by Jay "THE FLEA" Wade
What happens when you take Resident Evil, Soul Reaver, and Tenchu and put them in a blender? You’ll get Onimusha: Warlords for the Playstation 2.
You play as Samanosuke Akechi who comes back from a war to find the young princess he protects missing. He and his partner Kaede go out to search for the young girl only to find the world has been taken over by demons who kill and destroy everything in their path.
The gamplay feels like Resident Evil set in ancient Japan. You search for clues, kill demons and solve puzzles. But you also have a special gauntlet to suck up souls of the demons you kill. These souls can upgrade your weapons and the magic within the weapons.
Your magic weapons include; a thunder saber, a fire sword and a wind staff. There’s also other weapons like a standard sword, bows, arrows and skurikins.
Unlike Resident Evil, the Demons reappear if you leave an area for to long. And instead of shooting them from a distance, you have to make combos with your swords and magic.
While the gameplay and graphics are top, the story is where this game lacks a little.
There’s many holes and they forget to explain a few key points. They also start with a warlord who is killed and returns with an army of dead soldiers. Then he never appears in the game til the end, and does nothing. And the whole story of why the demons kidnap the young girl is a little weak.
PUBLISHER: CAPCOM
ESRB RATING: M
PLAYERS: 1
GRAPHICS: 10 MUSIC & SOUND: 9 CONTROL: 8.5
SECRETS: 8 ORIGINALITY: 8 FUN & REPLAY: 9
The graphics are some of the best seen on the PS2. Characters look and move with no detail left untouched. Backgrounds are highly detailed, so well detailed it alone is a must see.
The FMV is also a must see, this video looks like to should have been in a Squaresoft game.
Onimusha is one of the best games available on the PS2, and if you liked Resident Evil or Soul Reaver and are looking for a game equivalent to these on the PS2. I’d highly recommend Onimusha: Warlords.OVERALL: 9