With two swords – or as luck would have it, two
Pistol Blades – in hand, Ayumi storms between the pillars of what appears to be
an old coliseum. Eye-catching with deep stone textures and the occasional sign
of life (trees and other foliage), the area certainly has its charm.
But it, like so many areas Ayumi (X-Blades’
leading heroine) will visit, is abnormally claustrophobic. She’s a fierce
warrior, capable of taking on an army by herself, or at the very least a
gigantic fire-breathing beast whose welcome wore out the minute he arrived. Her
Pistol Blades provide the Dante-style weaponry she needs to survive: part
gunfire, part hack-n-slash device, these weapons are essential to her way of
life.
Because unlike the Prince of Persia, who has a
lovely companion to make every battle worth fighting, or Dante, who gets to be a
star, a teacher and a hero to anyone but devils, Ayumi doesn’t get to take a
time out. She doesn’t have a save room that is miraculously out of enemy range
or friends to speak with about how tough the last battle was or how grim the
future may appear. Her life is ruled by combat; her reward is another day on the
battlefield.
As the player, you join her in this journey of
button-mashing and bloodshed. Equipped with magical powers that go beyond her
Pistol Blades (and are unlocked, as you’ll predict, by cashing in souls you’ve
collected from slaughtering enemies), Ayumi is very acrobatic. She can jump 10
feet without breaking a sweat, whip her blades around as if she had been doing
it since birth, and unleash odd spells that appear to be a mix of RPG
inspiration and Devil May Cry cloning.
The camera is typical but disappointingly
unpredictable. Most every action game uses a third-person view that can be
manipulated using the right analog stick. That’s suitable for Xbox
360/PlayStation 3 gaming, it seems. But when the enemies come out to play (which
is immediately after the start of nearly every stage), the camera looks as
though it has been lost in the wind. You can tilt it around and try your best to
follow the action, but without holding down the targeting button (which centers
the camera on one specific enemy), the camera is very difficult to manage.
Targeting, while helpful in some circumstances,
does not solve the problem. This action is more random than specific since the
enemy you target is based on how Ayumi is positioned in battle. If three enemies
are lined up, one in front of the other, good luck trying to pinpoint the
monster you wish to target. The only bright side to this is that Ayumi’s attacks
aren’t restricted to the enemy she’s targeting, allowing the player to
button-mash through the crowd regardless of the camera’s focus.
Excluding the camera, Ayumi’s controls are quite
good. She’s very fast – a pro at evasive maneuvers if there ever was one. Combo
moves are of the traditional collection, allowing any knucklehead to mash their
thumbs onto the controller and produce a spectacle of anime colors and polygonal
blood. It’s far from exquisite but the excitement level should not be questioned
– X-Blades may not have lived up to its potential but is surely a game that will
keep players on their toes.
Unfortunately, that is not all it will do. In
addition to short levels and cramped environments (which make the camera
problems twice as frustrating), X-Blades is a game that wants to see how much
the player can take. Monster droves are nothing new – we’ve been experiencing an
onslaught of enemies since the days of Asteroids. But in this game, you’ll be
faced with one primary goal and several distractions, which come in the form of
one too many monsters. Crawling, low-to-the-ground monsters that can’t be
attacked with ease; flying monsters that can only be reached with projectiles or
a well-timed jump; boss monsters that are protected by dozens of minions that
will reduce your health and the time spent battling your main target.
In most cases, the best way to deal with a
large-scale threat is to unleash one of Ayumi’s magical powers. Single-shot fire
blasts are good but wide-ranging dark spells are much more effective. In keeping
with the theme of seeing how much the player can take, magic is a fleeting
power. Referred to as “rage” power, magic is accumulated by collecting red
crystals, which are held within enemies and some of the environments. Once the
rage scale is full, you might be tempted to save it for the right moment. Big
mistake. Rage power is lost whenever it’s not being used, forcing the player to
constantly fight against a plethora of enemies (some of which are very cheap)
and a magic system that automatically depletes.
Furthermore, monsters will re-spawn until the
current level goal is met (until a boss or a certain number of enemies are
defeated), typically in a more dangerous form than the previous.
X-Blades is a game that’s filled furious battles
that are seriously flawed. It’s action-packed and packed with frustration. It’s
repetitive and occasionally addictive. But to the gamer who knows this kind of
gameplay (anyone that’s played through Onimusha, Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden and
their many clones), X-Blades will not be much more than a two-day rental to get
them through this bitter gaming season.
However,
those who have stayed away from the action genre for the past eight years may
very well find themselves impressed with X-Blades, even though it isn’t half the
game it could have been.
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Gameplay: 6.9
Gamers may cry if they were expecting this Devil May Cry knock-off to knock
Dante off his pedestal. It’s an exciting game but don’t go in blindly; count on
being frustrated throughout most every stage.
Graphics: 7.0
X-Blades has some beautiful cel-shaded visuals …in the cut scenes. The game
itself has some charming moments but usually mirrors the look of its
competitors, albeit with less of an eye-popping effect.
Sound: 7.5
The sound effects are typical, the music is generally worth listening to,
and the voice work is better than most (even though the story isn’t).
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Take an easy action game, overburden the player with too many enemies, throw
in a dash of cheapness, and you’ve got X-Blades’ difficulty.
Concept: 5.0
Everything in X-Blades – every single element – has been taken from another
game, including some that are nearly as old as PlayStation 2.
Overall: 6.9
The camera problems and unavoidable monster grind prevent X-Blades from
reaching its full potential. But if you’re willing to endure its problems, X-Blades is worth a try.
