Tag Archives: blood

Chiller, Arcade

This bizarre lightgun shooter from Exidy was first released in 1986, and it caused some controversy – in North America, at least. Many arcade owners refused to buy Chiller – because of the subject matter – so Exidy instead marketed it to countries that didn’t mind the satirical violence.

Continue reading Chiller, Arcade

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax, Commodore 64

The sequel to 1987’s cult hit Barbarian, Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a similar fighting game, but with more variety than the first game, and the possibility of exploring the actual world by moving from screen to screen (“wow! What a technological advancement!“). Barbarian II was first released in 1988 by Palace Software. The game was later licensed by Epyx for distribution in North America under the title of “Axe of Rage“.

Continue reading Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax, Commodore 64

Barbarian, Commodore 64

Palace Software‘s Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior is a fondly-remembered and controversial one-on-one fighting game from 1987, where two gladiatorial combatants slug it out to the death in a variety of different locations. Actually, there are two different versions of this game, each with different backgrounds. The first version has a throne room and then a pit. The second version has a meadow and a clearing in a forest. I’m not sure why there are two versions of this game, but that definitely seems to be the case.

Continue reading Barbarian, Commodore 64

Colt Canyon, PC

Colt Canyon is a single-player Wild West-based pixel art ‘twin stick’-style shooter developed by German company Retrific and published by Headup in 2020. You play a cowboy who must save his kidnapped partner from ruthless bandits. In fact: you can play as a variety of different characters – if you unlock them first.

Continue reading Colt Canyon, PC

Return to Castle Wolfenstein, PC

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a re-imagining of id Software‘s classic Wolfenstein 3D, developed by Gray Matter Studios and first published by Activision in 2001. It uses the id Tech 3 engine (as created for Quake III) and has a single-player campaign, as well as a multiplayer component where players are split into Allies and Axis.

Continue reading Return to Castle Wolfenstein, PC

Postal 2, PC

This utterly reprehensible (but fun) first-person shooter was developed by Running With Scissors and first published by Whiptail Interactive in 2003. It is the sequel to 1997’s highly controversial Postal and takes the concept of “going postal” to another level of stupidity and mayhem. Postal 2 is the kind of game that was made to please “edgelords” (some would call them “w*nkers“) and piss off politically correct liberals, and it satirises people in a way that few other games have ever dared to.

Continue reading Postal 2, PC

Postal, PC

Postal is an infamous, tongue-in-cheek, highly controversial shooter that satirises the process of “going postal” – a phenomenon whereby an individual ‘breaks’ and goes on a killing spree (called thus because “going postal” was once, in America, often associated with postal workers). It was developed by Running With Scissors and first published by Ripcord Games in 1997. The game – like every entry in the Postal series – is mindless, in poor taste, and designed to cause outrage, because outrageous things draw attention to themselves. In Postal‘s case it drew the attention of politicians who tried to ban it.

Continue reading Postal, PC

Silent Hill: Homecoming, PC

Silent Hill: Homecoming was developed by American company Double Helix Games and published by Konami in 2008. It was released for PlayStation 3, XBox 360 and Windows and is the sixth instalment in the Silent Hill series.

Continue reading Silent Hill: Homecoming, PC

Silent Hill: Origins, PlayStation 2

Silent Hill: Origins – the fifth part of the Silent Hill series – was developed by British company Climax Action (with the help of some outsourcing), and not Konami, so was the first Silent Hill game not developed in Japan. It was initially released for the PlayStation Portable in 2007 and this PlayStation 2 port followed later, in 2008.

Continue reading Silent Hill: Origins, PlayStation 2

Silent Hill: Origins, PSP

Silent Hill: Origins is the fifth instalment of the Silent Hill series and the first Silent Hill game not developed in Japan. This game, known as Silent Hill Zero in Japan, is a prequel to the first Silent Hill and was developed by Climax Action and first published for the PlayStation Portable by Konami in 2007.

Continue reading Silent Hill: Origins, PSP