Bounty Hounds

"Hack n' Slash Fantasy"

After waves of few tedious hack n' slash games, the PSP finally got a decent one. Published by Namco-Bandai, Bounty Hounds, one of the best hack n' slash game was finally released for the PlayStation Portable system.

Gameplay-8/10

Bounty hounds is technically an Action RPG. But the battle system is completely a hack n' slash. You can equip up to 2 weapons and assign them to either the [] button (left arm) or the O button (right arm). The enormous amounts of weapons are assigned to different classes. The classes vary from swords, axes, hammers, gatling guns, big guns, shortguns, and many many more. You can acquire weapons by destroying enemies and picking the remains of them up(although you can't do that to every enemy) or buy them from a shop back in your base. Projectile weapons require ammo or "materials". These materials can also be acquired the same way you get weapons. In the battlefield, you can take up to 4 weapons to use. Most close-range weapons can string up to 5-hit combo by repeatedly pressing the assigned buttons. You can go further than that by switching weapons mid-battle (and in real time!). In conclusion, whichever weapon you decide to take to the battlefield, you're in for some awesome hack n' slash.

Graphics-8/10

Bounty Hounds has some of the best graphics for a PSP game. The backgrounds are very detailed and colorful, and the textures are clear and smooth. You won't experience much (if any) slowdowns even when the screen is full of enemies. Each weapons and armors you acquire in the game are also very detailed and deadly-looking. There are huge differences in all the items.
In conclusion, Bounty Hounds is full of eye candy.

Replay Value-8/10

Bounty Hounds has 4 different, gorgeous planets to explore. Each planets contain up to 10 areas stringed together and tons of enemies to kill in each area plus, every time you start the game, the areas are randomly generated resulting in the feeling where you are exploring a brand new area. This results in about 7~10 hours of hack n' slash goodness. But that's not all, after completing your first playthrough, you can start on the next difficulty mode with a brand new storyline continuing from the last difficulty level. Also with over 500 weapons and armors to collect and the rare Legend class weapons to hunt down, the possibility is limitless. So Bounty Hounds has great replay value.

In conclusion, Bounty Hounds is a very good game any hack n' slash fans would enjoy. So don't rent or download (boo!) go buy this fantastic hack n' slash masterpiece known as Bounty Hounds.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/02/06