Preview: Illbleed
Developer: Climax Graphics
Publisher: Jaleco
Platform:
Genre: Adventure/Horror
Release: February 2001
I was a freshman in college when I saw Psycho for the first time. The terror that the shower scene generated was almost unbearable for me, and when Janet Leigh screamed I nearly levitated. When my date and I left the theater, we had to walk through a long and fairly dark alley to get to his car. Both of us would have felt a lot more comfortable with our situation if we had a baseball bat for protection. It took me a long time to reach the point that I could take a shower without darting into the water and darting out again as fast as possible. To me, the original Psycho is the most perfect horror movie of all time. Heart racing with fear. Sweating palms. Cold feet. Hyperventilating. And the need to run from the theater as quickly as possible to escape from Anthony Perkins and his dear mother.
Many developers and publishers have used the word “horror” to describe their games, but while many of them have been quality products, they have lacked what I like to call the “fear factor.” Climax Graphics and Jaleco are calling Illbleed a horror game that “should carry the surgeon general’s warning.” That sounds very threatening indeed.
Explained very simply by the developer/publisher: “This is a haunted house game set in a horror theme park in a society driven to extremes, where people seek extreme seductions. Whoever can make it through the house will receive one million dollars. But behind that offer lies a secret, more shocking than what you are allowed to see. And more costly than you’ll ever know.” Sort of makes the skin crawl, doesn’t it?
Your overdose of fear will begin when several members of a horror club at the Castle Rock School decide to take the chance of their young lives and brave Illbleed. You will tour the house in third-person perspective and from an assortment of camera angles. You will be close to a heart attack or stroke as mutant monsters dog your steps. There will be over 1,000 traps for you to survive. And believe it or not, the tale will be told with a B-movie kind of humor.
If you are ready for this kind of extreme stress, you will need to load up your Dreamcast ASAP because Illbleed will be coming after you very soon. Turn down the lights. Get the popcorn or other munchies. Get into a comfortable position. Make sure that your Depends is adjusted snugly. And away you will go into the “seven bloody worlds that await you.” I wonder if you can make it through to the other end of the game and the house.
Illbleed is a single-player game that is accelerated and will require a Jump Pack. Analog and VMU peripherals will also be needed.
