Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit – Review
I used to think the fear of rabbits was irrational, until the French development studio Arkedo unleashed Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit upon the world. The game revolves around a homicidal rabbit, and makes sure that Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail will no longer be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a killer bunny.
Story
In Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit you play as a dead rabbit, makes sense right? Come to think of it, that is also the only plot point to make much sense in this game. The basic premise is that you are Ash, the Prince of Hell and a renowned badass. This reputation is about to get a serious dent as Hell’s equivalent of the paparazzi manages to snap a photo of you enjoying a relaxing bath with your favorite rubber duck. The photo quickly gets posted on “Hellternet” and you begin your journey of murdering the 100 Hellizens who have seen it.
Graphics
The game is done entirely in 2D, but this suits the style it is going for just fine. Even without a fancy 3D engine, running through Hell is a real treat for the eyes. There are 10 different levels, including a space level, an underwater level and a level where hippie-like creatures flip the controls. Like the levels, the mini bosses and other cannon fodder, are very creatively and diversely designed. The finishing moves stick out though, as they show that pulverizing monsters in to unrecognizable bits should be considered to be an art form. The game manages to maintain a good balance. Not too much gore, but certainly not too little. Hell Yeah is a gory game but not excessively vulgar.
Sound
Although there is no spoken dialogue, there is still plenty to hear, like the sound of demons getting ripped in half by a giant circular saw for example. The sound effects manage to be dark and cartoony at the same time, fitting the theme perfectly. The groovy soundtrack stays on the background, as it should, but helps draw you in, reinforcing normal gameplay and boss fights alike.
Gameplay
Hell Yeah plays as your average 2D sidescroller, something most gamers are already familiar with. The developers realize this, and immediately throw you in to the action, so the first stage is basically your tutorial. All the info you need is provided as you play, so you can just pop the game in and start your homicidal rampage immediately.
The gameplay itself is quite simple. Every level is filled with enemies and bosses and in between you can collect loot, like diamonds embedded in the walls, which you can use as currency to buy upgrades. To help you on your rampage through the various levels, you have the Wheel of Destruction, a giant circular saw, which can drill though walls and enemies alike. Interestingly, the Wheel also doubles as a jetpack. Because of its rotation, it allows you to hover in the air for a short period of time.
Some monsters deal damage if you get too close. In order to be able to combat these, Ash has access to a wide variety of ranged weaponry like a rocket launcher, machine gun, a grenade launcher, a shotgun and more. All of these are upgradeable by the way. The weapons aren’t always available for use, as there are parts where the game temporarily takes away your arms and the game turns into a platformer for a short while. These segments are a welcome change from all the usual violence however.
Once you have almost defeated a boss, you must complete a mini-game in order to finish him off. This can include things like quizzes, quick time events, button mashing… All of them, there are about 30, are humorously done and made me chuckle on occasion. If you lose the mini-game, the boss gains about 25% health and must be attacked against, before you get another chance. When a boss is defeated, he does not simply die, but gets transported to your island. This island is basically a slave labor camp where you force those poor monsters to work for you. You can get them to mine for diamonds for example, or dredge the harbor for special prizes.
In general, we can say that the game is paced well, starting out relatively slowly. The difficulty is built up gradually, and the trickier enemies are kept for the later levels. You’ll notice that after some time, the enemies will require different tactics than those encountered in the beginning. Even the environments will become more challenging to navigate as you progress.
Conclusion
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit is colorful, wacky, funny and looks incredibly cool. Unfortunately the game looks better than it plays. With only 10 levels, the developers need to rely on recycling familiar elements too often, making it sometimes difficult to keep you interested. The game doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before, but does what it does well enough to stick out from the grey mass of sidescrollers on the Xbox Arcade. Definitely recommended.
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