Illbleed is a survival horror video game for the Sega Dreamcast. In it, players are tasked with guiding horror movie aficionado Eriko Christy through a deadly theme park riddled with booby-traps and monsters, relying on a heartbeat monitor and her own senses (some of which are conveyed through an in-game interface and others indirectly) to avoid being frightened to death. Should she make it out alive, the eccentric genius responsible for the park's creation, Michael Reynolds, will reward Eriko with a hundred million dollar prize and allow her to leave the amusement park.
Game play
The gameplay of Illbleed differs from other survival horror games. The player is encouraged to not rush through the level, but to slowly walk from place to place, looking around and at the environment. Using a tool named Horror Monitor that consumes the player's adrenaline, the player can mark various places suspected of being a trap. These traps burn, slice, scare, and hit the player in various different ways, resulting in blood loss, rise of pulse, and lowered stamina.
The player is given tools and items to prevent the character from bleeding to death, running out of strength/adrenaline, or being scared to death. If the player fails to keep the character alive through the course of the level, they must be revived outside of the level. If the player runs out of all characters, then the game ends.
Battle
When engaging enemies, the player is not allowed to exit battlefield until the enemies are cleared out. If the player goes beyond the battlefield, it will flash blue to remind the player. In some cases, the battlefield has a smaller green square with an alphabet "H" on it; a helicopter hovers over the area (even if it is indoor). The player may attempt an escape by standing on the green square and presses B button repeatedly to call for help. Successful escape clears out the enemies.
Four senses and horror monitor
A character has four senses: Sight, hearing, smell and sixth sense. Each time the player gets near items or traps, one or multiple senses will register on the meter located on the top of the screen. The player may utilize the horror monitor, which consumes adrenaline, to mark the spots suspected of hoarding items, traps or lurking enemies. Any spot marked will display a glowing blue orb, which the player can survey. Some traps will be successfully defused this way and the spent adrenaline will be returned to the character.
Items
Items may be purchased at Bloody Mary Drugstores located in the amusement park, found throughout levels, or obtained as the plot unfolded. Some items restore, deduct or rise the upper limit of certain character stats; items unused will be carried to the next level.
- Hassy: Most popular stamina drink. Slight recovery of stamina.
- Salad: Grilled chicken Caesar salad. Mild recovery of stamina.
- Steak Dinner: Steer fillet with potatoes. Full recovery of Stamina.
- Ampoule: Filled with purple liquid. Consume to raise adrenaline slightly.
- Injection: Filled with made adrenaline. Mild recovery of adrenaline.
- Intravenous Drip: Filled with made adrenaline. Full recovery of adrenaline.
- Deep Breath: Relaxes pulse by inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Slightly relaxes pulse.
- Relaxation CD: Sounds of waves, dolphins, and windblown trees. Mildly relaxes pulse.
- Nitroglycerine: Swallow, don't chew as it may explode. Fully relaxes pulse.
- Bandage: First-aid kit for wounds. not very effective, but better then nothing. Slightly slows bleeding.
- Gauze Wrap: Very elastic. Wrap tightly around wound to control bleeding. Mildly slows bleeding.
- Coagulant: Pasty, but very sticky substance that "glues" shut wounds. Completely stops bleeding.
- Erotic Magazine: Adult magazine. Slightly increases pulse.
Characters
Initially, the player may only choose Eriko. As the player rescues each of Eriko's friends, the player has more choices of characters to play with. After beating the game for the first time, Eriko will wear less clothing for each character she fails to rescue in future playthroughs.
Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, with two all-around average characteristics (Jorg and Kevin Kertsman). Eriko Christy, the main character, can recover more quickly after being scared by a trap or enemy. Randy Fairbanks, the dim-witted slasher movie fan, has the highest strength and health, but lowest adrenaline. Would-be psychic Michel Waters has the lowest health, but the highest adrenaline.
Plot
The opening scene in Illbleed starts with the main character, Eriko, giving a speech for a 12th grade speech contest. She talks about her troubled childhood in which her father, who was a horror theme park designer, tested out all his new traps and props on her until she was 6 years old, when her mother left him. At age 7, Eriko only watched horror movies and then later, at high school, she created the "Horror Movie Research Club" with her as the club president. All of Eriko's friends are in it (with the expection of Jorg, who they meet much later in the game).
After Eriko's speech, Eriko, Kevin, and Randy meet outside to discuss Eriko's speech. In the middle of their conversation, Michel excitedly runs up to them holding invitations to "Illbleed" received as a Petco promotion, rumored to be the most exclusive horror theme park to date. The invitations also state that the first ones to clear all the traps and exit alive will be rewarded with $100,000,000.
They beg Eriko to go with them, but Eriko remains unimpressed and is certain that the park is just a hoax with cheap props and scares. Smitten with the idea of victory, Kevin, Michel, and Randy all set out for Illbleed and leave Eriko with her ticket.
A few days pass without word from her friends. Eriko decides to head to Illbleed in search of them. She enters the park and thus starts the gameplay. At the end of the first level, Eriko finds Kevin. She finds Michel on the second level, and Randy on the third. During the fifth level, Killerman, the player will meet Jorg, who is a secret character.
After the player completes all the levels, he/she is forced to venture into the "Michael Reynolds' Horror Museum." He/She fights one of three bosses that Michael (the creator of the theme park) has set up for them. After the player wins, the number of friends saved will determine the ending.
If all three friends are saved, the best ending consists of Eriko and friends (Jorg is not present) at a beach enjoying themselves. Eriko suddenly states that she is going back to Illbleed and tells them not to follow, despite their enthusiasm to return with her.
