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During the end of March, gamers were able to get their hands on Capcom's
new release for the PS2, Onimusha Warlords. How does this game fair?
GAMEPLAY (8.0)
In Onimusha, you play a traveling master swordsman named Samanosuke who
receives an S.O.S letter from his 14 year-old cousin, Yuki. Samanosuke tries
to meet up with her, but finds that she was kidnapped. As the story progresses,
you'll find that this is not your ordinary kidnapping, since there are demons
and monsters that are involved. To help him in his quest to save Yuki,
supernatural beings gave Samanosuke a magical gauntlet enabling him to
feed off the souls of the demons he had killed.
Onimusha's gameplay is
reminiscent to the Resident Evil series; however, there are some major differences.
As what one could tell by looking in which Onimusha sets in, most of the
fighting will be up close. Not too often do you get the chance to dispose
of your enemy from a distance unlike in the Resident Evil series where you
practically do that all the time. Close combat that you will do requires
fast button presses in which Samanosuke would do a combination of sword
swings. Later in the game, you will have the ability to use magic together
with elemental weapons that will greatly enhance your attacks. For example,
with the lightning elemental sword and consuming a certain amount of magic,
Samanosuke would do a barrage of sword swings finishing with a fierce lightning
slash. Very nice! Being a true warrior, Samanosuke is also able to block certain
attacks and use a variety of weapons. Whoa, you could block, that's a first!
Because Onimusha deals with up close fighting, its gameplay is fast paced and
action-packed.
You won't spend
all your time slaying enemies in Onimusha. In certain parts of
the game, you'll have to solve puzzles to progress (just like in
the Resident Evil series). They are, to the very least, very
challenging.
There were a few
things that I didn't like about Onimusha's gameplay. First of
all, it kind of gets repetitive after awhile. Slash enemies,
suck souls, slash enemies, suck souls…that's what you'll
basically do all the time. In case you were wondering, sucking
souls is necessary, because you'll need a certain amount to open
up certain areas. Second of all, the length of the game is quite
short. I estimate about only 15 hrs or less of gamplay including
with the secret mini-game (can be unlocked if you have completed
the game with all the fluorites). Replay value is not that high.
GRAPHICS (9.0)
Good graphics! Characters and enemies are well drawn and very
detailed. I especially enjoyed the cut scenes; the characters'
faces actually show emotion and expression, which made them
appear more realistic. Also, the lightning and flame effects are
awesome! The backgrounds are not, however, in 3D as I hoped for
but they have the same quality as the backgrounds in Resident
Evil 2 & 3. Overall, Onimusha's graphics lives up to my PS2
graphics expectations.
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