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Original, atmospheric, and fun. What else can you ask for?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: May 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was amazed by the flood of less-than-enthusiastic reviews this game received, even in respected presses like Famitsu or Dreamcast Magazine of Japan. Given the developer's track record (they also did Blue Stinger, one of the earliest Dreamcast games), I was very surprised at how it lived up to and surpassed my expectations.

I was very impressed at the level of completeness and polish the game looked and felt, and it was certainly worth the wait since the first screen shots appeared a year ago. This game may not feature moving facial features on the characters or cutting edge graphics, but this is not one of those Resident Evil games either, where they rushed the game out the door only to release a "complete edition" a year later. This game, unlike the Resident Evil clones out there, is quite original in its approach to the survival horror genre. The stages are littered with shock events (traps), enemy ambushes, and puzzles. You can avoid shock events by flagging them with your Horror Monitor. The flagging drains your adrenalin, and you can gain adrenalin by approaching a flagged trap, successfully defeating the enemy, or by using refill items. Most of the puzzles are fairly easy and straightforward, you don't really need to go out and buy a guidebook if you get stuck - go back and check out things you might have missed, and check your inventory for odd items that might have a use somewhere. Combat can also be avoided by using the escape helicopter, unlike in the Resident Evil games. There are 4 in-game camera angles which you can change on the fly, which adds to replay value. The action is fast, there is rarely a moment of slowdown due to too many onscreen objects.

The premise of this game is simple: you are at a theme park where the attractions are based on B-movies from a demented horror film producer, and you are only there because you have to rescue your stupid friends, who went to the theme park against your advice. If you manage to survive all the attractions, you will be awarded a hundred million dollars (in the game, not in real life, unfortunately).

As you rescue your friends, they become available as a playable character in the following stages. Each character offer different advantages and disadvanges - some are good fighters, while others are less prone to shocks, etc. Along the way you will pick up upgrade items that can enhance your body or mind, which allows you to customize and upgrade your characters so they can face the remaining stages. This adds great replay value as you can modify your characters and experiment with different combinations of improved heart rate, bleeding rate, health points, or adrenaline. Early in the game, when your cash reserve is low, you also must balance how you spend your cash between physical upgrades and purchase of refill/healing items.

There are 6 main attractions in the theme park, they must be solved in a linear order, and before you can claim your prize you must fight 1 of 3 final bosses (your choice, luckily). Each attraction is based on a horror B-movie produced by the theme park's owner, Michael Reynolds. So for each attraction, you get a different story that unfolds as you explore the stage, and the mood is different between the stages, too. In fact, you get to assume diffferent roles in some of these stages, literally putting you right in the lead character's skin, including what appears to be an adult version of Toy Story (wink, wink). This shows off the game engine's adaptability to create an entirely different game and the developer's imagination. Some stages are also set up so you need to solve it differently than what you learned to solve the previous stage. The game's developer really went out of their way to make this a varied experience that's always fun. The music is also fitting and create the appropriate mood for each stage.

Battle is inevitable as most stages end with a boss fight, and while exploring, you are more than likely to encounter some grotesque creatures that would love to inflict bodily harm on you. The battle system is pretty straightforward, and much easier than what has evolved in the Resident Evil series. I think those who complained about it were expecting something they are used to and did not give the game's system a fair chance. This game has a steep learning curve, which you probably won't get 100% until stage 3, and many of these negative game reviewers probably did not even manage to clear the first stage. I spent the first night working on the first stage (the in-game tutorial isn't the greatest, thank goodness for Internet FAQs) while learning the ropes. By the 2nd and 3rd night the game becomes extremely addictive as the game's controls become second nature. You'll probably want to have a backup controller on standby - I wore one out because the game gets extremely intense sometimes.

This game has certainly earned its "Mature" rating - blood gushes by gallons, the blood and gore is really over the top, makes the creatures and blood factor in Resident Evil look tame by comparison. The lead character, Eriko, will also gradually lose her clothes if she fails to rescue her friends (it's possible to clear the stages while letting your friends die), giving you plenty of incentive to replay the game using just her and letting all her friends die (there are at least 3 different endings and to see one of them you have to do exactly that). ^_^ This is certainly not a game for little kids - some of the stuff in the game can be quite disturbing, like some realistically rendered creatures, suggestive themes and atmosphere, which were enhanced/heightened by the mostly ambient background music and sound effects. If you are a horror movie fan and love the B-movies' tongue-in-cheek style of humor, chances are you will love this game. It's kind of sad, but if this game came out a year earlier than it did, it just might have saved the Dreamcast from being canned by Sega.

Fun game, but patience is a MUST

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: May 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

You could say I am big into the whole survival horror genre. I've played the good (Resident Evil: Code Veronica), the bad (Carrier) and the awful (Countdown Vampires). Basically if the title has a creepy/subhuman feel to it, I'm bound to give it a whirl. I really wasn't sure to expect with Illbleed, but due to the recent drought of Dreamcast games I bought it on impulse. Within the first 10 minutes I could say without blinking that this game was horrible.

