HAY GAMERS I AM UPLOADING THIS PRETTY LITTLE ARTICLE FOR BLED SO ALL CREDIT GOES TO HIM OK


The Video Game Graveyard:  Thrill Kill

There are few pleasures in this drab and genuinely limited slice of consciousness we call life that can compare to the precious squirt of satisfaction that comes from purchasing an anticipated new game before it can even hit the shelves.  For some wormy little folk it's no more than an underdeveloped, capitalistic high that stems from the simple fact that they've gotten their grubby hands on a tasty new item before any of their prepubescent friends.  For a greater majority, however, it's something a bit different.  It's an affirmation.  It is the culmination of several different degrees of anxiety.  It is the explosive climax to weeks spent wriggling impatiently as the proverbial launch date draws ever so near, likened only to the awkwardly brief moments of a young boy's first uncertain steps into imminent and viciously unforgiving manhood.

Trepidation.  Nervousness.  Excitement.  Lust.  Apprehension.  Fatigue.  Glee. 

These are all emotions that any gamer worth his salt unceremoniously excretes shortly after the purchase of a celebrated new title.  What happens, though, when this vital catharsis is denied?  What exactly is there to be done when the fabled new game violently explodes in the hangar without the slightest of warnings?  Today we will explore this and much more as we take a look at one of the most highly anticipated video game releases of my youth, why it never happened, and whether or not my broken spirit will ever mend.





If there were adequate words to describe this game, they would probably look something like "a brilliantly violent cross between Tekken and the ritualistic killing of a bloated mother goat."  Although some might undoubtedly compare it to Mortal Kombat, the unforgiving manner in which Thrill Kill flaunted it's sordid assortment of handicapped and amputated fighters and their disturbing array of moves (such as "Swallow This", "Bitch Slap", and "Head Muncher!") really set it apart as a new beast.  This, friends, was a game with balls.

As far as plot goes, the game tended to fall in line with other major fighters of its day by giving you only the tiniest little sliver of information concerning what's going on.  Remaining true to form, Thrill Kill opted to present you with just enough backstory to somewhat justify the senseless barbarity and sexual deviance taking place in every level of the game.

The game featured eight fighters, each of which has died and descended into the depths of a modern-day Hell that reflects the depravity of today's world.  As part of their eternal punishment each character is transformed into the physical manifestation of its mental illness or vice on Earth and subjected to the obscene imagination of Marukka, the God of Secrets.  The characters are pitted against one another in a tournament devised by the bored god with the ultimate prize being rebirth back on Earth.  Rather than competing for glory or to protect the realm, these disfigured combatants are battling for nothing more than self-preservation and the chance to escape eternal damnation.

The design of the fighters and their sadistic styles was the key element of vulgarity within Thrill Kill.  Rather than a traditional life bar, fighters cut, slapped and bit themselves into a frenzy to build up their kill meter.  With the kill meter maxed the only way to take an opponent out of the fight was to perform a fatality-esque thrill kill.





The implementation of sexual themes and dark character design really set Thrill Kill apart from the load of generic fighters on the market at that time.  Belladonna (pictured above) was the game's sultry dominatrix vixen who wielded a cattle prod and became increasingly aroused as she literally electrified her foes.  Other members of the crew included a leather-clad midget on stilts, a hulking monstrosity known only as Mammoth, a surgeon with a gaping metallic maw and a scalpel, a redneck in overalls who bludgeoned his opponents with a severed foot, a wicked contortionist, and a double-amputee with sharp teeth and a mean dropkick.

Level design for Thrill Kill was mostly aesthetic with little-to-no interactivity with the environment.  Dungeons, as they were aptly named, were generally spacious four-sided 3D rooms with such quaint titles as The Lavatory, Homicide Avenue, and Slaughterhouse of Flesh.

Brutality and sadism aside, Thrill Kill was originally slated to be a major release for the Sony Playstation for one important reason:  simultaneous combat among four separate players.





This was considered to be a technical feat back in the day, and the prospect of murderhumping your way through three opponents at once only served to heighten the hype for this macabre little gem of a game.  Sadly, it would never come to pass.

In an unfortunate turn of events that still plagues the market to this day, Electronic Arts managed to swoop down from the murky heavens and pluck up Virgin Interactive and the Thrill Kill team at Paradox Development.  Now clutching in its gnarled grasp one of the most hyped and anticipated new fighters of the year, EA promptly released a statement conferring that they did not want to publish "such a senselessly violent game."  In a final act of vindictive defiance, EA also refused to sell the game to any other publishers that might be interested in releasing the game on their own as they deemed it too offensive for public consumption.

With its development team unemployed and its parent publisher gobbled up by EA, Thrill Kill was officially dead.  As if to add insult to injury, the Thrill Kill engine was plundered and recycled in such titles as Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style, X-Men: Mutant Academy 1 & 2, and Rock'em Sock'em Robots.  As the game was ready to be shipped right before EA decided to saunter in and mercilessly shoot it down, Thrill Kill's untimely demise was considered to be one of the most blatantly horrific acts of video game censorship in recent history.

There comes a time in every young person's existence in which the cruelly unpredictable nature of life shoves its dirty finger down your throat, forcing you to vomit in your own mouth and swallow it back down in one wet, chunky gulp.  For me, the cancellation of Thrill Kill at the forceful hands of EA was the first of many instances in which I was left to ponder the animosity of the universe with the taste of sickness on my tongue...

Fortunately, and completely unknown to me for the longest time, the original developers at Paradox eventually released the full version of the game on the internet as freeware!  Although I haven't been able to find a working version for my PC, this does mean that there are some gameplay videos for you guys to cut your teeth on.

Bloody Clips from Thrill Kill!


Four way battle


Thrill Kill original soundtrack

http://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/thrill-kill-original-soundtrack

As you sit down and relax tonight in front of your corporate games with their hefty marketing campaigns and mascots, don't forget to take a moment to reflect upon the ones that aren't fortunate enough to be with us here today.  Remember that behind every good game there is another that has been forgotten!

I remember awaiting this game also, whoever thought of that sick storyline is one twisted human being!

Man I swear I used to have played or owned this game because I remember it so vividly and I remember the characters too.

Yeah I played wu-tang too.

the best part of wu-tang was "GET PLUGGED, SON!" I went around saying that for months.

Actually, you can download this game and play it. Just search for it on Google or something. I played it on my friend's PS2 without a mod chip, using the 'swap trick'. It's fun and senselessly violent, (and quite funny at times), but it's not the greatest game ever. That was about 2 or 3 years ago, however.
There's also some X Men games that use it's engine, as well.

Wu Tang was pretty violent, but to unlock the violence, you had to enter a password (gamefaqs lol) and you got them. Besides, Wu Tang was a solid game, I finished it all the way, and I think I played with all the characters (an learned all their moves too ​)

For anyone lookin' to play the psx version of this, I can hook ya up. it's fast, easy, an most of all, its cheap, so look to the zoo, if you know what I mean.

Whoa!  That was a fuckton of crazy fatalities!

I like the one where the dude is just standing there quivering and BAM! the midget somehow jumps out of his body, exploding him.

Friend of mine had a burnt copy of a leak. He used to pirate tons of games and had it in his collection - can't remember how complete the leak he had was but I definately remember playing this