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Afro Samurai
Publisher: Surge
Developer: Namco Bandai
Genre: Action
Release Date: January 27, 2009
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
ESRB: M - Mature
Reviewer: Eric
During gameplay Afro Samurai looks like a great accomplishment from Namco
Bandai. The now cult television show looks as good, maybe even better, than the
ongoing series. Once you get your hands on a controller things change and Afro
Samurai starts to feel like every other bad action game.
I am still in the middle of watching the first season of Afro Samurai and I
still need to watch the first made for television movie as well. From what I
have seen the show is great and it did get me pumped over the video game. Looks
any more don’t make a game great. Once upon a time this was passable, but now we
need a whole lot more than a pretty picture.
Afro Samurai puts together the best parts of the show. The cast members reprise
their voice roles for the game and RZA is doing his thing with the music.
Anything with RZA’s name on it is enough to make Wu-Tang fans excited and there
is a reason. The games score is great and it fits, just like it does for the
series. I have nothing to complain about this aspect.
Both Samuel L. Jackson and Ron Perlman are pretty big names in Hollywood; it all
depends on how you look at their achievements. Having these two sitting down and
lending their voices is great for fans and video game goers. Along with the
score and the graphics you have a good game and I wish I could say that for
everything else about the game.
Beside all of the good I said above there is a dark side to Afro Samurai. The
general story is confusing. Bits and pieces from the show are used and I mean
bits and pieces. I am a little over half way with the show and if it wasn’t for
this I might have been last even more. The game assumes that you know everything
about Afro Samurai, inside and out. Parts in the game just sort of happen and
there is no real explanation why. Where the show lasts much longer it seems the
developers wanted to cram all of that in, plus some, in only five hours of
gameplay.
Anymore most action games last for only a few short hours. If you are new to
these kinds of games, most likely you’re not then add about two to three hours
to the total time length. You can play the game again after you beat it the
first time because you’ll unlock a harder difficulty.
The combat overall is simple. Hack and slash until the cows come home. It is
quite simple but as you grow through the game you will encounter naked women
that try to kill you and boss battles that are way too easy to beat. Afro
Samurai has limited moves and it doesn’t take too long to learn all of these
attacks. Very simple gameplay and the best part is there are a dozen or so
budget titles now that offer the same thing.
As you are dashing forward to kill the enemies there is a huge problem that
might cause you to loose more damage than you should. The games camera will only
move to a certain point, causing you to have a blind spot during those tight
situations. Not only that the game has half inverted camera controls. There is
no way to change this too and it will cause huge problems in later levels.
Final Verdict
At best it might be safe to keep Afro Samurai to a rental. If the price were a
little lower then I might be able to recommend this game a little more. With all
of the budget titles that offer the same thing I just don’t see a point in
buying Afro Samurai. Stick with the television show only.
Oh yeah if you like the F word then you better buy this game right away because
you’ll hear that word every 30 seconds of gameplay. Eat your heart out Guy
Ritchie.
Rating
6 out of 10
More reviews:
MetaCritic: 6.5/10
TestFreaks: 7/10
IGN:
6.6/10
Afro Samurai Trailer
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