Terrifier: The ARTcade Game

Terrifier: The ARTcade Game had a good premise and a chance to do something different with game characters that almost always stick to horror and nothing more. However, the execution left much to be desired and ended up wasting this great opportunity.

Terrifier: The ARTcade Game brings the world of the iconic horror films into a beat ’em up experience that horror fans will appreciate.

While the Terrifier series has a massive cult following, I don't see the game having the same treatment. It is surprisingly shallow and feels as if no testing was done to have some balance to its difficulty. While playing with friends does soften some of the issues, there are just better games in the genre that provide far more variety than what they give you here. Terrifier: The ARTcade Game may have had great intentions to provide a fun game for its audience, but it simply falls flat and feels like a quick-to-market licensed game that doesn't do the film franchise any favors.

My main question here is, who is Terrifier: The ARTcade Game for? Beat ’em up fans won’t find any redeeming qualities in one of the genre’s clunkiest outings in years. Fans of the horror franchise will struggle a lot to find any semblance of enjoyment from this edgelordish and overpriced mess that features cheap visuals, poor controls and little to no replay value, as well as a tone that just doesn’t blend in at all with the movies.

Terrifier: The ARTcade Game is a video game designed for fans of the franchise, featuring a 2D pixel art beat 'em up for up to 4 players locally.

Sure, it’s not the best side-scrolling beat ‘em up on the market, and the combat doesn’t feel amazing, but what it does is mirror the film franchise fantastically. Art the Clown is a campy serial killer with a penchant for schlocky blood and guts. Are there better films than Terrifier? 100%. Are there better games than Terrifier: The ARTcade Game? 100%. But there’s still fun to be had here if you can look past its rough edges. That’s how I feel about both the films and the game. It’s worth a go, but don’t expect anything truly spectacular. It’s a fun time despite its obvious weaknesses.

Gore fest pixel beat ‘em up based on the Terrifier universe

The task facing Terrifier: The ARTcade Game was not exactly straightforward. Adapting a franchise like the one created by Damien Leone to the world of video games presented many pitfalls and challenges. Relevo tried its hand at a side-scrolling beat 'em up, immersing it in the unhinged bloody madness of Art the Clown while giving a nod to the gaming tradition of the 80s and 90s. The arcade cabinet atmosphere is present and reworks the carnage of the feature films with an original twist. However, from a strictly gaming point of view, we are faced with a title that is too simple, lacking the necessary bite to make up for its lack of originality. If you are among the most die-hard fans of the unstoppable clown, give it a try: it could become a little guilty pleasure.

While it does feature Art the Clown and some of his violent buddies, the beat-em-up action and even the gore are very limited, and the game is simply quite buggy as well

Terrifier: The ARTcade Game is a very monotonous, short game. It works well and has some fun character designs. Nevertheless, the game is more frustrating and dull than entertaining.