Afro Samurai

"Fun as all hell... and about as forgettable"

The old school is the new new school, as recent releases seem to suggest. Game companies, evidently desperate for ideas, are looking back at old properties and attempting to cash in on nostalgia. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the ones that do seem to work the best are those that retain the old school, no-nonsense feel of their predecessors. The simple fact really is that gamers are just getting tired of these multi-million dollar budget games that promise a cinematic experience when all they want to do is boot the damn game and kill some dudes. That's why Afro Samurai is the best game of 2009, and if anyone disagrees, they're wrong.

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but the fact of the matter is that games that get directly to the point tend to be the most accessible and generally the most enjoyable. These types of games tend to get relatively low scores from the press because it doesn't promise the overblown Peter Jackson-esque experience of a feature film and I feel that kicking a game to the curb because it isn't an interactive response to Shakespeare is a bit ridiculous. Then again, that's probably a rant for another article.

So, Afro Samurai. What is this game? Well, it's a game where you run around and kill a bunch of dudes in extremely cool ways. That's about it and if you're looking for anything deeper than that from a game called 'Afro Samurai' … well, I don't even know. From what I understand, it's based on an anime and blah blah blah, but that doesn't really matter to most people who haven't even heard of it before. Most people playing this game are playing it because there's an awesome looking black dude on the cover that is apparently voiced by Samuel L. Jackson whose goal is to kill some dude for vengeance. Not exactly Homer, but it at least makes the violence feel a bit less random.

What I'm trying to say is that Afro Samurai is a tribute to old school beat 'em ups: if you see something, generally your only choice of interaction is to kill it. It lacks the technical game mechanics of Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden, but for a game of this type, it really doesn't need it. Perhaps the best way to describe this game is 'minimalistic.' There is no HUD, there are very few real gimmicks, the puzzles are mostly all relatively easy and the game is simple enough to play. If there's a learning curve, it generally eases off about the second you pick up the controller because everything about the game feels natural. That's not to say the game is particularly easy – in fact, some of the bosses are likely to give you trouble – but it's not sophisticated and it doesn't need to be. It does exactly what it sets out to do and it does it very well.

You have three attack buttons (light, heavy, kick) that can be strung together into various combos. There are a decent amount of combos in this game, and as of games of this type, you unlock a good amount of them with regular gameplay. You have a jump button, a guard button and the good ol' bullet time button that seems to be less prolific than it used to be. The bullet time button allows for instant kills and slightly more acrobatic maneuvers to navigate particularly difficult opponents and... well, you've probably have done this sort of thing before if you're looking at this game anyway. What makes Afro Samurai so good, though, is just how well it incorporates everything. It's a genre that once was heavily traveled and has aged nicely and the developers have obviously played their fair share of them in the past, shown by how fluid the game moves and how responsive Afro himself is. Even the camera, which can be a pain in the ass on rare occasions, is at least in your hands the majority of the time. A nice touch is that you can kill your opponents in different ways, removing different body parts with each killing blow – yes, even right down to their fingers and toes! There is even a mini-game that revolves around this which rewards you with full health and an experience bonus if you complete it. It makes me wonder if it was a subtle jab at Dead Space's dismembering gameplay mechanic, but either way, it certainly looks cool. You can also slice bullets in mid flight and doing so damages all of the enemies around you with its shrapnel. This is a game mechanic that should've been thought up AGES ago. Alternatively, you can also simply reflect the bullet to kill the shooter instantly, but that isn't nearly as cool.

As I said earlier, there is no HUD, but you really don't NEED a HUD. There are only three things the player needs to know in Afro Samurai: whether Afro is about to die, whether Afro's target is about to die and whether Afro can use his Focus (the aforementioned bullet time mechanic.) All of these things are handled very simply and to the point – if Afro or any NPC around him is low on health, they take on a red outline. If Afro's focus is ready, the pendant he wears has a very noticeable glimmer. That's it. The experience bar which determines when Afro learns a new combo is invisible, which is my only real problem with the HUD (or lack there-of) but when you're playing, you rarely think about it. It's nice to know your status every now and then, though and there's no reason NOT to display it even in the combo list, but it's more likely that it was simply an oversight rather than a design choice. Other skills are also found by collecting all five items in a given stage, all of which essentially further Afro's ability to kill dudes. There are no orbs to collect, no shops, no grinding (you gain experience EXTREMELY quickly) and no BS. Go in, kill dudes, maybe watch a little story, go to next level, kill more dudes, rinse, repeat. If there's anything wrong with this, it would be the repetition. The game is quite short – roughly six hours. After this, there is a Hard mode, and of course your normal pile of achievements, all of which are reasonably easy to complete. While many would say this is far too short, I personally say it's a good length for this game. It doesn't overstay its welcome, and it makes for repeat adventures later on more enjoyable since you can complete it rather quickly.

