Hello everyone, Jesse here. I just ran through Afro Samurai and have written my review.
Systems: XBOX 360, PS3
Notes for the parents: Afro Samurai is a rated M title and for good reason. It depicts the decapitation and dismembering of every character Afro comes up against (some of them partially nude) as well as VERY strong language throughout. NOT FOR CHILDREN…
Visuals: If you like semi-cell shaded games the visuals in AS are fantastic and if you don’t well then they’re fantastic. I was never a big fan of cell-shaded games but this one is particularly well done. The gore that this game excels at looks very nice with the cell-shading and is VERY graphic (you can see parts of the men you dissect in the slivers of their bodies you leave behind).
Music: A mix of oriental and R&B suits the subject matter quite nicely. Music for the boss battles and bigger skirmishes heightens the experience and really gets your adrenaline pumping whether you want it to or not. It’s a beautiful soundtrack that I would buy just to listen to.
Controls: The default control scheme will suit combo kings as well as button mashers. “A” jumps “B” kicks “X” slices horizontal and “Y” slices vertical. There are hundreds of possible combos for those of you who can remember the combinations of buttons needed to pull them off, however, I have beaten the game twice, once with combos and once just mashing buttons and hoping I hit something.
Story: Until I rented the game I had never heard the story of Afro Samurai but I can say very honestly that now that I have beaten the game I am going to rent the movie and the series. You begin very early to feel an attachment to Afro and a love/hate for his make-believe companion Ninja Ninja. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I will say this; Afro is on a journey of revenge for his fathers death. His father was in possession of a headband branding him the number one and as such was in a duel with the main antagonist. After his father lost the duel Afro grew up and started his journey.
Game Play: You will learn to love the auto checkpoint system for saving your butt constantly when you die, fall, or just take a wrong turn. The action is nonstop and when it rains it pours. Enemies will rush you 5 to 10 at a time and in multiple waves. Boss battles are mostly timing based where as you simply have to out flank your opponent several times to hit him in the back, however, there are defiantly exceptions to the rules and they don’t hesitate to call in reinforcements.
Final Answer: If you are a fan of the series this is defiantly a buy, but if you have never seen the cartoon then you should rent this game first. I was able to beat it twice in 11 hours of game play so anyone who thinks they are better than me would want to take a couple of hours off of that time. Buying this title used at your local Gamestop would be the route I would take.
Jesse’s Rating : 8.0
Fun, Gory, Deliciously Foul Mouthed, and Enthralling
