Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage

"More than just blood and guts."

In a time long ago, in a place far away, there was a battle going on. The two warrior clans were; the Hawks and the God Hand. The Hawks are a band of highly feared and trained mercenaries. The God Hand is a supernatural warrior clan that is all of mystery. The Hawks were slaughtered by the God Hand. The only survivors were Gattsu and Casca. Gattsu and Casca were rescued by the Skull Knight, A warrior dressed in skeletal armor and who rides a skeletal horse. Casca's sanity was lost because of the violent battles that she witnessed. She was once a feared warrior of the Hawks. She was once a great warrior, but the God Hand created such madness that it drove her insane. Now, Gattsu roams the earth with Casca desperately seeking a cure for her insanity. Gattsu was branded with a mark as he was escaping from the God Hand that acts as a tracking device. It can also forewarn danger and gives Gattsu his Berserk Rage. The Brand will change and bleed as minions of the God Hand draw closer or when the God Hand performs a sacrifice. Gattsu is armed with an enormous 7-foot long sword known as the Dragonslayer. It was made for him as a favor from Godo, a master metallurgist. Gattsu uses the sword with amazing accuracy, but it is not a good weapon to use in small areas because of its size. Gattsu is also know as Guts because of his valor. Guts also has another friend. He is an elf named Puck. Puck is rather hyper and can be annoying at times.

Guts, Casca and Puck eventually enter a land that has been ravaged by war. There is a threat that has entered this Kingdom. It is embodied in a whole bunch of parasitic plants that are called the Mandragora. The plants attach to humans and transform them into hideous monsters called the Mandragorans. Once they attach, they completely control their host. These plants can also infect animals. The ruler of this Kingdom is Baron Balzac. He is a very skilled fighter and is feared by many people. He toils day and night to find a cure for the Mandragora disease.

Now if I told you everything that there is to know about the story line of this game then you would spend about and hour or two reading this review. I will spare you of this and I will now tell you about the game play and things of that nature.

Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage is the full title of this game and is based upon anime and manga from Japan. It was created by Kentaro Miura and was originally called ''Kenpu Denki BERSERK.'' I first played the game when my friend Junius let me borrow it. And yes his name is Junius. I know that that is an uncommon name. Anyway, I played the game and I loved it. I loved hacking enemies to bits using the Dragonslayer sword, but what I really love about this game is the story. The characters, the plot and the entire Berserk World. I fell in love with the whole story and the characters and the story of Gattsu searching for something to cure his beloved Casca.

Game play is awesome. Gattsu swings the Dragonslayer with amazing speed and accuracy. The sword often gets stopped by walls and scenery and slows Gattsu down. This problem is often solved by Gattsu's Berserk Power. When Gattsu is injured or when he strikes an enemy with his sword, the Berserk meter goes up. When it is full, Gattsu will go Berserk. His eye (yes he only has one eye) glows dark red and he becomes invincible. He also swings the Dragonslayer much faster and swings right through walls. That's right, even solid stone can't stop Gattsu from swinging the Dragonslayer. The Berserk meter goes down as time goes by and goes down faster when he is struck by an enemy. When the meter runs out, Gattsu goes back to normal.

I have heard a lot of people complain about the short fighting sequences and the long cut scenes. I enjoy the cut scenes and if I want to get back to the fighting I just press a button to get past it. It's not that hard.

The music fine. It goes good with the fighting and the story line.

Get this game. But you should rent it or borrow it from a friend first because this game isn't for everyone. Some people don't appreciate the cut scenes, and the violence. Some people just don't care for it. Well, I'm going to let you get back to daily life and I'm going to get back to surfing the 'net instead of informing you fine people of this fine game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/01, Updated 06/06/01