Hands-on: Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond
As disastrous as the first game was, there's no denying that the Matt Hazard concept has potential. The games industry has been around for decades now, and it's ripe with material to poke fun at. Blood Bath and Beyond, D3's upcoming download-only sequel to the first Matt Hazard, embraces the legacy of retro games by becoming one: this side-scrolling 2D shooter is unapologetically old-school.
Matt Hazard's "in your face" attitude is immediately evident from the moment you see the difficulty select screen. You can traverse the game through "Wussy" mode, but real gamers will want to play in "Damn This is Hard" mode -- with the most daring playing the Contra-inspired "F**k This S**t" mode, which kills players in just one hit.
Like its retail predecessor, Blood Bath and Beyond struggles to be innovative. However, at least this iteration of Matt Hazard succeeds far more at getting the basics right. This is a simple game: simply run around shooting enemies. Weapon selection is gone, as well. You can run over power-up boxes and use upgraded weapons (like flamethrowers and shotguns) with finite ammo.
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Yet, in spite of its simplicity, we still had a few qualms with the controls. One problem we had was the stiff movement of the characters. Whereas other Arcade games use the now-familiar dual analog set-up, players are forced to use a shoulder button to enter "precision aim" mode. This becomes problematic when fighting a fast-moving boss, where you'll have to dodge attacks and attempt to hit the enemy's colored weak point. It's a bit clumsy having to stop, press a button, manually aim, and then hit another button to shoot. There's also no rapid-fire option: you must press the button each time you want to take a shot. Finally, shooting enemies in the background can be a bit cumbersome, as that requires yet another shoulder button. It's not difficult to learn the controls, but it's far from elegant.
Blood Bath and Beyond should satiate gamers that have been longing for another retro-styled game. However, D3's games are suffering from what we'll call the "Epic complex." Matt Hazard's shortcomings are incredibly apparent next to Gears of War; similarly, Blood Bath and Beyond similarly cannot match the level of polish found in Shadow Complex. Matt Hazard's text-driven cutscenes are almost sad to see in a post-Shadow Complex era.
While Blood Bath and Beyond still has its shortcomings, it's a significantly improved product compared to the original Matt Hazard. Certainly, it will be the only game out there to parody Mario, Mirror's Edge, Team Fortress, BioShock and Canada in one package -- and doesn't that warrant a playthrough?
