Onimusha Blade Warriors

"A fun multiplayer fighting game that's nowhere near as fun when played alone."

Onimusha: Warlords was the first highly anticipated title released on the PlayStation 2. With excellent reviews and brisk sales, Capcom new they had a new star franchise on their hands. Onimusha: Blade Warriors is Capcom's attempt to translate the world of Onimusha into a 3D fighting game. Boasting a roster of all the major characters from the series, as well as a multi-tiered fighting system, BW is an ambitious attempt at expanding the Onimusha brand beyond the action-adventure genre. But is it worth your money? Read on:

Visuals:

The main menu is a bit cluttered, but overall very functional. Unfortunately, the pre-fight menu is extremely cluttered, and it will take you a few seconds to figure out what to do. The in-game menus are designed well. The HUD is easy to understand, and doesn't impede the gameplay in any way.

The few cutscenes that you'll see in story mode are rendered using in-game graphics. They look good, and do their job without causing distraction. This is somewhat disappointing, though, considering the amazing cutscenes present in the other games in the Onimusha franchise.

In-game graphics are of a somewhat lower quality than you would expect from a game in the Onimusha series. All character models look good, and animate fluidly, but they seem stiff compared to the movement and animation in the other games. The backgrounds all look good as well, but the simplicity in the levels will leave you somewhat disappointed.

BW doesn't live up to the visual standard set by previous games in the series, although it still looks above average.

Score: 6/10

Sound:

The sound effects are one of the best features of BW. Every weapon, item, and action has a unique sound to it, and all of those sounds fit in extremely well. The sound effects in battle do a convincing job of putting you in the shoes of your character.

The voiceovers, on the other hand, are average at best. The Onimusha series has never been known for strong English voiceovers, and BW is not an exception. The voice work is very low-grade, with the characters not displaying very much emotion. There is also a lot of repetition to the few lines the characters utter when not in a cutscene, which is disappointing. Previous Onimusha games have saved their audio score by allowing the player to substitute in the Japanese voiceovers; this is not the case in BW, though, and the game suffers as a result.

The music completes the up-and-down acoustic ride by being very appropriate. The music in this series has always been top-of-the-line, and BW utilizes some of the best songs from the series in its battle sequences. The result is a composition of suitable background music that fits the mood of the game well.

The sound in BW is as good as Onimusha fans are used to, but the voiceover problems hurt more this time.

Score: 7/10

Gameplay:

The controls are difficult to manage at first, but they become easier once you try the in-game tutorials. The more time you put in with them, the more comfortable you're likely to become (much like the controls in the action-adventure Onimusha titles). The D-pad will move your character around the level, as well as up and down through the multiple tiers. R1 will put you into a ‘ready' position, which allows you to perform certain special maneuvers, such as a dash or quick jump behind an enemy. The L1 button is used to block. L2 cycles through the characters available to target when you have R1 pressed. Square attacks, picks up, and uses items/weapons; R2 drops anything picked up. Triangle kicks your enemy, and X has your character jump.

One of the main features in the regular Onimusha games, absorbing souls, returns in BW, and plays a large part in gameplay; you'll absorb souls by holding down the circle button. Absorbing souls will heal your character, give them certain power-ups, and help them attain their special move. There are also special souls, called Victory Souls, which are necessary to obtain to win in some fights.

Aside from absorbing souls, the combat in BW is pretty basic. You'll hack away at your opponent with different combos of square, and block and dodge your opponent's attacks. Items range from power-ups to area-effect damage dealers, while some oddball weapons like a ray gun show up as well. Each of the characters plays a little bit differently from the others, but the differences aren't big enough to change the gameplay. The fighting is mostly enjoyable, and can be very fun with four players playing against each other via a PS2 Multitap. Against CPU opponents, though, the action can get dull pretty fast.

Overall, BW is a good multiplayer fighting game, but it lacks a compelling reason to play it alone.

Score: 7/10

Features/Modes:

The game features a story mode for each of the 24 selectable characters. You can unlock new playable characters, weapons, and items by completing more and more of the story mode.

The only other feature besides up to 4 player multiplayer fights is the tutorial mode, which really isn't there to be fun.

The multiplayer game is good, but the story mode isn't enough to draw in gamers without a few close friends.

Score: 6/10

Total Score:

Onimusha Blade Warriors ends up as a strong multiplayer fighting game in the vein of another Capcom franchise, Powerstones. The story mode may appeal to hardcore Onimusha fans, but if you're not interested in the multiplayer, then this game isn't for you.

Score: 7/10 (not an average)

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Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/04