Soul of the Samurai

"O.o Alright...this is hard."

-Graphics {9/10}-

Not bad at all. Based in ancient Japan, the backgrounds of the game are detailed for just that. Along with the enemies that you face, dressed in the garb of the Samurai and wandering warrior.

Right down to the small sparks of a blade clashing against blade when you deflect, or the spray of blood when you do kill your opponent, it all is well-drawn, and looks almost pre-rendered in a way.

However, there are graphical glitches in the game, such as polygon breakdown, and some missing frames of animation in a couple of the cut scenes. You'll look at the screen a little bit and frown when you see this, but it is made up for with the envolving storyline, and different area's that you have to traverse.

-Sound {7/10}-

Moody music, and squishy chopping. Alright, not too bad. But hey...what about a little voice over here? Maybe some different clashing sounds with the swords, that would have been nice as well.

A couple of grunts is what you get for death groans. And there really isn't a whole lot of background sounds, such as making your way across rocky ground at a full tilt run...you're really not missing much if you turn the sound down.

-Gameplay {7/10}-

Kill or be killed. That's the name of the game here. You have to have timing down to make your attacks connect, and there are points where you have to keep another person alive. But it's mostly go from place to place and make it through various tasks while killing everything in your path.

Not much here to play, and you might find yourself slightly bored with it after a couple of hours of playing. The computer AI, is cheap, way cheap, especially the bosses. A couple of them have an unblockable move, which can kill you in a heart beat...that severely sucks sometimes, when you fight your way through a stage, just to get hacked down by the end boss.

-Control {7/10}-

Again, more of the same off-kilter stuff that you would expect with a game like this. Turning to face a couple of foes, and striking at them, requires precise control handling, which this game doesn't have.

You'll find yourself hammering on the control to get a couple of the combinations off, and even the regular moves that you use, and have to use on a regular basis, don't come off unless you have the timing down.

Monsterous bummer here, you'll spend alot of your time just trying to master the basics before you can even touch the more advanced controls.

-Replay Value {7/10}-

Two different characters. Each one is unique in their own special way, carrying two completely different storylines that match later on in the game. Not bad, but this doesn't really save it from such a low review score.

-Overall {7/10}-

It's got the grpahics, but no real sound to it. The gameplay is linear and to the point, with very few plot changes thrown in for good measure. The control is off, and makes you work at it, which, in it's own way, isn't bad, but, then again...you'll spend more time mastering the control, that actually playing the game.

My suggestion? Rent this game first...it'll remind of you of other Samurai games such as Bushido Blade, but little more. If you do find that you like this, and can find it at a relatively cheap price {20.00 is what I got mine for}, then by all means, buy it. It may be your cup of Samurai, Kung Fu fightin' tea, but not mine.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/00, Updated 03/18/00