| Thrill Kill:Returns | |
 | |
| Developer(s) | Maxis |
| Publisher(s) | EA |
| Series | Thrill Kill |
| Release date | July, 2016 |
| Genre | Fighting Game, Torture Porn |
| Rating(s) | AO, M (Censored Version) |
Thrill Kill: Returns is a upcoming 2016 torture porn fighting game. It is a sequel/remake to the 1998 unreleased game, Thrill Kill.
Story Mode
Much like games like Mortal Kombat or Injustice, Thrill Kill also has a story mode.
Ten damned souls have died and descended into Hell. This modern-day Hell is based on the real world of today's deviants. The characters are the physical manifestations of their mental illnesses or the evil hidden within their mortal selves. Each character has been a murderer, usually after their said illness/evil inner self. Marukka, the Goddess of Secrets, is bored of her usual routine and decides that it would be entertaining to pit all of the characters against one another in a fighting tournament with the prize being reincarnation. Each character is battling for nothing more than self-preservation and the hope of being reborn.
At the mean time, Dawna, a goth, and spiritual person, and her bisexual boyfriend, Sam Rex are trying to get in contact with their deceased friend, Violet. Violet is currently in the tournament being held by Marukka. Dawna and Sam are able to get in contact with Violet through a portal leading into Hell. Dawn and Sam get inside the portal and realizes that they're stuck in Hell. So now she and her boyfriend have to fight their way out of hell by thrill killing. The only problem is that only one will be reborned.
Gameplay
Gameplay consisted of a closed 3D room where up to four opponents would fight to the death, and proceed to finish each other off with Thrill Kills, much like the fatalities of Mortal Kombat. Every attack made will result in a character's bloodlust to rise. Instead of the usual life bar, characters build up a "kill meter". Once this meter was full, and therefore bloodlust at its strongest, a player's character would be electrocuted to give them superhuman strength enabling a Thrill Kill move to brutally finish off an opponent, depending on what button was pressed upon grabbing someone. Thrill Kills only work during the middle of the fight.
Production
2014
On November 12, 2014, it was confirmed by EA that they would make a new Thrill Kill video game and that all characters from the first game would return and that there would be a few new faces as well. They also confirmed that it would be PS4 exclusive.
2015
EA tweeted on their twitter on January 4, 2015, that they were on early stages of production for Thrill Kill.
EA leaked the game's teaser trailer in Youtube on April 22nd, 2015.
Belladona, Cleetus and The Imp were revealed along with a new character named, "Dawna", at E3 2015. Stages, Thrill Kills and Stage Kills were also presented.
During June of 2015, EA leaked a picture of Dr. Faustus.
At the EVO 2015, EA revealed a new character, "Jay" along with two returning characters, Violet and Mammoth.
EA revealed Oddball, Tormentor, and The Gimp at San Diego Comic Con 2015.
Sam Rex, a new character, was revealed at Gamescom 2015.
On December 25th, EA leaked the 1st trailer on Youtube.
2016
During mid-January, a demo was released. The demo includes 4 characters (Belladona, Cleetus, The Imp, and Sam Rex) and 2 stages.
At E3 2016, EA revealed Cain, Judas and lastly, Marukka.
The game was then released on July, 2016. It sold 3 Billion copies in the first 3 weeks. Making it the most successful fighting game in history.
Characters
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Dr.Faustus | Belladonna | Cleetus | The Imp | Mammoth | Dawna | Oddball | Tormentor |
Thrill Kill:Returns includes 15 characters. 12 returning from the first game and 3 new ones.
Returning Characters
Belladona
A housewife and librarian from Savannah, Georgia, who, after discovering that her husband was having an affair with her sister, snapped and transformed into a deadly dominatrix, murdering them both. She is armed with an electric cattle prod. She died after committing suicide by electrocuting herself with her cattle prod while taking a bath, which was reported as being "accidental". She is the most sexually themed character of the game, and, consequentially, was considerably altered in the censored version; her orgasm-like moans were replaced with Violet's giggle, and her third Thrill Kill was removed, in which she appears to perform oral sex on her opponent, only for the camera to reveal that she is merely tickling their foot with a feather. Her ending is where she's going to murder her husband when he came home.
Cleetus
A murderous redneck cannibal from Kentucky who fights with a severed leg of one of his past victims. He starved to death after contracting a tapeworm infestation. Aside from Belladonna, he is the only other character who was noticeably changed in the censored version of the game; his taunt and win pose, in which he bites into the severed leg he carries, was replaced from having blood spraying out of it and the sound effect of ripping flesh to him saying "yummy", with the blood and sound effect removed. His ending is when the health inspector inspects his slaughterhouse and gives an f for all of the inspection until Cleetus throws him in the machine and the machine torns the health inspector to pieces. Cleetus daydreams of his commercial of selling the best meat.
Dr. Faustus
A deranged plastic surgeon from Los Angeles, California, who intentionally disfigured many of his patients. He is armed with a scalpel and has a set of metal "jaws" attached to his own face that resembles a bear trap, which he also uses to attack with. He died from an infection caused by the grafting of said contraption onto his face. His ending, he continues doing his disfigured and/or murder on his patients.
