What a waste of a year of hype
Not to completely slam this game, I will say it has tight gameplay and controls. Switching weapons on the fly, combo strings, and a multitude of an arsenal to choose from. The graphics are interesting, in sort of a muted, mostly-grayscale palette that makes the gore of the game really pop and stand out. And there is a ton of it. Even the basic slash delivers a pool of blood, and the finishers just splatter it everywhere. Not for anyone squeamish about gore.
The music pops really well. The background music is fitting to the tense fight scenes. And the visceral sound of blades on flesh is satisfying.
I'd touch on the storyline but...I have no idea what the game was supposed to even be about.
The complete downside of it is that I felt like I was playing a 2-D version of Ninja Gaiden after the 3rd level. Endless waves of enemies, punishing difficulties, and the healing items almost completely vanish after the first 2 levels. The boss fights are ridiculous, and become insanely cheap when approaching death. The enjoyability of the game is just sucked right out after attempting the same boss for the 10th time. And if you use an item or magic during the fight, don't expect to get them back when you continue. You'd have to restart the entire level to get back whatever item you may have used if you die.
"The Dishwasher" is an interesting attempt at a game genre that's pretty much already done to death since the Genesis days. There are better alternatives out there for a 2D sideescroll hack-n-slash, like "Castle Crashers" or the classic "Streets of Rage 2".