If your like me then you know that ones day to day activities can get stressful. Relieving that sort of tension doesn’t come easy. However sometimes you find yourself a game where it feels like it all magically goes away and The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is definitely one of those games. The sequel to 2008’s XBLA hit The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is one of the most satisfying games I’ve ever played. The original was formally the winner of the Microsoft’s Dream-Build-Play XNA competition which boasted the developer $10,000 in prize money. It comes as no surprise that being the cult classic hit that it was, a sequel would be imminent.
The main solo campaigns can be played as either The Dishwasher or Yuki, his prodigal stepsister in which the games actual focus is on. The story takes place right after Dead Samurai and its explosive ending … no pun intended. Through its various Max Payne like cut-scenes it does a great job of filling in the plot throughout the chaos that surrounds you. Sometimes it becomes difficult to understand what is actually going on through all the subtext but that doesn’t matter because it feels crazy in a good way.
This is also because the games narration is expressed through its frantic 2D hack n slash gameplay which easily resembles something out of Devil May Cry. Your blades, guns and blunt objects tells their stories as you rip through an enemies head, spewing pools of blood everywhere. By the time your done taking out an entire room full of soldiers, bodyguards and mutated freaks with chainsaws it looks like you came out of a scene of Sparticus. The game knows how to paint itself red and I’ve never seen it look this good but thats mostly in part of its black and white art style.
You can collect various weapons, power ups and equitable items that help for different strategies in the game. This can either be purchased or found through the stages which makes some exploration key. My only real gripe is the characters teleportation. An example is Yuki’s blood port in which it lets you teleport in any direction infinitely a couple of inches at a time. This enables you to basically fly or get out of all harms way without consequence which breaks up some of the games tension or most challenging moments. There is no actual block button which can also be seen as something that could have been added but I guess that’s what the teleportation is for.
The story mode is also not the only adventure to be had in Vampire Smile. An addictive arcade mode in which you fight waves of enemies under predetermined conditions through 50 stages. Whether your told you can only kill enemies in the air, have a certain time limit or combo multipliers slowing down everything can really get the blood flowing. The game can also be played online co-op taking the challenge of the arcade mode or the story mode, playing as you would expect. The game also features 3D as an option which has a funny story of its implementation going from joke to real in the final build.
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is a devilish good time and one that the guys over at Ska Studios should be proud of. It’s clean yet messy, it’s sadistic yet beautiful and all in all a hell of alot of fun to play. I mean the imagination you need for even a fraction of the enemies created here goes beyond saying. This game does not disappoint in the slightest and hopefully more from the series will follow as the world and mechanics created definitely has the potential of being great.
Overall = 9.3
[nggallery id=185]
