[PAX Prime 2012] Hell Yeah!

[Lekon]

Sometimes a game has a gripping story of humanity vs. the elements, rebellions vs. dictatorships, or of a boy trying to find his place in the world. Hell Yeah! Instead goes with the time honored story of a paparazzi taking naked pictures of a skeleton rabbit in the tub, and putting them on a blog, only to have the bunny in question decide he must kill all 100 monsters who logged into that site, as well as find his pictures. Who says you can't fight the internet? From that humble begining the story and the gameplay only get stranger.

A calm spot in the game

Early on in the demo of Hell Yeah! I received my first item, a jetpack. While in most games jetpacks are tools to get around, Hell Yeah's jetpack comes with a rabbit sized buzz saw, so that anytime you're flying, it's spinning and carving up walls, breakable areas, slow enemies, etc. The Rabbit's reaction mirrored my own "Something to shred people with? Gimmie Gimmie!" Humor abounds in the game, with each of the 100 monsters having quips to say about the pictures, or insults to throw at the rabbit, daring him to try and get them.

When you do catch one of the 100 though, you're treated to a unique mini game with the intent of snuffing out the monster in some odd way. A shower of a million cupid arrows, a flamethrower from nowhere, a letter press applied directly to the forehead, all done in an exaggerated cartoon style. From what I've read, each of the 100 picture monsters has their own unique death minigame. The single boss monster that was in the demo did not have a death game to go with it, but did go on about how nice a chap I was, and how horrible it was that we had to kill each other, but bosses had rules and regulations to follow.

The minigames are sometimes subtle in where they draw their inspiration

Throughout the demo, I was picking up small cash items, collectables and various other trinkets, all to sell to one of the undead merchants. Each merchants items ranged from the useful (Rocket launcher strapped to your buzz saw jetpack) to the odd (DJ outfit!). Hell Yeah! encourages quite a bit of odd customization, and I imagine there are going to be some very strange screenshots posted in the future on CoG.

I'm required to yell Hell Yeah! at this scene

While the screens show what looks to be an utterly chaotic mess, I'm happy to say that in game, it's much crazier. Luckily, the controls are responsive, the motions are easy, and I had no trouble flying the bunny around, tossing rockets, climbing walls, or mowing down monsters. There's no slippage to the running, or fiddlyness to the jumps, as the jetpack can be engaged mid hop at anytime to help correct for a missed jaunt. Moreover, the buzzsaw sticks to many walls, letting you climb up a ledge you just barely missed. If anything, my only complaint would be the difficulty. I never was even close to death during the demo. This could just as well be the early level chosen for the demo, but either way, the area was pretty easy to breeze through. That said, I was laughing most of the time. Puns, Jokes, visual gags, and a ton of blood all helped move the games action along. For a skeleton rabbit without a lower jaw, the bunny can be remarkably expressive in chat scenes.

You can guess what voice clip plays here

So, if the idea of a platforming game with guns, rockets, buzz saws, and a rabbit trying to get back compromising photos appeals to you, good news! Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit releases 9/25 on PSN, 9/26 on XBLA, and 10/3 for PC. You'll all get a shot at it soon. It was certainly one of the stranger things I'd seen at PAX, as well as one of the most colorful games I've run into in quite some time.

[Lekon]

Just so everyone can see how insane it is in motion:

[Pale Ale]

The duck is a leather fiend!?!

[Spigot]

I must have this. I must have it NOW.

[SpacemanSpiff757]

Wow, that actually looks really good. The question now is, what platform....

[Kielaran]

Damn, that looks really crazy. I'm not sure if I would like it or not.