DF Retro - The Splatterhouse Saga

John Linneman and Audi Sorlie run down The Splatterhouse Saga for DF Retro. Covering the original, blood-spattered, Namco arcade cab and its home console conversions, all the way up to the Xbox 360 and PS3's underwhelming 3D brawler. My own personal connection to the laceration-heavy series extends all the way back to my teen years, when I bought an ex-rental copy of Splatterhouse Part 2 from Blockbuster Video for £2.50. Comparing my memories to the footage captured here, it seems the PAL 50Hz revision fouled up the video shop influenced electronica, making the game's throbbing Fulci beats sound more like a stalling, burping, dirge. The reduction in overall speed also left the game feeling a touch more sluggish too, is if the player was attempting to control an unwieldy lump rather than a vein-popped slasher killer. Still, even running nearly 20% slower, nothing beats whacking a rotting zombie so hard that they blast away from your walking axis, ending up as a dripping smear on the background tile. 

DF Retro - PS1 Digital

Digital Foundry's John Linneman and Audi Sorlie break down Black Dog Technology's new HDMI mod for the PlayStation 1 console, offering not just digital output but a detailed image processing menu that allows users to upscale and deinterlace to their heart's content. The best bit is when Linneman and Sorlie highlight the modified system's fantastic sound output, briefly recalling an audiophile fad from the mid-to-late 2000s. At one point, high-fidelity sound enthusiasts took to buying second-hand PS1s, hooking them up to their Shindo Masseto Tube Preamplifiers, then enjoying what they described as an 'exceptionally smooth sound'.

DF Retro - Final Fight

The Digital Foundry gang take a look at Capcom's iconic brawler Final Fight, detailing the tech behind the original coin-op as well as the many ports and sequels that followed. Of particular note is the news that, for their Mega CD conversion, Sega slowed down each of the playable characters, clipping the overall movement and attack speed of the nimble selections. A similar sort of averaging out plagued the Mega Drive version of Golden Axe - specifically the hit box of the playable character's weapons. Tyris Flare's short sword and Gilius Thunderhead's massive broadaxe both hit with the same medium range assigned to Ax Battler's middle-of-the-road sword.

Digital Foundry - Demon's Souls PS5

Digital Foundry take a look at Bluepoint's forthcoming Demon's Souls remake. The vid touches on the (underwhelming) trailer and the gorgeous 4K stills Sony have since released, as well as speculating, based on the studio's PS4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus, what sort of tech options we can expect for this PS5 release. 

Doom Eternal - HUGE GUTS

Digital Foundry talk us through the PC preview build of Doom Eternal, with special mention to the game's various high-end display settings and how id Tech 7 allows for blubbery, real-time, enemy damage. As well as allowing the player to centre the on-screen weapons straight out of the box (pretty sure we had to wait for that to be patched in last time), this sequel looks to have massively expanded the vertical play area, necessitating all manner of climbing and mid-air dash mechanics.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - TECH SPECS

Digital Foundry talk us through the new resolution and anti-aliasing tech powering Infinity Ward's latest, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Just in case that all sounds incredibly dry, stick around for an extended look at the multiplayer night-vision stage designed to place you in a Sicario set-piece, Azhir Cave. According to reports from the various press events, this optoelectronic level proposes a variety of limits on how players approach the level. Gun-sighting is restricted; hit-markers and point reports are gone, while paths through the area track towards confined. As with last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode, creeping and the correct assessment of audio information will be your bread and butter.

Digital Foundry Retro - Castlevania Anniversary Collection

Digital Foundry is back with another thorough rummage around a newly released retro collection. This time it's M2's Castlevania Anniversary Collection, a jam-packed retrospective that breezes through the herculean task of emulating four completely different game systems.