Slitterhead Preview - Bloody and a Bit Messy

It's hard to believe it's been several years since the reveal of Slitterhead, with its bone-chilling and downright disturbing reveal trailer. After seeing its actual gameplay during the Summer Game Fest showcase last June, I was even more intrigued by its strange mesh of action and horror.

We managed to get some hands-on time with Slitterhead at PAX West 2024, and that initial intrigue I had is now a bit more restrained. Slitterhead doesn't seem like a bad game, but I'm having a difficult time grasping the vision its trying to execute.

Slitterhead's a Bit of a Weird One

Mechanically, Slitterhead is a smorgasbord of genres: Horror, action, and hell, even some platforming is thrown into the mix. The demo I played seemed to be a tutorial giving players a grasp of the traversal mechanics and combat, but there's a lot going on under the hood, so I wish there was more time to see what else Slitterhead has to offer.

But let's start with the premise. Well, it seems like players begin as a spirit than can possess and control the bodies of humans. Set in an ambiguous, densely crowded city (probably Hong Kong?), Slitterhead gives players ample bodies to take over as they travel around the city. Jumping from human to human is actually pretty neat as a means to get to your objective.

You can pop into some old lady's body, look up at some folks on a balcony from afar, jump into one of them, and then possess another person even higher up in a building to travel. In one instance, in order to get more acquainted with these mechanics, Slitterhead asked me to jump off a building, and right before hitting the bottom, taking over a body on the street.

Of course, the original host dies and a bunch of people go running in panic. Since you can't travel far without possessing someone, it necessitates jumping around like these, even at the expense of someone's life. How traversal actually plays out in the actual story is an unknown, though, since again, this was more of a tutorial asking me to reach a destination with no story impact.

These random people you take control of are more than just fodder used to jump around -- they're the means by which you'll fight. There are various creepy and horrific enemies the demo had me battle, and the more people you have around to take control of, the more you can switch around to dodge. And of course, if one of your hosts is nearly dead, swap to a fresh one and head back into battle.

Slitterhead's Weirdness Extends to its Combat

There's also this blood sword you use to fight enemies, which looks as badass as it sounds. You can slash with light and heavy attacks, as well as parry enemies. The parrying is a little weird here -- it's positional, so you're given an indicator where their strike might land, and you'll flick the joystick a certain way in order to (hopefully) parry the attack.

It took quite a few times to get used to the parry timing, and I'm not sure I like it all that much. It's not as satisfying a parry as other games, and it makes the gameplay feel a bit slow overall. Gameplay picks up near the end of my demo, however, as we discover what is called a Rarity.

While most humans are generic and hold no special abilities, Rarity are exceptional individuals with powerful skills. One Rarity is backed into a corner by a "Slitterhead." By possessing the Rarity, we're given these bloody claws that ferociously slash away at the enemy, and we're granted a few other abilities for damage or support effects.

Rarities seem to be tied to story and are likely the main characters you'll use throughout the campaign, but they aren't invincible, so you still need to use the regular people to your advantage as well. This boss we fight, a Slitterhead, transforms into some horrifying, almost Lovecraftian horror before it's defeated.

This boss is where I regained some enthusiasm for what's in store with Slitterhead. I'm not sure if I jive with the slower combat, but Rarities hold some potential; likewise, I don't know if the platforming will stay fresh across however long the campaign ends up being.

And though I enjoy the grimy, neon-lit aesthetic, Slitterhead looks quite dated. Closeups of models are disappointing, to say the least. The city is nice, but it also fails upon closer scrutiny. Overall, it failed to meet some of my expectations, along with the gameplay. Hopefully by this November, I'll be interested enough to take a look at the final release.

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Slitterhead was previewed at PAX West 2024.