| Thrill Kill | |
|---|---|
 European cover art | |
| Developer | Paradox Development |
| Publisher | Virgin Interactive |
| Producers |
|
| Designer | Benjamin Kutcher |
| Programmer | Peter Jefferies |
| Artist | Paul Interrante |
| Writer | Brian Gomez |
| Composer | Keith Arem |
| Platform | PlayStation |
| Release | Cancelled |
| Genre | Fighting |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Thrill Kill is a cancelledfighting game developed byParadox Development for thePlayStation. Originally intended to be released in 1998, the game's plot involves ten people who all get sent to Hell after dying on Earth and are forced by Marukka, the Goddess of Secrets, to fight to the death for a chance at reincarnation. It was marketed as the first four-player 3D fighting game, with up to four players being able to play at once using thePlayStation Multitap. Each player is given a "kill meter" that increases with each successful attack and, once filled, executes a gory finishing move called a "Thrill Kill".
Thrill Kill began development asEarth Monster, asports game based on theMesoamerican ballgame in which characters attacked one another as they tried to get a ball into a hoop. As the developers were repeatedly pushed by publisherVirgin Interactive to make the game more violent,Earth Monster's concept was scrapped in favor of an adult-oriented,BDSM-themed fighting game. During development, the game gained a large following for its overtly sexual and gory content, and received one of the first-ever"Adults Only" (AO) ratings from theEntertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), also becoming the first game to receive the rating for its violence.[citation needed]
Reviews of the beta version ofThrill Kill considered it fun but unfinished. The game was scheduled to be released by Virgin Interactive in October 1998; however,Electronic Arts gained the publishing rights upon purchasing Virgin's North American operations in August of that year, and chose not to release the game or sell it to other publishers due to its graphic content.Bootleg versions of the game were uploaded to pirating websites, and it became especially popular as a downloadedISO. Following its cancellation,Thrill Kill wasreskinned to develop the 1999Activision gameWu-Tang: Shaolin Style, also developed by Paradox, who went on to use theThrill Kill engine in several of their other games.
The gameplay consists of up to four opponents in a closed 3D room fighting to kill one another one-by-one using gory special moves known as "Thrill Kills". The four attack buttons correspond to each character's arms and legs, while attacks are blocked by standing still or by holding down the guard button. Double tapping in any direction allows players to dash. Each character has four throws, including a "Swap Throw", which causes the player who performs it and the opponent to switch places, and a "Hold Throw", which pins opponents down in front of the character that performs it. Characters can also perform both high and low counter hits.[1]
Instead of the usuallife bar, characters have a "kill meter" that increases with each successful attack performed. Whichever character fills this meter first must use a Thrill Kill on one other opponent of their choice, which kills them and removes them from the round. The manner of the kill depends on the button input upon grabbing the other character. The round then repeats without the defeated character, with the character who performed a Thrill Kill in the prior round earning a small boost to their kill meter at the start of the round. This continues until there are two fighters left, and whichever fighter's kill meter fills up first wins, triggering a final, character-specific death animation.[2][3]
Players can choose from four different modes. "Arcade Mode" puts players through eight stages againstcomputer-controlled opponents, the first six of which are four-player matches, while the latter two are one-on-one battles against the characters Judas and Marukka, respectively. "Versus Mode" allows players to fight with up to three other players or computer-controlled fighters. In order to play with all four players, players required thePlayStation Multitap.[4] "Team Mode" splits players into two teams, with each team sharing a single kill meter. "Training Mode" is asingle-player mode which allows players to test individual characters' moves on a computer opponent; performing each move in a character's moveset in this mode unlocks a fifth costume for the character.[1] Stages include Dante's Cage, the Crematorium, Sacrificial Ruins, Chamber of Anguish, the Lavatory, Insane Asylum, Slaughterhouse of Flesh, Sewer of Styx, Sinner's Cell, and Homicide Avenue.[5]
In the story ofThrill Kill, Marukka decides out of boredom to gather ten people who have been sent to Hell for their sins to fight to the death for a chance at being reincarnated. There are eleven playable characters:[1][2]
A twelfthnon-player character, The Gimp, inspired by "the gimp" from the 1994 filmPulp Fiction, can be unlocked as an opponent in Training Mode.[5]
In the late 1990s,Paradox Development began development on aPlayStation game titledEarth Monster, a fantasysports game based on theMesoamerican ballgame where players would control large, muscular Aztec warriors who punched and kicked one another while trying to get a ball into a hoop. The game's publisher,Virgin Interactive, repeatedly encouraged the developers to make the fighting aspect more violent, before eventually deciding to turn the project entirely into a fighting game. Its Aztec aesthetic was soon replaced by one inspired byBDSM and intended by Virgin to cause controversy, which they hoped would help it sell better. Harvard Bonin, the producer assigned toThrill Kill, showed developersfetish magazines, such asSkin Two, and BDSM DVDs as references for the desired art direction.[4] The game was originally announced under the titleS&M.[7]
