Publisher: Virgin Interactive/Electronic Arts Developer: Paradox Development Release Date: Cancelled (Supposed to be Oct. 1998)

I believe that sometimes it’s important to take a look back at hot stories from years past and compare the relevancy of those stories against society as it exists today.

And I really can’t think of a story more worthy of this comparison than Thrill Kill for the PS1.

Have no idea what I’m talking about? Well then you should click on the link then shouldn’t you?

I suppose one could say that Thrill Kill was years ahead of it’s time. It’s almost as if Developer Paradox could sense that the gradual collapse of society was forthcoming and made a game to fit the mood. This wasn’t a Mortal Kombat-type fighting game. This was far more brutal – at the time. The story was simple enough: “Eight fighters, eight souls. Each has died and descended into Hell” – except it is not the classical Dante’s Hell. It is a modern-day Hell based on the real world of today’s deviants. The characters are the physical manifestations of their mental illnesses or vices on earth. Marukka, the God of Secrets, is bored and decided that it would be fun to pit them all against each other with the prize being reincarnation. Each character is battling for nothing more than self-preservation and the hope of being reborn”.

Here’s how it worked:

Four characters enter the arena. The goal is to build up your “Kill Meter” before the others by using certain moves to fill the gauge. Once the “Kill Meter” filled that character can chase down another character and eliminate them. This is a “Mini-Kill”. When it gets down to the final two players the last man standing gets the beefed-up big payoff – the “Thrill Kill”. Then you move on to the next arena and the cycle begins all over again.

There were several things working against Thrill Kill in terms of its gameplay and presentation. The ability of a player to restrain one character while another lands blows on the hapless schmuck probably left a poor taste in some people’s mouths. I will say this on the subject: I cannot remember the last time I witnessed a good old-fashioned one-on-one fight. It’s definitely been a couple of years (thank god for Caroline St. eh?). It just never happens anymore – there’s always a pack of assholes right behind the asshole your pummeling.

Anyways, I’m getting off-topic here.

The second thing was the overall nature of the characters and the fighting. It had that more mentally twisted yet sexual tone to it. In the Mortal Kombat series there were demons and ninjas and such. But no S&M characters. The violence was more basic – good vs evil. Thrill Kill had a cast of morally despondent characters that included the even now unheard of amputees and handicapped fighters. Not only were there decapitations but also severed limbs and shivs as weapons. The mood created made the killing seem more pleasurable for the fighters – and ultimately the players. And that’s what turned the decision makers off.

And so its fate was sealed.

Fast-forward a decade and things don’t look so bad. What was terrible then is much more tame now. And I’m sure that there are still some people out there who will watch this video and think to themselves ‘my god, what is wrong with this world’. And well, I suppose they have a point there. But to the rest of us this game has been downgraded to the ‘violent-but-goofy’ category. In a world where the impact of the real often dwarfs the violence that is virtual. Running around with a midget on stilts dressed as a 50’s style devil chasing a S&M mistress in a french maids outfit with a severed leg does have a ring of humor to it.

Or maybe I’m just a little off-kilter. In any case here’s that video I mentioned. Enjoy.