Graphically, the game is an eye-pleaser, but it's not 'technically' good. There isn't a lot of ultra image processing technology being put to use in this game which makes me wonder why the frame rate can sometimes skip a little in larger fights, especially those involving projectiles. Hm. In either case, the game, visually, takes a lot from No More Heroes and its cel-shaded ultraviolence. In fact, in some ways, it wouldn't be a far stretch to call the two games spiritual siblings. If you've played games like NMH, or have otherwise experienced a similar cel-shaded look, then you know what you're in for. It's a dirtier, grimier looking world, but it's a setting that perfectly fits with the grim quest Afro is on. Blood is copious and ridiculous without looking overly comical, the character models are well designed even if the same ones are used with slight variations in their textures and the animations are fluid. It won't win any technical awards, and it certainly doesn't appear to really push the limits of the hardware, but it gets the job done and absolutely fits the overall experience.

Audibly is a bit of a different story. The sound effects are a little generic and some of them sound very low quality which is disappointing, but not a game breaker. The voice acting, however, is rather top notch, even if it sometimes sounds as if everything was recorded in a low bit rate. With a team led by Samuel L. Jackson, you'd expect some epically silly stuff... and you'd be right, but the premise alone is silly to begin with, so it's perfect. Also, with Jackson involved, you can be sure that there will be plenty of obscenities and... there are. It's heavy, but it's silly and used as if it were normal vernacular, rather than to be insulting. Again, though, there's a reason the game is rated M, so if that type of thing offends you then it's worth considering. The music is probably the shining part of the game's audio, with plenty of stereotypically East Asian sounding tracks mixed with hip hop that is surprisingly rather fun to listen and kill to. Unlike the other sound work in the game, the music is crisp and clear and will give your sound system's subwoofer a reason to exist with heavy bass beats. Even if you don't like hip hop, I do implore keeping the music on for at least one stage or two to given The RZA's work in Afro Samurai a listen. You might be pleasantly surprised.

So is Afro Samurai worth your money? If you're the avid gamer that plays games for the sheer purpose of collecting everything and mastering it... probably not. You can see all the game has to offer in about twelve hours, as there are not a good deal of unlockables and most, if not all, if the combos you can acquire will be unlocked during normal play anyway. For you, this game is worth a rental for some quick fun and 1000 easy achievement points. If you're a person that just feels like popping in a game and killing some dudes every once and a while, you can do much worse than Afro Samurai, but at 60 USD, you might find the price a little steep for what is essentially a mindless if extremely entertaining brawler. It's not too easy and it's not too hard, and virtually anyone will find something to like about it, even if they'll forget it the next day.

For your lazy people (TL;DR):

Gameplay – 9.5

+Fluid and fast
+No nonsense design
+Responsive controls
+Many different combos to fiddle with
+Some surprisingly strategic, if not terribly deep encounters
+Fun boss fights with a lot of character
+Just straight up fun to play
?Simplistic
?Minimalistic, no HUD
?Easy puzzles
-Invisible experience bar
-Some cheap enemy attacks, although that's a staple of the genre

Graphics – 7.5

+Attractive cel-shaded style
+Well designed characters
+Violence is fun to watch!
-Not really technically impressive
-Why does the framerate suffer sometimes?

Audio – 7.5

+Top notch voice acting
+Surprisingly good soundtrack
-Low quality sound effects
-Low bitrate voices

Purchase Value @ $60 US – 4

+The game is fun
+Sometimes you just want to kill some dudes with minimal hassle
-The game is also, unfortunately, nearly completely forgettable
-Short
-No multiplayer co-op, leaderboards or... anything, really
-Achievements are very easy and can be attained in a single rental

Overall (Not an average) - 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/09

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