Bayonetta

Posted 3 years ago By - Joe Law

Platinum Games is the company that could do wonders for the gaming industry. The powerhouse studio has released yet another game worthy of great praise and worthy of your hard earned dollars. When you get past the blatant sexualization of the lead character, the games concept is still pretty interesting. Bayonetta is a witch, who obtained her powers in hell and uses them to fight and kill, of all things, Angels. Why? Well you’ll just have to play and find out?

Gameplay

The game controls a lot like Devil May Cry, but before you go jumping to conclusions that all this game is is a remake of Devil May Cry with better graphics and an over-sexualized female lead character, check yourself.  While you may be partially right, and really only about the over-sexualized female lead, this game is not simply a carbon copy of the DMC series.

For starters, Bayonetta plays much more smoothly and fluidly than Devil May Cry does. The camera works much better than in the DMC series, as does the auto-targeting system. Another new addition is combos and boy-howdy, are there a lot of them. The action and combos are so fluid that this game can be played by button-mashers and combo enthusiasts alike, with equal joy and bliss.

Most of Bayonetta’s attacks consist of using her weapons which, in most cases, are a set of four double-barreled pistols. Though, as the game progresses, she can swap these out for specialized shotguns, swords, and other implements of death. As she kills Angels and collects butterfly items, she gains magic she can use for her Climax and Torture Attacks. When your bar is full enough you can perform a Torture Attack on common enemies which will, in most cases, kill them instantly. These attacks range widely and include everything from placing the enemy in an iron maiden, dropping a massive spiked wheel on them and grinding them into dust. Climax Attacks tend to be reserved for bosses and kill them instantly. In most cases Bayonetta strips practically bare and summons a huge monstrous head to eat the larger enemies and bosses in differing ways.

The game is also fairly linear with the occasional puzzle element, but the vast bulk of the game is made up of killing ridiculous amounts of enemies. While at first the story seems non-existent, it does evolve the more you progress through the game. If you’re a fan of deep storytelling, however, look elsewhere, as, while the story is very good and will keep you interested, there isn’t a great deal of substance to it. Speaking of story, the game actually has a pretty good twist in it and lets you fight in a some memorable flashbacks.

Last but not least, after you get pretty far into the game, you will actually get to test out combos during the loading screens. You start off with only three difficulties, but when you complete the game, a Hard difficulty is unlocked and beating that unlocks a difficultly called Non-Stop Climax. If you haven’t noticed by now, the game is absolutely chalk-full of sexual references, not that it’s any big surprise considering the things that come out of Bayonetta’s mouth and how often her moves leave her partly naked.

Graphics and Sound

Eye candy doesn’t even begin to describe how luscious this game looks and I’m not just talking about the games sexy protagonist. Everything from the environments to the enemies are highly detailed and the animations are extremely fluid. There wasn’t a single point where I noticed any graphical issues or clipping; the game is rock-solid. It even appears to animate every single strand of Bayonetta’s hair when she’s performing special attacks or going deep into a combo.

The soundtrack uses a large amount of remixes from older SEGA games, which can be fun if you’re a fan and trying to recognize all the tunes. That’s not to say that the game doesn’t have an original soundtrack either, as it most certainly does. Though the soundtrack wasn’t anything particularly special, it was still good and kept with the game’s atmosphere very well. The voice acting is impressive and a good deal of the dialogue is entertaining, especially Bayonetta’s dialogue which will either leave you blushing or laughing.

Value

Like most new games, Bayonetta checks in at $69.99 CDN which, in my opinion, is worth every last penny. If you’re into action games, button-mashers, or just something that’s crazy and anime-inspired, this game is a must-have. In fact, if you’re a fan of action games and you pick up this game and aren’t completely satisfied, there is something very wrong with you. It’s only January and this game easily chalks itself up as a heavy contender in 2010 for Best Action Game.

Conclusion

If you’re even remotely interested in action games, this is a must-have. Bayonetta is candy for the eyes and a pleasure for the thumbs. I’ve played Darksiders this month as well and I have to say, as far as releases go for the month of January, I’m going to have to say that Bayonetta is the best January game, hands down.