Afro Samurai

"50% Style, 45% Substance, 5% Afro"

Prior to the release of this game, I'd never even heard of Afro Samurai. However, there are certain words that instantly catch my interest, regardless of the context in which they're used. Upon hearing the combination of “katana”, “afro”, “violence” and “Samuel L. Jackson” I had a feeling that Afro Samurai would be right up my alley.

Though I'm typically wary about jumping into an established franchise, not having any experience with the world of Afro Samurai should serve as no hindrance to newcomers. In fact, the game gives players all the background information they need to know from the start. There are two legendary headbands; the Number One headband is held by the best fighter in the world and is seen as a god among men. In order to keep just anyone from challenging him, there is the Number Two headband. Whoever holds it is entitled to challenge the holder of the Number One headband. However, anyone can challenge the holder of the Number Two headband, thereby making their life a constant battle for survival.

As it turns out, Afro's father was the holder of the Number One headband, until he was killed and the headband taken by a man named Justice. Swearing vengeance, Afro sets out to acquire the Number Two headband and ultimately slay the holder of the Number One.

The game is broken down into levels, each of which focuses on a particular part of Afro's history or journey and effectively moves the story along at a brisk pace. Despite the varied settings that these levels take place in, they all consist of the same thing – killing lots of people.

At first glance, the game comes off as nothing more than a simple-minded brawler. Players will hack and slash their way through countless waves of enemies using light and heavy sword attacks as well as kicks. Afro also has a massive arsenal of combos at his disposal, and one of his more essential moves is the standard block. It doesn't take long for things to become much more complicated, and the game reveals itself to be very strategy oriented.

Afro also has two other techniques which prove to be invaluable. Focus slows the world down in typical Matrix-esque fashion, and allows Afro to do some serious damage. By pressing an attack button, Afro will hold his sword out and the sword will start to shine. Releasing the attack at the right time can cut an enemy in two. In this mode Afro can also dodge enemy attacks by flipping around and slicing bullets out of midair or send them back to their owners.

The other technique is Overfocus. Like Focus, the world slows down, but Afro is not capable of any of the individual moves. Instead he becomes an overpowered killing machine, mowing down countless enemies with single sword slices. To give you some idea of what this is like, I once activated Overfocus when faced with eight enemies and had killed them all in seconds.

Knowing when, how and where to use all these fancy techniques are essential to surviving the game because each fight has the potential to be the last if you're not on your toes. Much like in Ninja Gaiden games, enemies are ruthless, intelligent and tend to attack en masse. They're also unusually tough, as the weakest grunt is capable of taking an extensive beating before succumbing to death.

This also applies to bosses, only on an exponentially higher scale. However, they aren't as fun as just going up against base level grunts, namely because many of them have big attacks that can only be stopped through some random counter, which may only be found after dying several times and even then by pure luck.

Interspersed between all this fighting, there are fairly frequent bouts of platforming. As is typical with this sort of game, it doesn't exactly work out well. Jump controls are iffy and a very simple jump can often go wrong for no good reason. Naturally, this can lead to some frustration but falling off a cliff doesn't always equate with death. Usually, Afro will just respawn nearby. However, it seems that if this happens during a fight – say Afro is hit and falls back off a cliff, then that actually counts as a death.

There are a couple of other problems, both of which are pretty typical for this type of game. The first is that there simply isn't enough enemy variety. Enemies may be slightly re-skinned from level to level, but their battle tactics and skills don't change in the least. Considering that you'll be forced to fight dozens upon dozens of the same enemy for a single level, it gets mighty stale in a hurry.

Then there's the camera. The camera is usually player controlled, although control is sometimes taken away (usually not at any critical point). A player controlled camera is a problem for two reasons – first the action moves so quickly and changes direction so often that I was often struggling just to keep the camera oriented. Second, surviving typically requires every ounce of concentration you can muster, so being distracted to rotate the camera was quite irritating.

When it comes to the visuals of Afro Samurai, they're as stylishly sharp as the katana Afro carries. I've often described games as having a comic book look, but compared to this game, all those pale in comparison. Afro Samurai truly looks like a comic book come to life, as shading lines are apparent along with many other little visual flourishes. Overall, it's a stunning game to behold, especially when Afro is fighting. Level design, on the other hand, isn't always as consistent. There are a few too many bland houses and pagodas to be interesting.

Another interesting aspect of the games look is the fact that there is no traditional HUD. Things such as health are represented organically, which actually works. As his health degrades, an increasingly bright red aura will come over Afro, and it works the same for enemies. The Focus meter, is represented through a medallion that shines when it is charged up.

The audio side of Afro Samurai comes with the same stylish finesse as the graphics. Many notable actors provide voice talent. Samuel L. Jackson does a great job as Afro's companion, Ninja Ninja and delivers his dialog in a completely atypical way. There are also several other noteworthy actors, such as Kelly Hu and Ron Perlman. Music is also interestingly unique. The game makes good use of traditional Japanese music with a hip-hop twist, as mixed by the RZA. Believe it or not, not only is it not a terrible abomination of sound, it's actually pretty damn good.

THE VERDICT
Coming into Afro Samurai I really had no idea what to expect. What I got was a game chock full not only of style, but of some pretty good gameplay to back it up as well as an interesting tale of vengeance. While there are a few problems which are typical of this style of game, it is ultimately good enough that it just might win over some new converts to the franchise.

HIGHS
- Visceral combat
- Unique visual style
- Great music

LOWS
- Camera problems
- Bad platforming sections
- Not enough enemy types

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/09/09, Updated 05/04/09

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