Short and sweet horror game from perspective of the killer. Game plays out as if it were an old VHS series. Great soundtrack love God Beam. Definitely booting this up every time the holiday comes around.
A pretty fun love letter to the campy 80s holiday slashers like Silent Night Deadly Night and Christmas Evil. Charming visuals and atmosphere.
"Sorry Larry, I had to cooperate with the FBI, they knew too much" - A fucking Christmas tree
Peak fiction
Peak fiction
They have a cool aesthetic but Puppet Combo's games are always janky as hell and not in a good way my biggest complaint with both this and Stay in the House is how confusing it is to get around and the levels are hard to navigate. Very reminiscent of the films Silent Night Deadly Night and Christmas Evil
eu sinceramente não gostei muito. não é como se eu não gostasse de jogos de terror ou histórias bizarras, mas esse jogo em específico me deu um desconforto que não foi legal, sabe?
achei a história bem meh e as motivações do personagem principal para fazer TUDO oq ele fez foi BEM paia.
porém, a jogabilidade é boa e as músicas conseguem te deixar no clima do jogo, ou seja, esperem músicas bem desconfortáveis vindo aí...
resumo da opera, o jogo definitivamente não foi para mim e não achei que tenha sido uma boa primeira experiência com a puppet combo que é tão elogiada. mesmo assim vou dar outra chance para os jogos dela. enfim, se vc é mais sensível não jogue, vc n vai dormir.
não vou dar o "não gostei" para o jogo pq n vejo necessidade, mas eu não gostei.
achei a história bem meh e as motivações do personagem principal para fazer TUDO oq ele fez foi BEM paia.
porém, a jogabilidade é boa e as músicas conseguem te deixar no clima do jogo, ou seja, esperem músicas bem desconfortáveis vindo aí...
resumo da opera, o jogo definitivamente não foi para mim e não achei que tenha sido uma boa primeira experiência com a puppet combo que é tão elogiada. mesmo assim vou dar outra chance para os jogos dela. enfim, se vc é mais sensível não jogue, vc n vai dormir.
não vou dar o "não gostei" para o jogo pq n vejo necessidade, mas eu não gostei.
4.5/10
As in Feed Me Billy, we control a serial killer and mass murderer. The atmosphere is good and some levels are haunting.
By the way, the point system makes no sense, some mechanics are gratuitous (collectibles, seriously?) and the ending is terrible. It's also quite repetitive, the killings rapidly lose their weight and become just ludic performances. There is also no psychosexual tension whatsoever.
As in Feed Me Billy, we control a serial killer and mass murderer. The atmosphere is good and some levels are haunting.
By the way, the point system makes no sense, some mechanics are gratuitous (collectibles, seriously?) and the ending is terrible. It's also quite repetitive, the killings rapidly lose their weight and become just ludic performances. There is also no psychosexual tension whatsoever.
3d hotline miami, but 10x harder and with mediocre controls.
a quick stealth-based slasher with a growing story behind it. it's pretty fun if the bugs don't catch you. (i had to restart the entire game). despite that i had good time and decided to 100% it which took about two hours. if you're a big puppet combo fan pick this up on a sale!
It's just Hotline Miami, but nobody can really hurt you and you fail if you don't kill someone who finds a body or you fast enough. The issue is, the game has Hotline Miami's ranking system almost down to being a copy. You're rank is based on time and score, the latter increased by rapidly killing or destroying corpses. The problem is, the UI is all built like it wants you to be slow and methodical, using shadows and stealth. The worst offender though is the special weapon they give you for the final level... which will literally kill you or make you fail more than your boring old knife.
Story is just Silent Night, Deadly Knight.
Story is just Silent Night, Deadly Knight.
Interesting idea, a homage to Christmas horror films with references to Silent Night, Deadly Night, Christmas Evil, and more. I enjoy the low polygon PS1 era graphics mixed with the horror themed filters. Mood is creepy and it feels like this could be a fun little indie horror.
Unfortunately the game play itself is just a much more limited and janky Hotline Miami, which ruins any sense of being a sneaky slasher villain when your goal is to race through a small area as fast as possible.
Its also incredibly short, even if you wanted to get all the achievements. Like less than 2 hours. Not a big issue for me, but I know some that would feel differently.
Unfortunately the game play itself is just a much more limited and janky Hotline Miami, which ruins any sense of being a sneaky slasher villain when your goal is to race through a small area as fast as possible.
Its also incredibly short, even if you wanted to get all the achievements. Like less than 2 hours. Not a big issue for me, but I know some that would feel differently.
Super simple, but a fun and short ride for those into the genre.
Pretty cool short slasher game. It's a game where you have to kill all the people in the quickest time possible, so rather than stealth it's more like Hotline Miami but only you have weapons, and you lose if they escape. Fun to play on Christmas Day.
i want to like this game, but it's the first game in ages to give me motion sickness.
