Hands-on: Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond

Posted by Mister-X on October 30th, 2009 at 01:45pm

As disastrous as the first game was, there's no denying that the Matt Hazard concept has potential. The games industry has been around for decades now, and it's ripe with material to poke fun at. Blood Bath and Beyond, D3's upcoming download-only sequel to the first Matt Hazard, embraces the legacy of retro games by becoming one: this side-scrolling 2D shooter is unapologetically old-school.

Matt Hazard's "in your face" attitude is immediately evident from the moment you see the difficulty select screen. You can traverse the game through "Wussy" mode, but real gamers will want to play in "Damn This is Hard" mode -- with the most daring playing the Contra-inspired "F**k This S**t" mode, which kills players in just one hit.

Like its retail predecessor, Blood Bath and Beyond struggles to be innovative. However, at least this iteration of Matt Hazard succeeds far more at getting the basics right. This is a simple game: simply run around shooting enemies. Weapon selection is gone, as well. You can run over power-up boxes and use upgraded weapons (like flamethrowers and shotguns) with finite ammo.

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Hands-on: Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.