If the player finishes the game a second time, and does not save anyone, the true ending is shown. Eriko finds out that Michael Reynolds is her father. A fight ensues with Eriko emerging as the victor, commenting on how "You [Michael] scared the living hell out of me."
At the very end of the game, a picture shows Kevin and Eriko embracing with Kevin announcing that he is taking over as club president as Eriko has become a very timid person after her second visit to Illbleed. He further explains that she needs protection now and that he would be the one to provide it.
Stats
Illbleed can be won or lost based on the characters stats at the end of the game (or the middle if one dies). At the end of each level, the remaining stamina, adrenaline, pulse, etc., is tallied, and the player loses some prize money if the values are either exceeding or below the values specified at the beginning of each level. These extra ranks get harder to reach with each and every stage. The following are the stats and what they mean.
- Stamina: The character's overall health. When depleted, the game ends.
- Adrenaline: The character's ability to mark traps with the horror monitor.
- Pulse: The character's heart rate. When it reaches either 255 or 0, the player dies. When the player is scared or wounded by traps, the player's pulse will go up. Pulse is raised by two units each time the player uses dodging technique.
- Bleeding: The character's wound level. Bleeding increases as the character moves. Wounds slowly heal as the character stands still. The higher the player's bleeding level is, the slower the character will move. Higher levels of bleeding will also effect the character's stamina.
Below is a table of initial stats for each character.
|
Stamina |
Adrenaline |
Pulse |
Bleeding |
| Eriko |
250 |
540 |
255 |
100 |
| Kevin |
300 |
540 |
255 |
100 |
| Randy |
450 |
270 |
255 |
100 |
| Michel |
200 |
720 |
255 |
100 |
| Jorg |
300 |
720 |
255 |
100 |
Levels
Each level is unlocked one by one in the order as Theaters Section indicated. The player approaches a theater and is asked if they would like to begin the level or not. If they select "Yes", the level begins with an intro. After completion, the player cannot replay the level.
Theaters
- Minnesota Hell Cinema - Homerun of Death: The player explores a burned-down hotel, Chateau Banbollow. Throughout the level, they have repeated encounters with Gale Banbollow, the flamethrower-toting owner, who was badly maimed in the fire and driven mad by the loss of his son, Jimmy, who was burned to death in the fire. If the player nears the end of the level in under 50:00 minutes, they will find, and save Kevin.
- Cinepanic - The Revenge of Queen Worm: The player explores an abandoned campground, where they discover the ghost of worm farmer David Rodriguez, who seeks their help in putting his gigantic, prized breeding worm, Rachel, out of her misery. If they player finds Michel within the 30:00 minute time limit, they will save her.
- Boogie's Fun Movies - Woodppuppets: A vindictive tree spirit named Trent kills lumberjack and chainsaw enthusiast George MacLachlan, then takes over his mill, turning the workers into killer mannequins. The player must enter the mill and destroy the diabolical plant and its army of "Woodpuppets". If the player finds Randy within the 50:00 minute time limit, they will save him. There is also an Easter egg in failing to find Randy's brain. If the player fails to reach reaches him within the time limit, he will be "Brain-less Randy".
- Shock It to Me Theater - Killer Department Store: The player enters the ruins of the Cashman Department Store, facing haunted merchandise and the ghost of its greedy owner, Donald Cashman.
- Hall of Resentment - Killerman: The player must help solve a murder mystery in a broken attraction. If the player finds Jorg after the zombies capture him, he will become a playable character.
- Child Palace - Toyhunter: The player takes on the role of Cork Inda, a cross between Woody from Toy Story and Indiana Jones, and help him travel to Toy Hell and back to rescue his lover, Sexy Doll, from the clutches of the ruler of Toy Hell, Zodick the Hellhog (a monster based on Sonic the Hedgehog[1]).
- Michael Reynolds' Horror Museum - The Final Battle: The player confronts Reynolds and one of his three sinister boss monsters in order to claim their reward. An alternate ending allows the player to discover the sinister connection between Eriko Christy and Michael Reynolds.
Mistakes
- The narrator can be heard to stammer and flub his lines in the prologue for Killer Department Store. Listen closely when he says "In his warped mind..."
- When playing as Nude Eriko, her clothes will magically reappear in cut-scenes.
- The large breaker panels in Level 5 have the word "DENGAR" on them.
- The prize amounts listed in the Cinema Zone are inconsistent with the amounts that you actually receive. For example, the sign in front of Homerun of Death says you receive $10,000 upon completion, yet you really get $50,000. The numbers are correct in the Japanese version - as if the exchange rate hasn't been applied.
- The narration text in the prologue for Woodpuppets doesn't match what the Narrator is saying.
- The name of Jimmy Banbollow's team is the Minnesota Fires, but the name on his bat says Minnesota Firers.
- Before you enter Level 3, the game will ask you "Do you want to enter WOODPPUPPETS?" with an the extra "P".
- The Egg Bar logo on the blackboard near the entrance is spelled "Eeg Bar".
Illbleed 2
Three years after Illbleed's release, Shinya Nishigaki, the CEO of Crazy Games (formerly Climax Graphics) died of a heart attack. Prior to his death, most of the programming team quit because of a merge with a larger company.
After the merge, they announced that they would release a remake for the Xbox some time in 2003. But with continued budget cuts, the game was never completed and was unreleased.
As of 2009 there is no news of an Illbleed 2, or a remake.
