A demon and an angel need to kill lots of people to stop Armageddon. That’s the premise of God’s Trigger, a gory top-down shooter whose slick combat and interesting levels help make it more than just another Hotline Miami wannabe.

On Saturday, September 19, at the Galloping Ghost Arcade in Chicago, Illinois, 30-year-old Caitlin Oliver set the new world record for the arcade version of Namco's classic beat-em up, Splatterhouse. According to video game historian Patrick Scott Patterson, the last time a woman set an arcade game world record, Caitlin was around one-year-old.

Names such as Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto are longtime punching bags in an often-clueless discussion of violent video games in the mainstream. So it was no surprise to hear Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, invoke them in a rambling attempt to deflect blame for last week's mass killing of 20 six- and seven-year-old children from the assault weapons that gunned them down to a culture he alleges inspired such acts.

Reports suggested that the US National Rifle Association, backed into a corner since a gun massacre last week killed 20 six-year-olds and seven-year-olds, would come out swinging at video games and other violent entertainment in a news conference today, and boy, they did not disappoint.

Multi-national releases are a difficult process. Not only are there linguistic and cultural barriers to overcome, but very often content or simple monetary reasons can keep a game from entering one country or another. Even so, some games are desired despite their limited availability no matter where you are.

Every once in awhile it's nice to do a Frankenreview featuring a game that isn't considered to be a major blockbuster release. Hello, Splatterhouse.

Can Splatterhouse throw enough internal organs, flesh-ripping kills and liquid gore to keep players interested in a middling beat 'em up adventure that full of gristle and bloodshed but little meat?

If Splatterhouse hero Rick's blood runs cold, it's probably because his memory has just been sold. His angel Jennifer is the video game centrefold in the December issue of Playboy.

Splatterhouse is getting a bloody, modern remake later this month, but that's a gamble. The classic 1988 arcade Splatterhouse? We all know that's a fantastic game, and now you can play it on your phone.

Had your fill of becoming the controller? It could be worse. You could be Rick Taylor, transformed into a rampaging juggernaut by a mystical mask and forced to fight in vicious survival arenas, as seen in these new Splatterhouse screens.

Splatterhouse protagonist Rick doesn't spend all his time tearing terrible monstrosities limb-from-limb, bathing in their blood as horrific gaping wounds appear on his body. Just most of the time.

Wow. We did not see that one coming. When I first laid my fragile virgin eyes upon Splatterhouse at E3 my first thought was, "there's no way in the bluest of blue hells we'll get that past the classification board". But here it is, in all its glory, with an MA15+ rating. Good times. This game actually features a fair amount of violence, so we're guessing Namco Bandai did a pretty decent job of explaining why said gore is contextual!

If bands like 5 Finger Death Punch, WolfShirt, and Goatwhore get your motor running, then you'll love the soundtrack to Splatterhouse. If not, just look at the new screens and be quiet.

Before the upcoming game Splatterhouse let players choose a "coward" difficulty setting, the game's developers were going to call their easy mode "pussy". This is no gentleman's game.

I didn't play the original 1990s arcade game Splatterhouse. I told Crecente last week that the new one I played at E3 felt like a more violent God of War. Be careful, he warned me.

Fangoria, the magazine that has been servicing horror fans the world over for over 30 years, has never had a video game on its cover. Until now.

The successes of 1988's arcade brawler Splatterhouse were almost entirely due to its shocking portrayal of over-the-top violence and gore.

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See the video after the jump.

Namco Bandai's gory re-imagining of the 16-bit side-scrolling classic Splatterhouse will come with an unlockable bonus: three 16-bit side-scrolling classic Splatterhouse games.