to get lost in. Most of the time
there are arrows pointing up, down, left, or right to tell you which
directions to go. Even in the dreamlike hospital there’s at least arrows
painted in blood on the ground or walls to help you go where you need to
go. Surprisingly this didn’t take away from the game. In many other
games I have played that have very obvious directions on where to go
such as arrows and pointers, they seemed to take you out of the game
world and remind you, your just playing a game and there are set rule on
where to go. In this game, the arrows are the pointers to where more of
the heart-pounding action is!
Boss fights are hectic and crazy in the best possible way. However, on
medium, they were not very hard and I could complete the battle, they
all had special mechanics and they all really hurt. One boss in
particular spewed zombies all over the place filling the screen with
more fodder to be cut through. With blood flying everywhere or bosses
grabbing you and pounding you in the face, your blood defiantly gets
pumping. When you finally lower the boss to nothing, and activate your
finisher the satisfaction of defeating the boss is defiantly worth
fighting through another level to do again.
What is a hack and slash fighting game
without weapons? This game has weapons galore with all different
effects. From huge spiked clubs, to quick nimble blades, and even as far
as S.M.G.s, there’s no shortage of weaponry in this game. While using
the spiked club, due to its size you cannot teleport. Thankfully, they
made it easy to switch between your weapons. You have two weapon sets,
each set holding two weapons. To switch between them all you have to do
it hit the left or right bumper and your weapon instantly changes,
making it easy to switch on the go. This being said, you can also
upgrade your weapons and buy items as well as collect items throughout
the game. Some items will open up new areas; while others will cure you,
or heal you.
When upgrading your weapons, all you have to do is buy the upgrade for
the desired weapon from the little droid; vendor and you are all set for
mayhem.
While the art is well done and really puts you in a different state of
mind there are some small flaws. The cut scenes are in a dark comic book
style with text popping up in boxes. The only bad thing I found about
these cut scenes were that some went a little too quick for your eyes to
see it. The boxes themselves were a little hard to read, unless you have
a large TV, so having to read them quickly was challenging. Once your
eyes have adjusted to the graphics style and the contrast between the
darks and lights, it becomes a little easier to read and understand.
Another thing this game has to offer is
music. Not ONLY Is the music in this game really well done and enhances
the game play, but you get to play your own music as well. I saw a
guitar and amp sitting on a ledge and walked up to it. To my surprise
pressing B picked it up and started a key activated sequence almost like
Rock Band or Guitar Hero. Pressing the right button (A,B,X,Y) at the
right time will play the music, which builds and builds until an
explosive finish that smashes your guitar and leaves you even more
pumped for battle.
In all my experience with this game was a very good one. I loved how
addicting it was and how it really felt unique from so many other games
out there. I personally don’t care if the violence level of a game is
high or low, but in The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile I loved the way they
did the violence, and that’s saying something. This fast paced, gore
filled, side-scroller is a game for any mature gamers who want to get
addicted to game for a while and dive into a exciting game. Let the
massacre begin!
Game hard, play happy!
Hayley Clements
Impulse Gamer
United States Team Writer |
