The Lacerator Review – A brilliantly outrageous and stupidly entertaining grindhouse trip

“What in the world did I just play?” That was the very first question flashing through my mind as I watched the credits roll during the final moments of The Lacerator, and I’m still not sure I have the answer. Nor do I feel like I need one. Developer Games From The Abyss managed to really live up to its name and deliver a product that could’ve only been forged in the sexy fires of the deepest circle of hell – an experience that will shock you, disturb you and confuse you in equal measure. It mixes low-poly retro visuals, classics-inspired survival horror mechanics and the unmistakable vibes of trashy grindhouse schlock to create something that feels like it could’ve easily come from the minds of bizarro masters like SWERY or Suda51. And that really is the highest praise I can give to a project like this.

Max, the man who loves sex

The setup is extremely simple: Max (who loves sex) is one of the most successful mucho-macho porn stars of the 1980s, but one day, he and his crew get kidnapped by the psychopath known only as the Lacerator. Imprisoned at the murderous freak’s hideout, Max takes matters into his own hands – provided he still has them – and attempts to kick ass, chew gum, and get out of the place with all (or most) of his limbs intact. The Lacerator sold me on its basic premise in the first five minutes, which certainly is a feat and a half; what follows is a game that absolutely revels in its own outrageousness – a trait that is only further amplified by the intentionally blocky, PlayStation 1-inspired visual style and the quirky, over-the-top writing. The storyline takes some unexpected – as well as some VERY unexpected – turns here and there, and it never really outstays its welcome: a single playthrough can actually be finished in roughly two hours. However, there are multiple different endings and alternate paths to uncover, so if you want to see absolutely everything The Lacerator has to offer, you’ll need to revisit its freaky funhouse more than once.

Inventory mismanagement

In terms of mechanics, The Lacerator is pretty much a survival horror game in the vein of the oldest of classics: you explore a somewhat labyrinthine location laden with traps, solve various light puzzles, defeat – or run from – shambling, zombified locals, and manage the hell out of your inventory. And I do really mean that last part. Honestly, it’s probably the one thing I didn’t thoroughly enjoy about the game; inventory space is not only limited, but items once dropped are lost forever, resulting in awkward situations where you’ll have to potentially sacrifice ammo or healing goodies just so you can pick up the quest item needed to progress through the story. Having limited space wouldn’t even be a colossal problem on its own (it’s part of the classic survival horror DNA, after all), but seeing how the game lacks a permanent stash like Resident Evil’s item boxes, it can quickly become a source of frustration.

Fascinatingly enough, the game also offers a choice between classic, fixed camera angles (with tank controls) and an over-the-shoulder view that’s more in-line with later Resident Evil titles, most notably 4. This setting can actually be changed on the fly during gameplay, and if you ask me, I’d say you’re probably better off with the over-the-shoulder option; with fixed camera angles, combat and navigation can feel somewhat cumbersome at times, not to mention it’s also easier to get lost or miss important details in the environment. And while we’re on the topic of Resident Evil, saving progress in The Lacerator differs a bit from the classics: it’s entirely checkpoint-based, and there is no way to manually save, but I was personally more than fine with this. After all, the entire premise of the game is based on the assumption that if you make a huge mistake (such as getting a limb chopped off), you’ll just have to live with it and keep going.

No leg? No problem!

As implied above, one of the key aspects of The Lacerator’s gameplay is that Max can actually lose some of his limbs during his adventures, usually due to falling victim to one of the game’s insidious traps. And while this may seem like a major handicap, the game finds inventive and unexpected ways to compensate you for your shortcomings: losing a leg forces you to crawl, but that actually gives you access to certain exclusive areas that can only be reached that way. To give you a more extreme example: during my run, I pretty much pulled an Evil Dead (sort of) and attached a chainsaw to one of my leg stumps, effectively acquiring a powerful melee weapon in the process. The lesson here is clear: when one door closes, another opens… and sometimes, there’s a chainsaw behind it.

That said, retaining your limbs isn’t a bad idea, either, as certain things can only be done with both arms or both legs unsevered. But that’s what multiple playthroughs are for: once you learn which traps you need to watch out for, you can avoid them on subsequent runs.

Drugged to the max

At the end of the day, I can’t help but applaud any game that manages to get a hearty “WTF?!” out of me on so many occasions. Which is exactly what The Lacerator did: it’s a delightfully and unashamedly farcical take on the genre of horror, and I loved every single demented minute of it. I’d give it a thumbs up, if I still had my hands.

The Lacerator launches today on Steam.