Few games display such complete and utter annihilation. This makes DR3AE not just the most blood-drenched brawler of all time, but quite possibly in video games as a whole. What makes it profound, though, is the iconic backdrops amidst all the bloodshed. It's no secret that Los Perdidos was inspired heavily by Los Angeles, California, and the setting of the game really brings to life the paridoxical theme of gore and "blood on the beaches" (as described by Sacramento metal band Deftones in the song titled after the album Gore); the unlikely balance between the beauties of everyday life offset by bio-terror and the horrors it brings. Once beautiful locales stand as a testament to mankind's fall in the blink of an eye. The bustling cadence of civilization and its advances has come to a grinding halt, apparent in the dead silence of zombies lying in wait. Like good people the outbreak turned into monsters, beautiful locales have been drenched in disease.

Marble floors and sparkling chandeliers of once-exquisite interiors that hosted the elite are defiled with blood and rotting corpses, while rooms and penthouses in the towering skyscrapers that house them can be seen smoldering from miles away. Chairs and tables line patio restaurants for (un)happy hour. Just blocks away, a cruise ship's unexpected fate can be seen as it sits ominously docked into the pavement of a beautiful, ocean-side city street lined with palm trees and shops. From burger joints and Chinese restaurants, to expensive steak and sushi houses, consumable items such as food and drink stand eerily still with not the least bit of rot, as if time itself came to an abrubt stop. This is seen all through out the city; this theme of what used-to be, its sudden stop, and its end. It's this sort of interesting theme that even when the lifeblood of American capitalism (consumers) is gone, the remants of consumerism are all that remains of a powerful civilization that once was.

The recurring theme of gore is extended from the game's environments to its antagonists, which include a polarizing female police officer. One of the better (and quite possibly the best) of the bosses in the series, lady cop Sgt. Hilde is the embodiment of the game's theme of gore, and the paradoxical features which support it. She's stacked and attractive, yet ugly and repulsive; fashionably protecting and serving, yet tyranically trashy. Special effects, while not as intense as past Capcom side-scrolling fighters, still breathe life into the game's profoundness. DR3AE has all the high-end special effects and fireworks we've come to expect from Capcom titles on next-gen hardware. Blood spatters on the screen and on walls, explosions leave particles in the air, acid bubbles as it corrodes, electric weapons leave bursts of blinding discharge, and chrome gleams in the bright Los Perdidos sun. Some criticize DR3AE for its blur effects, but I fail to see what the big deal is.

Foreground characters and objects are shown with a smooth blur effect during some scenes for directed focus, and I think it looks cool. There are parts where bluring effects are used to simulate the depth perception, too, which is definitely proof of effective use. There's even an instance where it's used for a character who has been injected with a neurotoxin. Most impressive of all the special effects, however, are enemy dismemberments! Special effects don't usually include enemy dismemberments because that's more along the lines of animation, but the blood release effects in this game are impressive. If they are preset, canned blood effects, then there must be a lot of them; significantly more than previous Capcom side-scrolling fighters. Certain blood effects which correspond to certain moves, but it's hard to tell if they're the same every time, or whether they're variations of the same effect. Either way, there are tons of weapons; each with their own corresponding bloodspill.