Released: 20010314 Publisher: CAPCOM Developer: CAPCOM Genre: Adventure

Review by: mountpanic

Now THIS is what a PS2 game is supposed to look like!



After some very hit-and-miss launch (and near-launch) titles, Capcom's Japanese shogun-era survival/horror game is the graphically rich, smoothly textured, beautifully created stunner that we dreamed of when we'd lay awake imagining "next gen" video gaming. Not that developers won't learn to do it even better in the years to come, but this is the one that truly heralds an arrival of sorts. In other words, this is the game that you show non-gaming friends just to watch them go "WAOW!"



Characters are well designed, with some of the closet-to-real modeling seen on a console to date. Locations are simply gorgeous, creating a real sense of time and place of a war-torn 16th century Japanese castle. You're going to hear a lot of talk about "pre-rendered" scene graphics, as opposed to "real-time," but don't pay it much mind. Would it have been nice to have real-time, movable scenery? Sure. But is Onimusha diminished for the lack? Not at all.



That said, don't think Onimusha's ONLY strength is being pretty. Add to that an orchestral soundtrack, creepy ambient sound and very satisfying sound effects.



Things come down a notch in terms of gameplay, but JUST a notch. I only have one major complaint, so let's get that out of the way first. In a word: control. Onimusha uses what is commonly known as the "Resident Evil control style." I have played precious little RE largely due to its counter-intuitive control scheme, but Onimusha rewarded the effort. For those unfamiliar, the controls make you, in effect, "drive" the character, so when you push left, he moves to his left, no matter what direction he's facing, rather than moving left on the screen, as instinct would dictate. I took the big dirt-nap many times in the last couple of boss battles because I couldn't move well enough to maneuver around considerably faster foes.



The gameplay is well plotted, keeping you moving and engaged at all times. Problem solving and puzzles are laid out nicely, always seeming more like legitimate story developments than "oh, we need to stick something here" or "okay, next level." While there is a certain degree of figuring out where to go next, it's never so difficult that you'll need help. The only thing you might need a player's guide for is to find the location of 20 invisible "flourite" stones, the acquisition of which unlocks a mini-game once the full game has been completed. By this point in time, you should have no problem finding guides in game magazines or on the Internet, so save yourself the fifteen bucks the Brady guide would cost you.



The story revolves around a samurai, Samanosuke, and his search for Princess Yuki, who has been kidnapped by the demons who have overrun the castle. Samanosuke is aided in his mission by the female ninja, Kaede, who always seems to pop up once the dirty work is done. Players actually have to play as Kaede for some parts of the game, including some puzzles where it's necessary to switch back and forth between the two. Bosses represent ever-increasing challenges, but are never overly difficult. Some boss type monsters even return as standard wandering monsters. Only the final two bosses became annoying in their difficulty, but then I'm hardly the world's most hardcore gamer.



Speaking of the hardcore, some reviews and Internet whiners have complained about the length of the game. While my final "in-game" time was over 8 hours, it actually took considerably longer, with all the dying and continuing I did. Sure, it's possible to blast through it with a weekend rental, but then it's possible to blast through a seven-course meal and still catch a movie the same evening. If your goal is to beat games, then you might find Onimusha lacking (though I can't imagine how), but if you goal is to play games, then Onimusha should be a totally enjoyable experience indeed.



Unless you absolutely refuse to adapt to the control scheme, Onimusha: Warlords is a must-have game.

- We have 1 review for Onimusha: Warlords (1 Staff, 0 Member)