Afro Samurai

"The perfect formula for awesome: Sam Jackson, Swords, and extreme violence."

The perfect formula for awesome: Sam Jackson, Swords, and extreme violence

Afro Samurai seems like the perfect recipe for a video game. Based off of the star studded anime series of the same name, Afro Samurai tells the tale of…Afro Samurai. The trademarks of the series would all seem to translate perfectly to a video game: a soundtrack that's a marriage between hip-hop and traditional Japanese instruments, extreme violence, and Sam mother-****in' Jackson voicing the title character. For the most part that's true, but the game suffers a few hiccups along the way.

The game's plot isn't much special if you haven't seen the series. There are two mystical headbands in the world, the number one and number two. Whoever has the number one is invincible to all except the holder of the number two, but the number two is vulnerable to anyone. Afro Samurai, the protagonist, is the holder of the number two headband. He seeks to take down Justice, the number one who also killed Afro's father when he was just a boy. The game follows Afro's life long quest for revenge as he kills his way across feudal Japan.

The plot isn't enough to recommend the game for those who haven't seen the series. There's more to the story than a simple tale of revenge, but the anime covers the story portions much better than the game. However, the game makes some interesting changes to the story fans of the series are likely to notice. It's not uncommon for licensed games to take some liberties, but Afro Samurai the game takes so many it's almost like a different interpretation of the same events. Certain aspects of the series are either played out differently or completely changed-especially the ending, which is entirely different from the show. As a fan of the show, I liked some of the changes they made in the game better than what actually happened in the show. This would normally be a bad thing if the source material was more rigid in story or design, but it actually works quite well. Afro Samurai the game almost feels more like a companion piece to the series, which is great in the sea of usually sub-par licensed games.

The sound design is perhaps the best aspect of the game. The voice acting is absolutely superb, with what is probably the most star-studded cast in video game history. Samuel L. Jackson is the titular Afro Samurai as well as his erstwhile trash-talking companion Ninja Ninja and the rest of the cast is equally as impressive: Ron Perlman manages to make lisps absolutely terrifying as the villain Justice, Kelly Hu plays Afro's love interest, and Terrence Carson (Kratos from God of War) plays as Afro's Master. Even the minor roles are voiced by impressive actors: Phil LaMarr, John Dimaggio, and Greg Eagles round out the great cast.

The music is equally as impressive. Similar to Samurai Champloo, the game uses a mix of contemporary Rap with classical Japanese instruments and styles. The music is primarily composed by the RZA, and it works very well in the games context. Particularly noteworthy are the intros to certain fights that synchronized with specific tracks of the game: there's just something awesome about mowing down waves of foes to badass music.

That brings us to the gameplay, which is where the game chugs a bit. The game is primarily a hack and slash, though there are some light platforming elements thrown in. Levels play out by moving from one fight to another, usually having some goal in mind other than just kill everything that moves. The fighting in the game can be a bit of a mixed bag. You have your standard three button attack system-light, heavy, and kicks- but there are also a number of more advanced combos that can be unlocked and do some serious damage. Sadly, there's no real need or incentive to perform these combos: simple button mashing will get you through most encounters in the game

The combat system does have a few redeeming qualities. Foremost is the focus system. Focus is gained over time and through fighting enemies, and sort of works like bullet time. Time slows, and you can perform a completely different set of moves than normal. The catch is that most of these moves are instantly fatal if you pull them off right: A shimmer will move down Afro's Katana and if you let go of the button when it reaches to end, you'll perform an instant kill slice. Using this system, you can further time your strikes to chop of specific body parts or even quarter people if you get the timing down. Not only is the focus system easy to use, it's a damn good time and Afro Samurai is one of those games where killing even a faceless drone of an enemy is satisfying. Boss fights are similarly polished and each one seems bent on upping the ante of the previous fights, though many of them boil down to simple wars of attrition.

The game does feature a bit of Prince of Persia styled platforming, which is mostly awkward and unrefined. This isn't helped by the horrendous camera: the game's camera has an inverted X axis that can't be changed, which there really isn't any reason for. A lot of the cooler fights loose something when it feels more like you're fighting the camera than a horde of ninja. Finally, the game suffers a bit in the replay department. After beating the fairly short main game- 10-12 hours at most- all you unlock is a hard mode, though that mode is quite a bit more challenging than the normal mode. It would have been simple to at least give us a few alternate character skins like Afro's Father or Jinno, even if they didn't have any new moves it would still be more of an incentive to replay the game than what we were given.

The graphical style in the game is absolutely beautiful Cel-shading. The environments are highly detailed, but special note goes to the game's models which may as well have been plucked from the TV show. Even models that show up for very brief periods are well done. The game also gets points for having no HUD at all: your health is shown by tinting your model a darker and darker red as you take damage, and your amount of focus is shown by a small glowing bauble on your sword that changes color depending on how much you have. It's a really nice addition and doesn't hurt the gameplay in the slightest, especially when you can see how nice the graphics are without anything to clutter up the screen.

Despite the brilliant graphics and sound design, it's hard to recommend the game if you aren't a fan of the series. Despite a couple of neat ideas, the game doesn't really do anything that hasn't been done before. I would say the cool story and plot would be the main draw of the game; but for the less than the price of the game you could pick up both Afro Samurai series on Blu-ray, which is a far better way to experience the plot. The combat manages to be fun despite being a little button-mashy, but the focus system is a cool concept that gets ridiculously fun to use when you get it down. The game's no Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry, but it still manages to be a fun romp. The alternate interpretation of the story is a really interesting way to go for a licensed game, which makes it at least worth a play-through to everyone who enjoyed the show. This game might not be the renaissance, but it's a fun weekend rental for a bored gamer and a possible buy for a fan of the show.

Summary:

Pros:
+Amazing Graphics, no cluttered HUD
+Incredible sound design, both voice and music
+Cool story, great use of a license
+Focus system in combat is fun
+Heavy use of the “Rule of Awesome”

Cons:
-Shallow combat system leads to button mashing
-Convoluted story for those who haven't seen the show
-Less than stellar platforming elements

Overall:

7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/09

Game Release: Afro Samurai (US, 01/27/09)