BLOODWASH: Survive a Laundry Night with a Lurking Serial Killer in this Horror Game

Bloodwash is a first-person indie horror game produced by Torture Star Video (who it's actually an extension of the Puppet Combo) and published on September 16 this year, on the indie gaming platform "itch.io". In Bloodwash you control Sara, a psychology student who lives together with her boyfriend in a run-down apartment complex. Her life has been difficult as she tries to cope with her studies, work, pregnancy and an alcoholic boyfriend. To make matters worse, there is a serial killer at large in town, known as the Womb Ripper due to the fact that all of his victims are pregnant women. One night, after Sara has trouble with a washing machine in a basement, she ends up having to go to a 24-hour laundromat on the outskirts of town. But she will soon realize that this was a bad decision, as the serial killer is lurking... and she could become his next victim...

Well, it comes as no surprise to anyone that, as this is a game created by an extension to the Puppet Combo, we would certainly see the level of quality and care that Bloodwash delivers. Starting with the inspiration, which came precisely from the so-called "Giallo Movies", which is a kind of Italian genre of mystery films, thrillers and even horror and its variants (slasher, crime fiction, psychological horror, etc.), and that it had, as a hallmark at that time, yellow covers made of cheap paperback (hence the term "giallo", which means "yellow").

In terms of visual aspects, the game has an aesthetic heavily inspired by the jagged graphics of PlayStation One games, with low-poly characters and textures that, unlike Sony's 32-bit console, have a certain filter to hide that aspect "dry". And speaking of filter, the game lets you choose if you want to play with VHS filter, which further matches the aesthetics and style of 80s horror movies (and which is part of the charm of the games produced by Puppet Combo/Torture Star Video) or remove them, giving an idea that you're playing on a PSX emulator with improved filters (although I believe that CRT/VHS filtering is better as it conveys more of the atmosphere proposed by the game).

The gameplay here, there is not much to comment: it is very simple and typical of many indie horror games. You control the character with the WASD keys, run using Shift, interact using the mouse buttons and that's it. The soundtrack is cool and has that horror atmosphere from the old days. While it's generally relatively short and can be completed in a little over an hour, Bloodwash presents a genuine horror experience with touches of detective plot and psychological thriller, as well as an audiovisual atmosphere that contributes greatly to the experience. It's worth checking out the game, which can be purchased on the page below. As for the gameplay, you can check it out by clicking this link here.

BUY THE GAME HERE: https://torturestar.itch.io/bloodwash

BUY THE GAME ON STEAM, IF YOU PREFER: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1598160/Bloodwash/