So why 3 stars? Well, once you get the hang of the game it is actually quite fun. Though it must be said that one needs a lot of patience to get into the swing of things.

As I was saying my biggest beef with Illbleed is it's horribly steep learning curve. The instruction manual really isn't sufficient when it comes to explaining Illbleeds bizarre mechanics. The majority of people are going to start the game and die very quickly a few times before realizing what needs to be done or completely giving up. It has to be said that there is a graveyard that can be used for training at the beginning of the game. Though I can't help but feel that it was somewhat of an afterthought due to the fact it is practically hidden and borderline useless. On top of that, the first level is reasonably hard.

Illbleed reminds me a lot of the Playstation series Deception. The big difference is that you are on the receiving end of the traps rather then setting them. Like Deception, traps are numerous; most are random, some are not. To avoid the plethora of traps you have 4 senses, "Sight," "Sound," "Smell," and "Sixth Sense." They peak as according to how close the character is to the trap. At the beginning of each level you must find a "Horror Monitor" which you can use to mark off what you think might be a trap. The "Horror Monitor" can lead to extreme frustration for many reasons. Initially I had no idea where to find the "Horror Monitor" because it is well hidden in the first level leaving me confused about what to do and absolutely raging. Once it is found the biggest problem with the "Horror Monitor" is that disarming potential traps can be a total guessing game. This is can be daunting, considering that you are limited to the number of objects that you can warn because every trap mark off leads to a drop in "adrenaline." Use too much too soon and you are not gonna last long. Don't use enough and you will probably be too beaten up to complete the level. On rare occasions the "Horror Monitor" is not just a shot in the dark. For instance, when a dead body is down the hall from your character and has potential to a trap the "Smell" and the "Sight" might spike, tipping off that you should probably mark off the corpse. Though after an hour or so you do get a feel for what is and is not a trap from trial and error resulting in a suspenseful environment rather than a frustration one.

When you think of the average life bar in video games the first thing that comes to mind is a gauge that depletes as your character is damaged. Illbleed does not have one life bar, it has three. One is the standard strength gauge that all games have. The others are fairly unique; a blood lose gauge that monitors the amount of blood lost per second and a heart rate gauge. Lose all your strength, you die. Lose too much blood, you die. Get scared when your heart rate is too high, you die. It is very hard to maintain lifebar homeostasis. This may anger some game players but I felt it added to the perilous atmosphere Illbleed is trying so desperately to uphold.

Illbleeds controls at times are plain insufficient. This is not entirely true when you are just exploring, though pressing the R-trigger constantly for the "Horror Monitor" gets mighty annoying. The controls are problematic during the fight sequences. I found that there is a one-second delay from when you hit attack and when the character actually attacks. Also, the camera during combat is inconsistent. It's either too far away, too close or is facing the incorrect direction so you cannot even see what is happening. You get accustomed to the control's and camera's sloppiness but nonetheless it is unacceptable.

Story wise there isn't much of one, though it is similar to the movie "House on Haunted Hill." There is a billionaire moviemaker, he is twisted, he is offering 100 000 000 dollars to anyone that can survive his house of horrors, people go in and don't come out, and our heroine must rescue them. Simple as that.

Illbleed is not breathtaking but definitely visually pleasing. Characters move fluidly, textures are nice, and the colors are vibrant. The B movie feel adds a lot to the atmosphere and it is great to see a survival horror game that doesn't take itself too seriously. Though some jerky/poor trap animations take away from the overall visual presentation. Lastly, the non-existent load times are very pleasing.

I do recommend Illbleed, but definitely rent it before you purchase. After you conquer the initial confusion you are in for an original, addictive and humorous game.

ANOTHER MONEY WASTER

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 23
Date: May 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I am glad that i did not buy this game, i borrowed it from my friend and i found out that it has one of the worst CG CINEMAS in gaming history, it has realy frustrating controls and i cant believe that they didnt fix the camera problems. .... DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON IT.

BEST GAME FOR DREAMCAST EVER!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Illbleed is probably the best game I have ever played for Dreamcast. (Maybe one of the best games, period) The Storyline and objective of the game is very inventful and imaginative. The gameplay is extremely good and the game is scary as...[heck] It takes a few tries to get use to what you have to do, but once you learn it is so much fun. There are 6 levels and they are all outstanding. The game is tough but not impossible. It took me 9 hours to beat it. (Over 3 days)

This game is a must have for any fans of the horror game genre. Loads of fun and creative levels make this one a winner. 5 stars and then some...