This review contains spoilers
Christmas Massacre is a "score attack santa slasher simulator" developed by Puppet Combo and released on PC and Playstation consoles (as Switch and Xbox aren't fond of the content). I don't have development cycles on Christmas Massacre itself, though having been a subscriber to the Puppet Combo patreon for a long time I can see posts that go back to 2019 where it apparently was transformed into Blood Maniac but then continued into the events of this game. Puppet Combo's release tactics and constant flow of new games can make it be a bit confusing sometimes in it's releases. I can tell you personally however that I've been following him for a decent while, and when he released Murder House and then Christmas Massacre around Late 2021, I immediately got my key and plugged it and set about streaming it for a friend over a day or so and found it fun. I didn't touch it until around two years later however, as I wanted to stream something for Christmas right after Kowloon's Curse and didn't think the game would take a long time.
The plot is as follows: You play as Larry in the prologue, whose barred from the christmas party at the orphanage by the nun for some reason, possibly due to abuse. Larry decides enough is enough and sneaks to the kitchen to steal a knife before slaying EVERYONE, from kids to other nuns. After his escape, it flashes forward years later, where an older Larry holds up inside of an abandoned house with a santa van outside and a talking christmas tree inside. Yes that's right, a talking christmas tree (named Gino apparently but Combo himself), who hilariously encourages him to go on murder sprees ranging from house parties to grocery stores to BDSM dance clubs. Hallucinations involving beating stoves and chattering teeth occur before the christmas tree gives you a final task, to go back where it all started: the orphanage. He decides to give you a flamethrower for this, you go in and burn everyone to a crisp and then go back to the house where the feds arrest you (with the tree apparently snitching on you). The final scene has you stabbing your way out of the asylum and escaping out into the world before it cuts to credits. It's a simple story and honestly plays out as long as a movie would, and I enjoyed the simplicity of it as well. The tone is played well, with it clearly coming across that Larry is deranged and his talking christmas tree buddy is hilarious with his constant demand for bloodshed.
The gameplay is simple for the most part: you get a small set of levels where the whole goal is to kill everyone in the fastest time possible and don't let anyone escape if they see you. You can choose between first person and third person, of which I choose first because it feels more accurate as well as a lot faster. At the beginning you'll be stuck with just stabbing before you get throwing knives and end the game on a flamethrower. My feelings on this relate to the level design itself as well: the grocery store level is a bit of a pain to navigate with your position in comparison to the exit so you really have to plan this one out for the S Rank. The flamethrower on the last level is a pain in the a ss too as you have a good chance of lighting yourself on fire and the hallways are incredibly small to begin with so you kind of have to both be meticulous and get kind of lucky at the same time. Other than that, you can also collect unlockable stuff like outfits and dolls. Other than those two complaints, the only complaint I really have to the gameplay is just that I wish there was more, from more unlockable outfits and perhaps player created custom maps to roam around but just as a singular game itself I find the gameplay to be an enjoyable time. You'll also have really short interludes in between levels where you can either roam to your next location (though you can fall off the map if you walk out of bounds) or inside of Larry's house. Overall, great stuff and it can honestly get addicting trying to get the S-Rank though I'm not sure if you get anything for it. If you're looking for an S-Rank, kill them all really quickly first and then gib their bodies, as the timer stops as soon as everyone drops and it leaves you with time to gib infinitely.
Graphics and atmosphere wise it's great, and I enjoy the PS1 aesthetic as always, though I'll say I encourage you to tinker with your settings in relation to the filters. The filters sometimes make it really difficult to see anything, and as much as I love the old look I'd prefer not to have everything smeared and looking like vaseline. Other than that the low poly textures are great, though sometimes certain textures (like the outside of the grocery store) can sort of warp depending on where and how you're looking at it and there's a glitch in the orphanage chapter at the end where the top most staircase on one of the sides leads you to looking down and seeing the entire map with the NPCs roaming around which haven't been fixed in two years. Atmospherically I feel it blends just the right amount of slasher holiday horror as well as the goofy nature of Larry's instability. This game isn't a case study on mental health, nor should it be taken as such as it has a talking christmas tree with huge pufferfish lips. I should also mention that the character models look appropriately 80s and that when you attack you could do anything from pop their heads off to throwing a knife at them and then they split in half, the gore detail in this isn't super detailed but there's enough detaching parts to make it really brutal. All the same it's a bloody good time, literally and figuratively.
The sound design is very squishy and feels satisfying with the kills, from the sounds of the throwing knives hitting someone to anything related to stabbing. The voice acting is non-existent except Gino the tree himself, who speaks in this really deep tone that sounds like someones trying to sound deep and it's a lot of fun. Everything else here is pretty much text or maybe a line or two spoken here or there that doesn't sound bad at all and blends in seamlessly. The soundtrack by Clement Panchout and Kacy "MXXN" Loucha bring this mixture between 70s pulp Dario style to lower pitched versions of christmas classic like "Silent Night" that just sounds creepy as hell and makes you shiver a bit. Other than that it's kind of a low drone when you're on the hunt and it adds to the tensity of it all.
