Wed Apr 30, 2008 — by Karl Cramer

Simon Bisley and the Business of 'Splatterhouse'

What has the popular '2000 AD' artist been up to? Reviving a classic videogame, apparently...

In the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, there was an interesting bit of information in a sidebar for their feature about the revived Splatterhouse videogame. According to EGM, Publisher Namco Bandai has brought comic book artist Simon Bisley on board to do artwork for the game. His art will possibly be used for covers and marketing, but they've also teamed him up with his former 2000 A.D. writer Gordon Rennie to "flesh out Splatterhouse's basic plot, breathe life into the characters, and add his own understanding of the supernatural to the script."

For those unfamiliar with the game, Splatterhouse was a classic arcade game where regular guy Rick Taylor's girlfriend was abducted by monsters. Making a deal with a demonic hockey mask, Rick transformed into an unstoppable Jason Voorhees lookalike. For kids thrilled with the Friday the 13th movies, it was a chance to be the psycho and the hero at the same time. The game was regarded at the time as highly controversial, due to its graphic (by 1980s standards, at least) violence. It was the first game to ever receive a parental advisory disclaimer, even beating out Mortal Kombat for that honor. 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of the game's release, hence the revival for today's PlayStation and Xbox 360 systems.

This is the second big videogame effort for Bisley after his contribution to the Halo graphic novel. Let's hope, for the sake of the ratings board, he doesn't hide any naughty bits in the game.

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