ILLGAME

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: May 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was realy looking forward for this ILLGAME. I played it for a while in a friend's house and it made me throw up. Its not scary, its not fun to play because its so damm HARD. THE FLAWS ARE: 1-controls while fighting is a bit hard. 2-the CG storys are realy bad(worse than BLUE STINGER). 3-its impossible to keep up with this game because its HARD. 4-since the game lets you rely on your six senses, its still doesnt work because you cant avoid a lot of traps(almost all of them) then you die and its game over. I realy cant believe that they have spent all this time on this realy fu_ked up game. STAY AWAY FROM THIS ILLGAME.

dont waste your money or your time

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: August 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I can honestly say that this is the worst game i have ever played. I got this used for six bucks and it totally wasnt worth the money. I suggest that everybody just stick to Resident Evil and Silent Hill for your survival horror needs because this game will just annoy you. The only reason i gave it one star is because the graphics arent a total loss.

This game is awsome, and quite freaky as well.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The perfect game for those horror game fans. Nothing like resident evil, or anything like that. This game is all about gore and freakin you out. A story similar to the film "House on Haunted Hill" where you get money for surviving. Instead of surviving just a house, in this game you must make it through a gauntlet of horror films on your way to hopefully a 200,000,000 dollar prize. 4 playable characters, freakish and very original and entertaining monsters and villians keep this game and you on the edge. I love this game and I think it will keep any gamer entertained for hours on end. With just enough difficulty and action, and it's large ammount of violence and gore this game is something else. I highly reccomend that kids not play this if their parents can help it:) just kidding

Be careful where you step!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: May 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

General/Summary: This game was given very mediocre reviews but I found the experience to be a real positive and fun time. I think the theme and premise to this game is a real unique one. The game could have used a little more work I think but overall is good. Gameplay: I'll get this off my chest right away. The actual fighting mechanism stinks. It is very difficult to manuever about and is a button mashing nightmare that rivals the nightmarish theme of the game. If this had been tweaked the gameplay rating would have been higher for me. Trying to escape via the helicopter is very hard because it is hard to tell when you are lined up properly to grab the ladder. It's true that in a real situation like that it would be hard to escape but this is a little ridiculous. Also, if you don't find the one weapon per level, fighting creatures is hopeless with only your fists. Add this to the trouble escaping and you get the picture. You have to restart from your last save. No easy task given all the traps. This next part of the game is the fun part for me. The horror monitor for detecting possible traps is easy to use provided you have the adrenaline. It detects everything but not everything is a trap. It is pretty much all hit and miss but fun. Using items is cumbersome. You have to go to a menu. It would have been nice to be able to map them to a button. Also there is no way to pause a game. The clock is always running so be warned.

Graphics: The graphics don't take advantage of the power of the DC but are quite good and approprite to the game, although they are a little redundant. The characters look OK but their lips don't move when talking. Wish I could do that at work. HA-HA!

Sound: The music fits the horror theme but is nothing special. The characters speak a little. Other sound effects are pretty well done I think.

The game cult B Horror movie fans have been waiting for!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Picking this game up on the first day is always a risk, but I did it anyway because of the look and feel of the advertisements. This game is in no way a horrific, thriller with a deep plot. The game is set up as a theme park built by a fictional b movie director, split into 6 different levels based on his 6 different movies. The stories are off the wall, such as a mixture between Toy Story and Puppet Master where you are a Woody-type toy who has to go to Hell to save his toy girlfriend Sexydoll. The stories are made to be funny, not horrifying. There is massive amounts of blood, and the scares come through things jumping out at you, not like the psychological scares of games like Silent Hill. This game won't haunt you, just startle you and then you'll laugh at the ridiculousness of the frightful blood spraying out of a shower head or hand reaching out of a pile of goo. Just remember, this game takes some time to get accustomed to. I was very frustrated trying to learn the game and played the first half hour of the first level three times before I got the nack of it. Then it comes very easily. It doesn't help that the tutorial is almost hidden in the beginning. The rest of the game is smooth sailing. I knocked off a star because of the controls. Fighting is difficult, but it is easier when you understand the strategy of it. But the aspects of the game, although few, where you have to do mindless jumping at the right time are a pain in the neck, but you stick with them to see the game progress. Just remember - the block button keeps you from all danger in battle, no matter how ridiculous it seems. The implementation of the different senses and the innovative stories are great. It's a surprise this game came from such a small company - you can tell the creators loved this game. By the way, surprisingly enough, they have a free hint line with an extremely helpful crew with no waiting! Play on horror buffs!

Don't waste your time

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I absolutely love survival horror games & the Sega Dreamcast. So you'd think that there would be a pretty good chance I'd like ILLBLEED huh? Well, there was, until I played it.

Horrible controls hinder this offering. It is too bad really as this game had an interesting premise and could've been something.

Ah, what I am worried about... it isn't like any of you people who don't already own it will be able to track it down (or order it at this site) anymore anyway.

But for those that try... you've been warned.

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