The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai

"Dark, Stylistic, and Bloody. Too much fun for it to be easy"

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai was originally a community game made with the XNA program, but was so kick ass, that it got upgraded to XBL Arcade level. Let's view this game in more detail.

The first thing you'll notice is that the story makes little sense from the start. It has something to do with cyborgs, and dead dishwasher who wakes up without a heart, some sister, and over the top violence. Too be honest, you won't really give a crap about the story. The story is told in between levels and important level sequences in the form of comic strip style visuals. Yeah, that's pretty much it. You'll figure the story out, eventually.

Visually, the game looks pretty sweet. It's dark and bloody, every room has a feel to it. Sadly, the backgrounds are a bit boring. Not bad, but a little fuzzy, and you will see repeated backgrounds. The characters, though, look great. The Dishwasher himself moves and looks like a zombie-samurai mix or something. It's weird, but cool. Animations are smooth, the blood is over the top, and finishers are way cool. Seriously, when you see the Dishwasher jam his knife into someone's neck... Oh yeah.

Gameplay is pretty cool. A summary of level; you enter a room and something blocks you from leaving the room. Several enemies will appear and attempt to beat the living poo poo out of you and your only defense is to kick some ass. Use different strategies to take enemies down, or you will die. A lot. This game is not easy, either. It captures the old style gaming where the motto was "To make games longer, let's make it the hardest game ever". This game is fun, though. The difficulty is slightly comparable to Alien Hominid. You will die a lot. I'm not joking, so if you are gonna punk out and quit cause it's hard, then don't bother. For those of you who have hair on your gonads, buy this game now.

The sounds are cool. The music is... Forgettable. Really, it's nothing to special, but it does capture the mood of the levels and game. The Dishwasher makes his grunts and moans when he attacks and gets hit. Swords make gory sounds when they hit people, it's all good.

The Multiplayer is very... confusing. Online, you can play co-op Arcade mode. Arcade mode is basically an arena mode. Now, you can play the entire game co-op story mode Couch Co-op, but... You have to find 2 and 3 player amulets in the single player game. And the second player plays a Shadow, and the third player plays a flying Guitar. Yep, I really can't explain this. You just have to experience it to understand. Trust me.

Final Notes: You get orbs for killing enemies. Use these to buy all sorts of junk like upgrades, extra health, or some fish. You also have several different weapons to choose from, each controlled different than the others. Remember to not go full offense or you will die. Take use of your ability to jump, dodge, etc. etc.

Overall, this game gets a 9/10. Very fun, but very difficult. So, man up, pay the 800 points and get your ass kicked.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/06/09

Game Release: The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (US, 04/01/09)