Designed as an especially violent, "full-blown adult" fighting game and the first four-player 3D fighting game,Thrill Kill was meant to compare to the similarly violentMortal Kombat series.[8] Paradox hoped that the game's success would help the studio earn mainstream recognition. The plot ofThrill Kill, based around each of the characters fighting for a chance at resurrection after being sent to Hell, was written by the game's assistant producer, Brian Gomez, and inspired by the musicalCats. Moves were given names such as "Bitch Slap", "Swallow This", "Crotch Crush", and "Miner 69er", and several were designed to resemble sexual acts.[9][10] According to Bonin, the kill meter system was designed to "promote in-your-face aggression" to contrastThrill Kill from other fighting games that encouraged players to focus on defending their own character.[11] AfterE3 1998, whereThrill Kill was nominated as the most popular game presented at the event, it gained a large following due to its gory and sexual nature.[12] It received one of the first"Adults Only" (AO) ratings from theEntertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) after it was submitted, and became the first game to receive the rating solely due to violence as opposed to the rating usually being only given to games with strong sexual/pornographic content[citation needed]. As of 2021, only two other games (Manhunt 2 andHatred) ever received an AO rating solely for extreme, graphic violence.[13] This prompted Virgin and Bonin to try and get developers to tone down the game's content to get it to a "Mature" (M) rating, as an AO rating would prevent it from being sold in many stores.[4][11]
Thrill Kill was originally set to be released in October 1998.[11] One strategy proposed by Virgin to promote it was to send copies to those opposed to video game violence. In August 1998, the North American operations of Virgin Interactive were acquired byElectronic Arts as part of their purchase ofWestwood Studios, which led to EA gaining the publishing rights toThrill Kill. After evaluating the game, EA's executive board deemed its tone too violent for publication. By this point, according to senior programmer David Ollman, the game was already 99% finished and a sequel had been proposed, the name of which would have either beenF.U.B.A.R orS&M.[10] Two weeks after acquiring Virgin, the company discontinued the game and declined offers to sell it to other publishers, includingEidos Interactive. According to Louis Castle, founder of Westwood Studios, "EA...was working hard to overcome the industry stigma of games as a more violent medium than film or TV."[9] Members ofThrill Kill's development team were not directly informed by EA that the game was cancelled and instead found out by reading articles about it on the Internet, according to producer Kevin Mulhall. In later interviews, Paradox employees such as Mulhall and Ollman pointed to EA's connections withUnited States SenatorJoe Lieberman, who was staunchly and vocally opposed to video game violence, as an explanation for EA's decision to cancel the game.[4][10]
Although it was never made available for retail purchase,bootleg versions of the game were uploaded to pirating websites by its developers, and it became one of the most popular and frequently downloadedROMs on the Internet.[10][14]Thrill Kill was laterreskinned by Paradox and used to make the 1999 PlayStation fighting gameWu-Tang: Shaolin Style, published byActivision and based on the rap groupWu-Tang Clan.[8] TheThrill Kill engine later became a core technology for Paradox, and was used in two-player form for the 2000 gameX-Men: Mutant Academy, its 2001 sequelX-Men: Mutant Academy 2, and the 2000 gameRock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots Arena.[15][16][17]
In a review of the beta version ofThrill Kill,Gamers' Republic's Mike Griffin wrote, "[Thrill Kill is] perfect for mindless fun with friends and cold drinks. Mindless, but not brainless. There should be enough depth to the gameplay to satisfy hard-core 3D fighting fans once Paradox has completed its final few months of dedicated beta tweaking." Griffin also stated, "There are a few bugs right now that prevent Thrill Kill from being completely effective."[2] Also reviewing the game's beta version,IGN's Jeff Chen wrote, "The action at this point is somewhat stiff, but it's still early, and if you're looking for blood and guts, this has got more than we'd ever imagined. We can't wait."[3]
In their September 2004 issue,Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine citedThrill Kill as one of the most overrated cancelled games, stating, "It got lots of hype. But it really sucked, too."[18] In 2011,GamePro rankedThe Imp fourteenth on a list of "The 50 Best Fighting Game Characters Ever".[19] In 2014,Metro includedThrill Kill on their list of the most offensive games of all time, whileComplex namedThrill Kill the seventh most violent video game.[20][21]IGN namedThrill Kill on their list of the biggest unreleased games.[22]
Steven T. Wright ofVariety consideredThrill Kill "perhaps the most notorious unreleased game in the history of the industry", while, in 2012,IGN wrote that it was "perhaps the most famous cancelled game in recent memory".[4][3] In a 2013 article forThe Manitoban, Marc Lagace called the game "a complete disaster, both aesthetically and gameplay-wise" and "perhaps the most controversial game that never was".[23] Writing forKotaku Australia, Leah Williams wrote, "To look at it now, it all seems a bit naff — but way back in 1998, the content ofThrill Kill was extremely controversial."[14]Den of Geek's Gavin Jasper calledThrill Kill,Tattoo Assassins, andPrimal Rage 2 the "holy trinity of almost-to-completely-finished fighting games that didn't get released".[24]