Matt Hazard: Blood Bath & Beyond

Publisher: D3 Publisher
Developer: Vicious Cycle
Genre: Action
Release Date: January 7, 2009
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
ESRB: M - Mature

Reviewer: Eric

I will go on the record and say that I enjoyed the first Matt Hazard game a lot. Most writers didn’t seem to get the humor that DS Publisher was going with in that game, but hey maybe the second game will make those who disliked the game a lot happier? I think so because Blood Bath & Beyond is a trip down memory lane when Contra was glued into our Nintendo’s.

Hazard’s 8-bit self has been captured and now it is up to Hazard to go back into his fictional video game world and save himself. As strange as it might seem this is the story and they made sure to add in the same humor from the first game to explain everything.

Fans of Shadow Complex will see some similarities in Blood Bath & Beyond. Some of Shadow Complex’s more complex aspects are absent. Mainly the building up of the weapons, Blood Bath & Complex just has you going through the stages and enjoying the simple things of a $15 downloadable game.

Blood Bath & Beyond will take you through some stages familiar from the first game and then some extra stages that will have you smile. Mirror’s Edge and Super Mario Bros. are just a few stages that have references. I found the Mirror’s Edge stage to be quite pleasing, mainly since I felt the stage was done oh-so-perfect.

The game even goes far enough to make jokes about the first Matt Hazard game. Some people didn’t quite get the first game and the developers are not afraid to crack some jokes how the game is in bargain bins and the lack of funding caused text to be shown instead of spoken dialogue for the story.

Gameplay is just like old Contra titles, the ones that didn’t suck. You have a health bar so don’t worry when you take hits from the enemies. I recommend starting with the easiest difficulty so you get used to things because this game can be a bitch to beat. Great fun, especially with the ability to shoot in the background, but that just means you have more ways to get your ass handed to you.

There are hidden objects to find in each stage and tokens to pick up to play Ragdoll Pachinko. It seems like the developers really loved rag doll physics with this game, even blood. Trying to find everything in the first play through is possible but it might cause you to not pick up some of the challenging trophies.

Co-op mode is great, Contra at its finest. But when you add in the local aspect to co-op things start to stink. Would it have killed them to make co-op online? The things like this hurt, mainly since most downloadable games offer online at this price. Hell some $5 games even have online play.

Final Verdict
If you would have told me we’d see another Matt Hazard game after the sales of the first title I would have called you a liar. Now that another Matt Hazard game is out I have faith that we will see more. The $15 price tag seems fair but at the same time I think we could have had online co-op instead of local co-op. Other than that I recommend this title, big time!

Rating Breakdown
Gameplay: 7 out of 10
    + 2D and 3D with Matt Hazard? Hell fucking yeah!!!
    - The challenge curve can cause some problems.
Graphics: 7 out of 10
    + Graphic style fits the game nicely, plus it looks pretty good too.
    - The lack of detail shows on some of the games enemies.
Audio: 7 out of 10
    + Great one liners from Matt Hazard.
    - Some of the games music is lacking something.
Replay Value: 7 out of 10
    + Three difficulty settings and co-op will add to the replay value.
    - No online co-op play…damn it!

Overall
7 out of 10