The Imp
A violent midget government employee with a Napoleon complex from Albany, New York, who is supported by stilts. He died from complications after amputating both his legs to replace them with the stilts. His ending is that he dreams of being President.
Mammoth
A gigantic, feral, ape-like creature who was previously a human postal worker from Covington, Indiana, nicknamed "Mammoth" due to his large size. After he was fired from his job, he flew into a rage and killed many of his colleagues and customers in a bloody rampage. He died from committing suicide afterwards by shooting himself. His history may be a reference to the term 'Going Postal', which was a term derived from a series of incidents from 1983 onward in which United States Postal Service (USPS) workers shot and killed managers, fellow workers, and members of the police or general public in acts of mass murder. The ending shows him kill an old lady and her dog and stuff their corpse in the mail box.
Oddball
An FBI criminal profiler from Belfast, Maine, who, after a long time of tracking serial killers, was driven insane and became one himself. His costumes feature him bound in straitjackets, having his arms tied behind his back, or with them amputated altogether, and so he relies on using his head, torso and legs to attack. He died after being gunned down by his protégé. His ending is he continues his insanity and he ends back to the criminally insane.
Tormentor
A sadistic vigilante judge from Phoenix, Arizona, who is armed with a chain. He was executed on the electric chair after being found guilty of acquitting criminals in his court so that he could secretly torture and murder them himself. His ending is where he continues killing criminals.
The Gimp
Unlockable "training dummy" only available in Practice mode. He is unlocked by successfully following all the instructions to execute moves in training mode for all characters. Like his name suggests, he is a masochistic gimp. He is unplayable.
Cain
One of the earlier unlockable sub-bosses. A pyromaniac covered in flames, who has the ability to conjure fire. Probable death could be that Cain died by being burned down while he was still alive. His ending is he sets himself on fire again.
Violet
The youngest playable character in the game. A teenage traveling circus contortionist from Austria, who developed a hatred for men after killing a man that attacked her in her dressing room after one of her performances. She died from internal injuries after her spinal cord was ruptured. Her ending is during her performing, a man gets on stage and she kills him in front of everyone.
Judas
One of the later unlockable sub-bosses. Deformed conjoined twins at the sternum, without any legs. One of them simply "walks" on their hands while the other fights. Probable cause of death could be complications from their deformity. His ending is where he's reborn and his mother died.
Marukka
The final unlockable character and final boss of the game in one player mode. A demonic female deity from a dimension in Hell who was responsible for the organization of the tournament. She cannot be played in Arcade mode.
New Characters
Sam Rex
The bisexual boyfriend of Dawna. His fighting style is much of the street gang fighting style. It is shown at story mode that he gets a crush on Jay. His ending shows him killing Dawna in order to stay with Jay and shortly after becoming crazy, then killing Jay.
Dawna
A young girl from Austria who later moved to California with her family. She kept in touch with her friend, Violet, through the internet. After turning 17, she moved back to Austria and became in a relation with Sam. She'd do satanic rituals and always tried to to contact the dead. Her ending shows her to have won the tournament and later becomes traumatized; therefore becoming mentally crazy and ending up at the hospital where she suffers from sleeping paralysis every night.
Jay
A gay young adult who lured other gay man into his home through a gay dating site before killing them viciously and even sometimes eating them afterwards. His ending shows him luring another gay man into his house. Jay kills him and is caught in the middle of the process by Sam. He then kills Sam.
Nashtron
Nashtron is a hacker and very deadly. Not much is known of him. He's a guest DLC character in the Rated M version of the game, but already comes in the uncensored AO version. His ending shows him trying to hack a satanic website before being sucked into hell through the computer screen.
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A mysterious figures in the escape for wood
Thrill Kills
Every Character consists of 2 Thrill Kills. A few characters have 3 thrill kills.
Belladonna
- Shock Snap - Bella impales her electric cattle unto the opponents neck, electrocuting them. She then twists the cattle around causing the opponent's neck to snap.
- Bitch Goes Boom - Bella twists and wraps the cattle bar arm around the opponent's neck and impales the electricity tip into the his/her stomach. This causes the opponent's entire body to blow up except for the head. Bella then bashes the head against the wall.
- Electric Blood - Bella slashes her opponents stomach open. A puddle of blood builds under the opponent. Bella then puts the tip of the cattle in the puddle of blood. This electrocutes the opponent until they die.
Reception
Thrill Kill:Returns was highly praised by critics. IGN gave it a 9 saying, "Thrill Kill:Returns surely re-ivents itself and the whole fighting game genre. It's a game that makes Mortal Kombat look like a kiddie's game." Many critics claim that while the game is very dark and gory, it is very fun and could easily pass Mortal Kombat any day. The game sold over 3 billion dollars in the first 3 weeks, making it the most best-selling and most successful fighting game in history.
Controversies
Besides it's many controversies for it's gore and violence there has been many surrounding controversies around the game.
- Anita Sarkeesian, a feminism, criticized the game for being "sexist" and portraying Belladonna as the stereotypical fanboy's fantasized "femmefatale", but praised Dawna for being modestly different from the other characters in game.