Weaponlord

"Never Heard of This Game? Neither Did I..."

So I'm leaving the Doctor's office, and my mom wants to go to some beauty place. I see a Gamerama right below the beauty place, and I decide to enter it. After about 10 minutes of browsing, I see a mint copy of a game called Weaponlord. I asked for some info on it, and then purchased it, brought it home and then played it. My jaw instantly dropped. This game is too amazing to pass up, a truly amazing title, by far one of the best on the Genesis. Game play will explain it for you.

Game play: 9/10

Though this was the time before Namco got heavily into the fighting game business, they sure did a good job on the game play. The game plays though like a Capcom fighter (no surprise). There are 7 unique characters, with all different moves and combos. Another added feature to each character is that they have a type of fatality, known as death strikes. They can range from decapitations (which look really cool), to limbs falling off. Game play is spot on, how about the story?

Story: 8/10

Just a typical storyline. The demonlord is staging a tournament to find out who is the strongest, the strongest then becoming the Weaponlord. Each character also has their own unique stories/motivations/reasons that further add to the storyline. Graphics are next.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics are very eerie, very cool, and extremely gory. One swipe of your weapon, and it looks as if the other person lost all of their blood. The backgrounds also have a dark, eerie feeling behind them. As for the characters, they all look amazing. Korr for example, is a massively huge Conan the Barbarian lookalike, or Divada the woman who looks like a Dominatrix. Graphics are superb, as are the sounds.

Sounds: 10/10

The level music is perfect for the atmosphere of the game (apart from being downright great). The true amazing-ness of the sounds though is in the sound effects. You enter the game, and a bloody amazing deep God-like voice summons you. The way he says Korr is brilliant, and is worth hearing. How is the replay ability?

Replay ability: 9/10

The replay ability in this game is great for a Genesis fighter. There are the standard arcade/story, vs. modes, along with a tournament mode that takes it a step further and lets you input your name (I know not that big of a deal, but games nowadays don't even have that... some anyway). Also, you won't want to put this game down, its too good.

Buy or Rent?

Renting is impossible, and buying may be a little trickier than you would imagine. There aren't many copies of this game floating around, however if you are able to find one (mine is in completely mint condition), snatch it up.

This game is fantastic and really should be mentioned a lot more in gaming circles. A little piece of trivia: This was one of Namco's first (if not THE first) games to be made entirely in the US. Thus, not only is it an amazing game, if you own it, you'll own a tiny piece of history. For fighting game fans, this is a must, and for non-fans, give it a try- you'll love it. "Korr Wins!"

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/26/07, Updated 09/11/09

Game Release: Weaponlord (US, 1995)