Onimusha: Warlords

"Bravo, Capcom!"

Intro
When I first got my PS2, I was hoping I would bump into some 10 worthy games. After trying out four games (Summoner, Evergrace, Dead or Alive 2, and Sky Odyssey), I saw nothing that was worth giving a 10. Don't get me wrong, though. Summoner and DOA2 are great, in my opinion. I also found Evergrace decent and I really wasn't too crazy about Sky Odyssey although it is a marvelous game for it's genre (which I'm not very crazy about the genre to begin with). Finally, I have found that one game that just screams 10 (at least to me, anyway). That is Onimusha: Warlords by Capcom.

Who, What, and Huh?
In Onimusha, you play as Samanosuke. He is a great samurai warrior who joined a clan to fight a war of sorts. He was asked to appear as a request from a princess named Yuki. While escorting her, she is kidnapped by evil demons who... well... plan evil. What else do evil demons do? You don't see too many evil demons planning good now do you? I can just imagine that now...

Evil Demon: Come men! Let's... plant a tree! And save the ozone! Then we'll help old women cross the street!

Anyway... Samanosuke is given the ability to steal the souls of the demons by a group of Ogres. Okay, first we get evil demons, and now, for a rare ocassion in gaming history, we get to see good ogres. Anyway, they give him a gauntlet that gives him the ability to defeat the demons and steal their souls.

Resident Evil with Swords? Not Totally...
A lot of people are probably expecting a Resident Evil clone. This is a bit different, actually. It's a lot easier to control, to start. Although the controls can be a bit quirky at times, they are still fairly easy to handle. One thing I especially like about the controls is if a demon is near you and you attack, you automatically swing at the demon as though you are autolocked. This can help a lot for when you're surrounded. This game also doesn't have the scare or shock factor that other survival/horror games do. This one is more about action than it is about horror. Also, you may notice that in Resident Evil, you should avoid fighting as much as possible. Rather in this game, you want to at least try to fight as much as possible so you can upgrade your stuff.

Gameplay Stuff
In the game, you get various different swords to use against your enemies. Each of your regular swords has different properties of Air, Lightning, or Fire. Each sword can also perform a special spell. You also get a bow and a gun eventually in the game, but they are mainly for enemies that can't be reached with a sword.

As you collect souls you may regain life and magic, depending on what kind of soul you obtain. Mostly, you'll get red souls, which you can use to upgrade your swords and spells and even convert select items to a higher version (i.e. converting herbs, lower healing items, to medicines, higher healing items). This converting can be done at the save points.

Graphics
The graphics for this game are the best I've seen so far for PS2. They look extremely realistic and lifelike and the CG sequences are very well crafted. Very fluid animation and nice coloring that works well for its atmosphere. I especially liked how they some of the littlest detail in the game. I mean, you look in Princess Yuki's mouth and you see well detailed teeth. The game's monster design does help the graphics all that much more as well. The only thing I didn't like about the monster design was how they recycled a couple of them, but that's nowhere near a major flaw anyway. Another big upside was the lighting effects for the spells and such. Many would complain about the pre-rendered backgrounds, but those don't bother me for some reason. I can stomach pre-rendered backgrounds in almost any game. Well done and magnificently beautiful.

Sounds
The sounds fit well with the atmosphere of the game with great sound effects and soundtrack. The slashing effects are probably the best I've heard in a while. They have that nice slashy-sounding hack noise... Ahh! The game is also great to play on a stereo what with all the booming and slashing effects. Even the monster growls and groans are pretty cool!

The Drawbacks
One of the usual complaints about this game is the terrible camera angles, which make it extremely hard to decide your position in relation to enemies at times. The only drawback to the sounds would be the sometimes peculiar American voice acting, which isn't very bad, but it also isn't stellar. Another gripe is that this game is just a bit too short. I finished it my first time through in only five hours. There is a slight replay value and a mediocre challenge level. Eh... I still really enjoy this game regardless of its flaws.

FINAL JUDGMENT
Graphics: Some of the greatest I've seen so far 10/10
Sounds: Work very well with the game. The voices are the only downside. That's not to say the voices are terrible, they're workable. It's just that some are slightly annoying. 9/10
Control: A lot better than most of the survival/horror games available. This shouldn't take you too long to get the hang of. Survival/Horror Veterans will grasp the controls pretty quickly. Unlike others as well, this one seems to have good response. The only downside I place here is the bad camera angle. 8/10
Plot/Storyline: Good plot, but... Well... Another save-the-maiden game? I thought those went out with the 16-bit era. 7/10
Gameplay: Action packed and addictive 10/10
All Together: 10/10

Perks
*Action packed and loads of fun!
*Outstanding graphics
*Nice atmosphere
*Surprisingly good control response
*Some side quests!
*Replay

Downers
*A tad bit too short. I would've wanted at least one more hour or so worth of gameplay.
*Camera angles can be a trip.
*Not really much of a ''horror'' title. I saw nothing really all that scary about this game.

Recommendations
Those who love action games should appreciate this one the most. People who hate survival/horror shouldn't totally avoid this as this isn't quite the same as most survival/horror games.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/01, Updated 10/02/01