Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage

"A cut above most other anime based games"

First time I heard about Berserk, I was extremely excited, it promised to be a well made beat em up; more so then an anime beat em up. As you may or may not know, anime games(like most games based on movies here in the US) usually are rushed pieces of software put together quickly to captipalize on the name(and make a little captipal on the side).

Having actually a chance to play SotB, I felt it wasn't the case here; in fact, I found it to be well made enough to stand on it's own marits. But of course, this game isn't a perfect one mind you, a few small flaws are present.

Based on the anime and Manga, ''Berserk'', it's about a swordsman who is pretty good at wielding a blade as large as he is. Having a brand on his neck, he fights where ever he roams. Being this is a side story and not a part of the anime or manga (japanese comic books) continuity, much of what happened to guts(he's that swordsman) and the events in the ''Berserk'' series is explained in the game's prize box(it's under ''World'').

Followed by his woman, Casca, who seems to be in a less then stable mind; and Pukk, the cute but sometimes annoying Elf. Guts' only real mission is to heal Casca's madness.

The story and action are well blended with, excellent FMV(Full Motion Video) and a seemless switch to playable sections; the effect is very well done and gives an illusion of being an interactive story. With no loading between the FMV and playable sections, it's even more amazing.

Adding to the playability factor is the prize box; beat the game in the various difficulties and new prizes(i.e. secrets) are open to you; also FMV sequences as you go through them can be viwed later on. Also you can read about the World of Berserk and it's characters.

The only major flaw was while the FMV sections were extremely well done, there might be more then some would want and playable sections just could've been a
a little bit longer in various sections. But it can easily be skipped by pressing the start button so it's not like your stuck watching them over if you have to continue.

A more minor problem was controlling Guts at certain points in the game. While the overall controls are solid, sometimes certain jumping seemed to be a bit slugglish. Also sometimes after hitting a wall with the sword, which happens when in narror alleys and passageways, I couldn't help but feel a more then noticable pause in time which doesn't help when you miss and need to block; it's gives the enemy just enough time to take a chunk of health which might be bad if your hurting as it is.

Lucky though you have the choice of fighting with or without sword, but be warned, doing the bareknuckle fighting isn't as effective as your sword and is better only for attacking if not over powered and in an narrow place.

Graphics - 9

What can be said, it's possibly the best in game and FMV graphics this side of Soul Calibur. Certain things could have been rendered a bit better(some villagers have no eyes?). Smooth shaded polygons and very good lighting effects along with practically no Polygon breakup round out the package graphically.

Sound/Music - 8

Certain sounds while lacking a little an real impact, the rest are well done; barrels and boxes breaking as you smash them up are very convincing and screams from your foes as they go down for the count are equally impressive.

Music is very placed and orchestrated; neither settling for background and never overpowering(for the most part). From the beginning Song to the battle music, you couldn't ask for better music.

Voice acting is better then most video games and while Pukk's overacting might be considered a distraction the excellent job of the others easily will make you forget about it, almost. It's quality of the voice actors are at Viz Video dubbing levels(which are great in my book).

Control - 7

Losing a few notches for a tad bit of sluggishness, it more then gets the job done. At times, jumps might seem slow but the speed is not bad enough to frustrate. Defense sometimes lets you down but it's not as often enough to make you question the point of it being there. Also the default controls weren't intuative enough and might be suggested to switch them as soon you can.

Overall - 8

More then the sums of it's parts and rightfully so, SotB is definatly a winner but it's control might be frustrating for some; but the sheer strength of the acting and action and right mix of story elements along with wonderful graphics and moody atmosphere truely make up for any problems with the controls.

And while well done, the sheer number of FMV interludes might drive some away who are more into the action and little else.

Overall -

A great little gem of a game that while a cut above most; the FMV and small control problems cut this game down to rent before buy; but even as a rental, it's a sharp one.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/29/01, Updated 04/29/01