Review of Afro Samurai

I was pretty excited about this game when I heard it was being developed as I am a fan of the series. Upon reading several reviews such as IGN, GamesRadar and GameSpy I almost passed on getting it. It seemed that yet again something I liked had a poor game made based on it. I bought Afro Samurai anyway and man am I glad I did, here's why. First off let me start by correcting a few erroneous errors in some of the reviews I read that lead to their scores.

GamesRadar claimed that the instruction manual listed the wrong command for dashing. The manual lists clicking the left stick to dash. This is correct. While moving Afro in any direction clicking the left stick results in...guess what....a dash. Clicking it while stationary does nothing. Like many other action games with a run button you have to click it in conjunction with a directional input.

Gamespy noted a "game-stopping bug" that prevent ropes from being cut in the game. There is no bug. The ropes in question can only be cut by using the focus mode and executing the perfect slice maneuvers...along with aiming the slice to cut properly with the analog stick. It can't be done by button mashing. It's a precise cut that requires you to use the perfect slice system.

The IGN review bugged the daylights out of me as it was really off base (and I usually understand IGN's reviews) IGN claimed to be able to get through the entire game by "alternating attacks and mashing buttons". This same review claims an overly frustrating and cheap Brother 6 boss battle. Well it shouldn't be frustrating if the game can simply be beat with mindless button mashing I thought. If it's frustrating it really can't be so simple, right? Read on. This battle I did 3 times to test. The 1st time it took me 10 minutes after I died during phase 3 on my first attempt (I was not using the two bears they give you to restore your health during the battle). I then proceeded to kill him in 3 minutes both of the next two times without using the bears. How? Using a dash attack (An attack that can't be done by mashing buttons). I dash attacked Brother 6 and then proceeded with a simple combo of XXXX until brother 6 knocked me away. As soon as I hit the ground and roll recovered I dashed right back in with a dash attack and interrupted his attack animation. This dash hit stuns him and then I use XXXX again. I repeated this pattern for ALL of the three phases. 3 minutes using one dash attack, one combo and no bears to recover life. Hardly frustrating or worth mentioning as "cheap". If anything, I was cheap by abusing one move and one combo.

Several reviews said there is no way to track XP as you progress or what moves you'll unlock. False. When checking your moves list (something many reviewers openly admit not doing) there will be moves with white slashes through them. These are locked. There will also be moves with blue slashes through them. These moves are the ones you're gaining experience on. When the slash fills completely blue you'll gain that move when the screen next flashes "level up".

Another review mentioned that you have to click R3 (nearly an industry standard) to re-center your camera. The complaint was that doing so removes your fingers from the buttons rendering you defenseless. This would hold true if the block/parry button (defense right?) was a face button...but it's not. It's the R-trigger which can be held while pressing the re-center camera button if that is an issue for someone. So you're not defenseless. Also the inverted X-axis is listed as a major issue in some reviews. To anyone who has been gaming long enough or who has played titles from regions other than the US an inverted X-axis on the camera is not new. It's not prevalent here in the states, but it's been around for a while in a few titles here and abroad. It should be old hat and easy to adapt to. And it's not game breaking either. Like learning any other controls in any other game it should be factored into the learning curve....not listed as something to drop the score or the opinion of the game...unless you're a gamer that has issues learning new controls. If that's the case then be fore warned the camera is inverted and cannot be changed.

So now that the air is cleared of some incorrect stuff let's get to the review.

Presentation, graphics and sound are great with some minor issues. The game has a definite anime/comic look to it with comic paneling and cutaways to coincide with the cel-shaded looks. The menus are simple and easy to navigate and the load screens are animated instead of static. The music really gets you pumped to play. There are very minor instances of slow down and clipping is very noticeable when it happens. But oddly enough the slow down blends into the game since you have a slow down mechanic of your own. So it often ends up appearing stylistic even though it is a technical concern with too many body parts and too much blood animating on the screen. The moves list is very well done as it demonstrates the commands needed for each move and even includes a video demo of it so that you can see the timing involved and know what the move should look like when done properly. The game is over flowing with violence, blood, gore and nudity just like the series. It is very much an adult atmosphere. Parents, you have been warned.

The gameplay is very good, almost textbook. Actually it's not almost textbook it IS textbook with pages borrowed (read: STOLEN) from other textbooks.

You have the near endless array of combos in the vein of games such as God of War, Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden. You have an upgrade system that adds new moves to your repertoire based on experience...which is gained by killing enemies. These upgrades include moves such as reflecting bullets, fragmenting bullets, the ability to execute multiple precision cuts in a row, the ability to cut through more enemies with each strike, etc. You have your standard attacking combos, throw moves, combos that link into a throw animation, dodging moves, blocks/parries/counters, etc. You can instantly link many of the games combos together to make near infinite combos, you can launch and juggle enemies and pressing block cancels your attack animations to put you in a blocking stances or to parry instantly....well most attacks. Some of the higher powered moves can't be interrupted. Bigger damage, bigger risk.

A special feature of Afro Samurai is the innovative...ok I mean overdone focus mode that allows you to slow the game down. What Afro does different with this old mechanic is give you manual control of where to attack when in this mode. Focus mode slows the game down and gives access to other moves most notable of which are the perfect slices. These moves allow you to sever enemy body parts precisely by aiming the slices with the left analog stick and choosing horizontal or vertical slices based on the button you press. When Afro's focus meter is full you can press a button which puts Afro into overfocus mode. For those familiar with the old Punisher game this will sound VERY familiar. The screen turns black and white and everything slows down. All of Afro's attacks are now one hit kills on most enemies. It's essentially a manual smart bomb.

Speaking of Afro's focus meter an observant gamer will notice that there are no meters displayed in-game. Afro Samurai joins the legions of recent games opting to use a HUDless system. Thankfully it works well. Afro's life is displayed on his body and this also applies to opponents. As characters near death a red aura starts to show on the body. The closer to death they are the darker and more apparent the red glow becomes. Attached to the hilt of Afro's sword is a medallion. This is his focus meter. When the medallion has a black aura around it Afro's meter is empty and he needs to score some combos to increase it. As the meter fills up the medallion begins to flash with a pulsating white aura. When the medallion has a constant solid white aura the focus meter is full and the aforementioned overfocus mode is available.

The platforming in Afro Samurai is passable and only so because of one key issue. It's inconsistent. In games like Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry the platforming moves such as running on walls can be done at any time. In Afro Samurai these moves can only be done in certain places and at first you can't tell where. There are subtle clues like level geometry and flashing ledges to give hints but even these are more questionable than they should be.

Replay value depends. For fans of the series, you'll be playing this a lot as it feels like a good representation of the source material. For those who like a hyper violent action game with slick visuals and responsive controls...you'll be loving this. For those who can't get passed the camera inversion, avoid this game. For those that have problems with pattern recognition and timing, avoid this game as that's what the boss battles consist of mostly and to a lesser extent the battles with the weaker enemies.

Overall I give the game a solid 8 out of 10. It's not pushing the envelope in any given area, its best features are ripped from or inspired by other games and it has enough minor issues that prevent it from achieving A status. I'd rank it as an 8 even if it wasn't an Afro Samurai game, but I also won't rank it higher just because it is based on a series I like.




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