Overall, I really like this title and Puppet Combo's work in general. The history of Combo after this had Stay Out of the House release on Steam, as well as plans for an upcoming Steam port for The Power Drill Massacre which I'm excited for. He also runs the Torture Star Label, which hosts other games like Night at the Gates of Hell, Deadly Night, Rewind or Die, Search Party and more. The output is insane and I can't keep track, and it's grown to the point where it even has novelizations of Babysitter Bloodbath, Murder House and Nun Massacre. Honestly, I just want more of everything, especially Puppet Combo ports (though I heard he doesn't do it that much because of profits issues? I'm not sure to be honest) as well as revivals of all of his cancelled or on hold projects and I hope he sees them through because they're honestly a lot of fun and a scary good time. Right now until Tuesday it's on sale for 5.59 and I'm sure will be on sale for the Steam Christmas Sale, my advice is this: if you feel you can enjoy 5-7 dollars for around an hour or two of content depending on replays and such then buy it. I personally don't regret it, but also keep in mind that it's a bit of a short game and I've seen speedrun 100 percent playthroughs take 30 or so minutes? Either way, if you're looking for a fun Christmas horror game, consider giving this title a shot.
Links:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/PuppetCombo
https://www.patreon.com/puppetcombo/posts
https://twitter.com/PuppetCombo
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/
The plot is as follows: You play as Larry in the prologue, whose barred from the christmas party at the orphanage by the nun for some reason, possibly due to abuse. Larry decides enough is enough and sneaks to the kitchen to steal a knife before slaying EVERYONE, from kids to other nuns. After his escape, it flashes forward years later, where an older Larry holds up inside of an abandoned house with a santa van outside and a talking christmas tree inside. Yes that's right, a talking christmas tree (named Gino apparently but Combo himself), who hilariously encourages him to go on murder sprees ranging from house parties to grocery stores to BDSM dance clubs. Hallucinations involving beating stoves and chattering teeth occur before the christmas tree gives you a final task, to go back where it all started: the orphanage. He decides to give you a flamethrower for this, you go in and burn everyone to a crisp and then go back to the house where the feds arrest you (with the tree apparently snitching on you). The final scene has you stabbing your way out of the asylum and escaping out into the world before it cuts to credits. It's a simple story and honestly plays out as long as a movie would, and I enjoyed the simplicity of it as well. The tone is played well, with it clearly coming across that Larry is deranged and his talking christmas tree buddy is hilarious with his constant demand for bloodshed.
The gameplay is simple for the most part: you get a small set of levels where the whole goal is to kill everyone in the fastest time possible and don't let anyone escape if they see you. You can choose between first person and third person, of which I choose first because it feels more accurate as well as a lot faster. At the beginning you'll be stuck with just stabbing before you get throwing knives and end the game on a flamethrower. My feelings on this relate to the level design itself as well: the grocery store level is a bit of a pain to navigate with your position in comparison to the exit so you really have to plan this one out for the S Rank. The flamethrower on the last level is a pain in the a ss too as you have a good chance of lighting yourself on fire and the hallways are incredibly small to begin with so you kind of have to both be meticulous and get kind of lucky at the same time. Other than that, you can also collect unlockable stuff like outfits and dolls. Other than those two complaints, the only complaint I really have to the gameplay is just that I wish there was more, from more unlockable outfits and perhaps player created custom maps to roam around but just as a singular game itself I find the gameplay to be an enjoyable time. You'll also have really short interludes in between levels where you can either roam to your next location (though you can fall off the map if you walk out of bounds) or inside of Larry's house. Overall, great stuff and it can honestly get addicting trying to get the S-Rank though I'm not sure if you get anything for it. If you're looking for an S-Rank, kill them all really quickly first and then gib their bodies, as the timer stops as soon as everyone drops and it leaves you with time to gib infinitely.
Graphics and atmosphere wise it's great, and I enjoy the PS1 aesthetic as always, though I'll say I encourage you to tinker with your settings in relation to the filters. The filters sometimes make it really difficult to see anything, and as much as I love the old look I'd prefer not to have everything smeared and looking like vaseline. Other than that the low poly textures are great, though sometimes certain textures (like the outside of the grocery store) can sort of warp depending on where and how you're looking at it and there's a glitch in the orphanage chapter at the end where the top most staircase on one of the sides leads you to looking down and seeing the entire map with the NPCs roaming around which haven't been fixed in two years. Atmospherically I feel it blends just the right amount of slasher holiday horror as well as the goofy nature of Larry's instability. This game isn't a case study on mental health, nor should it be taken as such as it has a talking christmas tree with huge pufferfish lips. I should also mention that the character models look appropriately 80s and that when you attack you could do anything from pop their heads off to throwing a knife at them and then they split in half, the gore detail in this isn't super detailed but there's enough detaching parts to make it really brutal. All the same it's a bloody good time, literally and figuratively.
