General chauvinistic guy rescues the helpless maiden in distress scenario (at first, but I am not spoiling the story). Garcia Hotspur is the demon hunter, along with his "tool" Johnson (a former demon and talking skull that is your "companion"). Both find out that the demons REALLY don't like being shot at. The "Lord of Demons" (aka Flemming...) comes in and kidnaps Paula and forces Garcia to follow him into hell.
The game contains 5 acts (each having 4-6 sub-acts) with multiple sub-bosses and bosses per act.
Gameplay: It's a third person shooter with some melee button mashing in between. I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It is one of the few games that give a good back story to the main characters, but also the bosses as well. Defeating enemies depends on your skill and the gun you chose. You can go for a headshot (quick kill), take out their legs and they drag themselves toward you (ala Black Knight [Monty Python ref.]), or blow their arms off so that they can jump kick you to death. There are multiple points of hilarious dialogue (mostly sexual and low-brow, but still clever). The game also takes a spin-off levels like a paper puppet level ala Raiden.
Graphics: There are reviews saying that the look of this game looks dated, but I don't personally care as long as it's fun and keeps my attention. Each sub-act is a new area with a different look and set-up that reminds me of a few horror flicks. You go through a Spanish city, a bell tower, swamps, etc. and each has a different eerie feel to each one (except the Vegas-like, red-light district).
Sounds: I have to applaud Akira Yamaoka on the various tracks used in the game. You will have a heavy acoustic guitar strumming at the beginning, rock in other areas, light jazz in others, opera, mariachi, interspersed Japanese music, and even rap. The voice acting is really well done.
-Steve Blum (voice of Wolverine, Grayson Hunt [Bulletstorm], and Orochimaru [Naruto]) is the voice actor for Garcia Hotspur. It seems any good game with an antihero character ends up with Blum with the lead role (not complaining at all).
Weapons: You start with your basic handgun (the "Boner" [pfft.]) which is eventually upgraded ("Hotboner" [shoots balls that explode when shot at] and "Big Boner" [bwahahahaha!]) by defeating particular bosses. Along with a shotgun weapon that shoots skulls ("Monocussioner") that is upgraded for more capacity ("Skullcussioner"), then a four way shotgun ("Skullfest 9000"), and a charged skull bomb ("Skullblaster"). You also have a machine gun (the "Teether") which can be upgraded to a multiple barrel machine gun ("Teethgrinder") and a homing weapon (the "Dentist").
Drinks: Alcohol will actually HEAL your character. You start off with hot sake (30 HP), but will eventually get tequila (70 HP), then absinthe (200 HP).
Darkness: Apparently, long exposure to hell's darkness can eat the flesh off our hero. There are a few ways to stop it that include collecting human hearts, lighting the area with a lamp or goat head, or frequently drinking alcohol to keep your health up.
Upgrades: Upgrading your weapons and health can be done only red gems. They can be found scattered throughout the level or you can buy them using white gems from Christopher. The difficulty of the game will increase the gems price along with the difficulty level.
Christopher: The half-demon and half-human that decides to help you out by selling ammo, drinks, and red gems in exchange for white gems (game currency) that are left by enemies or breakable objects or hidden throughout the level. You will notice his trademark flowers that let you know he is nearby or he has left goodies for you to use.
Complaints:
-I actually missed some important details that forced me to play the game again in order to catch. You have the option of reading posters that enhance the story, but the game nor the manual pointed this out.
-There are breakable objects in the game that contain gems or drinks that was never mentioned about during the game or the manual. On the same note, I can break crates with bullets but not my melee attacks?
-Healing yourself involves holding 2 buttons (triangle + d-pad for PS3) which is a pain at times during battles. Only good point is that drinking once will allow you to use the same drink again at anytime with the L2 button for PS3.
-You cannot skip the intro credits for the creators (with particular focus on Suda51), while Shinji Mikamai and Akira Tamaoka you can skip.
Overall: Excellent game that should have been marketed more and deserves some recognition. Suda51 (No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil) have created a game that is an automatic classic in my book. The game took 8-12 hours to finish. Replay value is on the low to medium side since it does focus on a single player campaign with no online play. You can still look for trophies or try a different difficulty, plus I believe there is hidden content and extra levels in the game (especially in act 5) that you can unlock.
Personal Thoughts on the game:
-I went to multiple retailers (Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy) looking for this game and each place didn't have any on the opening day (it wasn't sold out, they apparently never heard of the game)! I had to get it at Gamestop, and it was the only copy they had! This game was created by well-known makers, and they blow it off since it wasn't marketed as much as Brink or Duke Nukem or Hunted.
-I had to laugh when you shoot in the paper puppet levels (pyu-pyu anyone?).
-I swear that the music during the load time between levels sounds very similar to the music of the old Scooby-doo cartoons.
-A game that promotes drinking absinthe, a black licorice liquor that is so bitter that it sucks all the moisture in your mouth, as the ultimate healing item. Really?
-The Big Boner is only used in the red-light district level (go figure, huh..). Remember that face shots are preferred.
-There are hilarious death scenes in the red-light district level.
-READ the credits at the end, it has a few jokes and funny lines.
-The game rips on Disney, video gamers, and the game itself that I thoroughly enjoyed.
My favorite joke in this game:
Garcia: "What does "Moor pu dekcuf" mean?"
Johnson: "Must be a joke from the designers."
Garcia: "Who?"
