Afro Samurai
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Afro Samurai
AFRO!
An action game more bloody than Ninja Gaiden? More violent than any GTA game? An ultra-violent hack and slash visceral experience which features the great Samuel L. Jackson? Yes, the game name is Afro Samurai and it’s based on the 5 episode animated series of the same name. While the series still unknown to some people, bringing Afro’s story to the videogame scene seemed like a no-brainer. In fact, there are some adaptations, whether is a movie or a comic book, which requires more than just bringing the story, a few elements and put it on a videogame disc. Has Namco Bandai’s done everything to keep Afro Samurai’s essence here?
Gameplay
People who are familiar with the anime series will certainly dig the game’s storyline. You play as Afro (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson who also voices the obnoxious and funny character Ninja Ninja) as he’s looking to avenge his father’s death by the hands of a man called Justice (voiced by Ron Perlman) who was looking to claim Afro’s father title of Number One. You see, in the world of Afro Samurai, the one who becomes Number One would rule the world and receive god-like powers. To become Number One, you have to kill the previous Number One and taking his ceremonial headband. But there’s one rule: only the Number Two is allowed to challenge the Number One. The downside of this is that anyone and everyone can challenge and try to kill the Number Two, to gain the right to move forward and challenge Number One. Now a grown man, Afro is the Number Two and sets out on his journey of revenge. Not only that, Afro will have to defend himself from the “Empty Seven Clan”, a mysterious cult looking to get Afro’s Number Two title.
Afro Samurai could be considered a hack n’ slash but not completely. It forces you to use different offensive and defensive strategies like blocking, rolling, and chain combos along with some slow-motion moves in order to defeat your opponents, who will also respond to your tactics and counter-attack. For example, if you attack with your blade diagonally, the enemies will duck and hop over your sword. They will also roll and attack from different angles depending on how you use your blocking skills. Where the game compares itself to a hack n’ slash game is in the number of enemies and how random they will appear on screen to attack you, bringing a sense of repetitiveness that becomes tiresome after a while. Battling enemies for a reason is one thing but to battle just because you have to is not always fun. Thank god you can quickly chop-up people and spill their blood everywhere. The game also has an unpleasant and quite an unnecessary platforming element that breaks the action’s tempo of the game, literally. Elements that just don’t work most of the time like jumping around or grabbing onto things in order to get to one certain area, especially when you’re getting ready to fight a boss and you die (in fact, the camera and inability to invert the X-axis makes it worse in my opinion). It’s annoying because you are forced to do some backtracking causing you to redo the entire sequence until you get it right. Regardless of all this, Afro Samurai remains a darn fun game to play. Don’t be too fast to judge the game by its glitches, you might miss something.
Graphics & Sounds
Afro Samurai’s graphics, rendered through cel-shaded animation (think of Prince of Persia), captures the true essence of the animated series. The game features a clever and particular stylistic presentation rarely seen in an action-adventure game in which the action sequences are broken into split-screens showing what’s next for the hero. The animations and the rag-doll physics bring something even more special to the game, especially during ultra-violent, bloody and gory fighting sequences. Of course, the quality isn’t really what we’ve been accustomed to seeing but it remains rather decent. There are some slowdowns during fights and some texture ripping, often caused by the split-screen action sequences but in general, the blood spilled on the floor makes up for it.
As for sounds, what would an Afro Samurai game be without the one and only Samuel L. Jackson? Actually, is not Afro’s voice acting that steals the show but actually the voice of Ninja Ninja, Afro’s foul-mouthed and obnoxious road dog. While the sound effects are no different than the usual stuff we’ve seen in other games, the game’s voice overs (Sam Jackson, Ron Pearlman and Kelly Hu) mixed with the musical genius of The Rza (Wu Tang Clan) is what puts Afro Samurai among one of the more interesting games out there, especially if you are a fan of the animated series. And if you liked the Kill Bill movies, you will see some artistic similarities here as well.
Value
The real value of the game stands in the presentation and storyline aspect rather than the gameplay. Fans of the animated series will definitely pick this game up for the good reasons while the average gamer will pick it up because of its ultra-violent setting, crude language and other mature subject matter. Personally, Afro Samurai deserves a spot on every gamer game shelve but since it’s not the kind of game that everyone would enjoy, make sure you rent it first before you buy it if you are not a diehard fan of Afro Samurai.
Conclusion
While Afro Samurai won’t be the worst game you will play in 2009, the only thing I can say is that it could be so much better. The incredible presentation level, the nice graphics/animations and the compelling storyline are overshadowed by the poor camera angles, the repetitive and tiresome gameplay and the impossibility to change the X-axis controls (especially needed in this game). Sure, every Afro Samurai fan will take a deep breath and enjoy the game to the max…but there’s a limit and you will reach it quickly if patience is not your thing. Yes, it’s too bad but this is definitely one of those games which you have to give it a solid try and weep at the lost potential of Afro Samurai. And if you have never been introduced to the world of Afro Samurai this is a game which can cause you to run out and rent or buy the TV series at your local DVD store and if it doesn’t in the words of Ninja Ninja, “Whats your problem m*therf*cker?”
Pros
+ Art design and cel-shaded animations are nice
+ Overall presentation stays true to the anime
+ Exceptional voice acting
+ Interesting storyline and character development
+ Excellent soundtrack
Cons
- Bad camera angles
- Framerate issues during certain sequences
- Repetitive combat and enemies
- Platforming mechanics make the action stall
- Unable to change the X-axis controls
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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