The sound design is very squishy and feels satisfying with the kills, from the sounds of the throwing knives hitting someone to anything related to stabbing. The voice acting is non-existent except Gino the tree himself, who speaks in this really deep tone that sounds like someones trying to sound deep and it's a lot of fun. Everything else here is pretty much text or maybe a line or two spoken here or there that doesn't sound bad at all and blends in seamlessly. The soundtrack by Clement Panchout and Kacy "MXXN" Loucha bring this mixture between 70s pulp Dario style to lower pitched versions of christmas classic like "Silent Night" that just sounds creepy as hell and makes you shiver a bit. Other than that it's kind of a low drone when you're on the hunt and it adds to the tensity of it all.
Overall, I really like this title and Puppet Combo's work in general. The history of Combo after this had Stay Out of the House release on Steam, as well as plans for an upcoming Steam port for The Power Drill Massacre which I'm excited for. He also runs the Torture Star Label, which hosts other games like Night at the Gates of Hell, Deadly Night, Rewind or Die, Search Party and more. The output is insane and I can't keep track, and it's grown to the point where it even has novelizations of Babysitter Bloodbath, Murder House and Nun Massacre. Honestly, I just want more of everything, especially Puppet Combo ports (though I heard he doesn't do it that much because of profits issues? I'm not sure to be honest) as well as revivals of all of his cancelled or on hold projects and I hope he sees them through because they're honestly a lot of fun and a scary good time. Right now until Tuesday it's on sale for 5.59 and I'm sure will be on sale for the Steam Christmas Sale, my advice is this: if you feel you can enjoy 5-7 dollars for around an hour or two of content depending on replays and such then buy it. I personally don't regret it, but also keep in mind that it's a bit of a short game and I've seen speedrun 100 percent playthroughs take 30 or so minutes? Either way, if you're looking for a fun Christmas horror game, consider giving this title a shot.
Links:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/PuppetCombo
https://www.patreon.com/puppetcombo/posts
https://twitter.com/PuppetCombo
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/
the game has a very interesting concept
Playing as a serial killer who dressed up as Santa? Hell yeah
The atmosphere is well-made, the ps1 graphics gives a wonderful vibe and there are a lot of setting to play with.
The killings feel good but soon enough you realize that it's a game about performance. Each level is a small house where you have to kill everybody until they run away(if they see you). Once they see you, they run towards the door, and if they escape -> game over. It makes sense thematically but my god it becomes very difficult very fast.
I'm fine with learning and repeating the levels to optimize my strategy, but this is just not my thing.
Do I recommend it? Absolutely, very unique game. Just be aware that if you didn't like games like hotline, then it might be not for you
Playing as a serial killer who dressed up as Santa? Hell yeah
The atmosphere is well-made, the ps1 graphics gives a wonderful vibe and there are a lot of setting to play with.
The killings feel good but soon enough you realize that it's a game about performance. Each level is a small house where you have to kill everybody until they run away(if they see you). Once they see you, they run towards the door, and if they escape -> game over. It makes sense thematically but my god it becomes very difficult very fast.
I'm fine with learning and repeating the levels to optimize my strategy, but this is just not my thing.
Do I recommend it? Absolutely, very unique game. Just be aware that if you didn't like games like hotline, then it might be not for you
Hotline Miami but not good
a árvore de natal da porra manda você esfaquear esquartejar pinicar cortar tudo e todos e isso é muito foda
puppet combo mostrando sua maestria em vários gêneros diferentes
puppet combo mostrando sua maestria em vários gêneros diferentes
The combination of Hotline Miami style brutality and fast paced stealth mechanics with layers of "PSX style" jank seems like a fun idea but it's unfortunately really not something that pans out to anything interesting. Doesn't help that any jank feels like not an especially consistent factor of the game, where aiming and moving is weird, but then the civilians seem to be a bit overly responsive and create this weird disconnect. The dissonance of systems is even more clear with the way you've got a ranking system that's based on being able to cause as much carnage as possible within a short time while also punishing players heavily for being seen and also seemingly wanting to also encourage players to use stealth by hiding in the shadows etc. It's just not a great combination because none of the elements end up being used properly and everything culminates in a very empty experience, exacerbated by very lacklustre level design. Seemed fun but missed the mark across most of the ways I was interested in, it's not even really that fun as just a slab of total brutality either.
A pretty mid slasher video game that doesn't last that long and is kind of clunky at times, even if it was intended.
bem chatinho esse