Raze’s Hell – Help Raze Regain His Freedom

Sometimes, the gaming world throws you a curious little surprise. And this is one of them. Out of nowhere, we find Majesco’s games in our market, even though the company has already decided to stop developing so-called "triple-A" titles. Let’s explain a bit about what’s going on before diving into the review...

Majesco is an American company known for "budget games"—cheaper, lower-quality titles. At one point, they decided it was time to make "real" games, the kind labeled as "triple-A" (in the U.S., an "A" is the highest grade you can get on a test, symbolizing top marks in graphics, sound, and gameplay). They didn’t hold back on resources, releasing games like Psychonauts, Advent Rising, Phantom Dust, and the subject of today’s review: Raze’s Hell.

Most of these games share one thing in common—their development teams aren’t exactly household names. Studios like GlyphX or Double Fine aren’t mainstream, but some of their developers, like Tim Schafer (Monkey Island, Grim Fandango) or Yukio Futatsugi (Panzer Dragoon), are well-known. The creators of Raze’s Hell, Artech Studios, have a prolific history in gaming, dating back to 1982. Among their work is the adaptation of Ace of Aces, a classic aviation game that later got a Master System port.

Unfortunately, Majesco’s gamble didn’t pay off—their triple-A games didn’t sell well in their most profitable market: the U.S. So, the bigwigs at the company made a decision—to abandon the triple-A market and return to budget titles. But by sheer coincidence, just as this decision was made (some time ago), Europe is now getting this wave of quality Majesco-backed games.

Gameplay

Truth be told, Raze’s Hell isn’t your typical game, even if it plays like one. Here, we are the ugly, brutish monsters, and the enemies are the cute, civilized ones. Other games like Fantasy Zone have played with our emotions by making us fight adorable characters, but this one’s different. The story puts us in the shoes of Raze, a beast whose world is invaded by the Kewlets—a race of idealistic beings who seek to spread happiness across the world under the guidance of their Princess.

The problem? Their idea of happiness doesn’t include ugliness—so anything ugly gets destroyed. And our protagonist is really ugly (he kinda reminds us of the Mudokons from Abe’s Oddysee). Just as they’re about to wipe out his miserable existence, he stumbles upon an object that grants him new powers. And that’s where the fun begins.

Raze’s Hell is a pretty standard game if you ignore the story we just described and some genuinely funny details. One of them is the sheer brutality with which Raze can dispatch Kewlets. But there’s a reason for it—Raze regains health by absorbing chunks of his enemies.

The brutality is especially noticeable in melee combat, whether through basic attacks or stealth kills. In stealth mode, Raze can sneak up behind an enemy and tear them apart in the most savage way possible—without them even noticing until they’re already in pieces, ready to replenish Raze’s health.

Aside from melee attacks, Raze can feed on Squibs—little critters he can later shoot as weapons. These can be swapped and used at any time, with each type functioning like a classic shooter weapon. Honestly, this is the second similarity to the Oddworld series, as this system resembles Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath.

The weapons include:

• Ripper – Basic shot
• Spiker – Precision shot
• Blaster – Grenades
• Driller – Powerful sniper-like shot
• Smasher – Like a shotgun
• Bloater – A cute critter that inflates enemies like a balloon before they pop
• Seeker – A homing projectile
• Lurker – Similar, but ground-based

Finally, Raze can also turn into a ball (which reminds us of Kameo: Elements of Power, though Rare’s game came later).

Despite all these details (and others we’ll discover later), Raze’s Hell is essentially a straightforward third-person shooter where our goal is to take out Kewlets in various ways while solving simple puzzles along the way. As you can see, nothing groundbreaking—but it’s executed in a fun way (especially early on) and with surprising difficulty. The Kewlets, despite their cuteness, can take a lot of damage before becoming Raze’s lunch.

Another minor flaw is the camera. While it’s not usually a problem, it’s sometimes too close to Raze’s back, blocking visibility—which can get annoying.

On the plus side, the game has multiplayer—always a nice touch. You can play Deathmatch online, battling others in the same third-person view as the single-player mode. There’s also offline co-op, which significantly boosts the fun factor.

In short, Raze’s Hell isn’t a bad game, especially if you’re looking for something packed with humor and action.

Graphics

Flipping through the manual and looking at the screenshots might make you think the graphics are top-tier. And honestly, they’re not bad. But unfortunately, the idea of mixing cute, adorable characters with ugly, monstrous ones (like Raze) isn’t as well-executed as in other classic games. The main reason? An overuse of dark tones in the environments, which makes the pastel colors and charming designs harder to appreciate.

Other minor issues include the camera (as mentioned earlier) and occasional slowdowns during heavy explosions. That said, the art direction—for characters, cutscenes, and scenery—is far more inspired than most games of this style (though we might have to lump it in with traditional 3D platformers inspired by Crash Bandicoot and the like).

A section that could have been more impressive, but still isn’t bad.

Music & Sound

The soundtrack is the weaker part of the game’s audio. While the music fits the game’s tone (playful yet dark), it takes a backseat to sound effects. Throughout the game, you’ll hear a ton of different noises, mostly from the various weapons Raze uses.

The voice acting deserves a mention—the enemies never stop talking, and they do it in a way that’s both funny and creepy. Finally, a small gripe with Majesco: they forgot that in Spain, we don’t speak English. The only translated part (and done well) is the manual. Everything else is in English, which might leave non-English speakers missing out on the game’s humor and even basic instructions.

Conclusion

Raze’s Hell is a pretty interesting release with hours of fun inside. Unfortunately, it’s not as polished as it could be, and the lack of localization (or even subtitles) hurts its appeal for those who don’t speak English. Still, at its current price, it’s a solid purchase—especially for those who appreciate a good sense of humor in their games.

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