Nariko in Heavenly Sword. Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII. And now Afro Samurai. These are the characters that you remember for their remarkable hairstyles, though Namco Bandai's newest hack-and-slash action game offers more than just a curly coif that reaches for the heavens. It is an entertaining and thoroughly gory offering that contrasts sumptuous environments and crisp cel-shaded characters with shocking sights of slow-motion dismemberment. In Afro Samurai, you'll chop ninjas in half and watch their disembodied torsos drag themselves along by the arms until they collapse in a pool of blood. Sights like these make for some wickedly satisfying combat, though in other areas, the game falls noticeably short of the standards set by genre predecessors such as Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry. Clumsy platforming and pacing inconsistencies keep Afro Samurai from reaching its potential, but the entertaining combat and dedication to its subject matter keep it from being just another forgettable button masher.
The Good:
* Brutal, satisfying combat
* Great art design
* Awesome music
* Some really fun setpiece battles.
The Bad:
* Bad platforming sections
* Inconsistent pace leads to occasional monotony
* Inferior camera can't be customized.
John GodGames Emus has released some new videos, showing Haze, Afro Samurai, Armored Core V and Clash of the Titans running in 4K on the PC thanks to the Playstation 3 emulator, RPCS3.
Whatever happened to Afro Samurai 2? After they took it off the digital store I thought they’d come back with an improved product
Haze was nowhere near as bad as it was made out to be. I actually really liked it.
It was just released at a bad time when Sony and the PS3 could do no right. The developers and Sony over hyped it and it fell on its own sword.
The framerate and rending were more of the concern over resolution for me, and I can see they are making solid strides. Haze runs pretty well and doesn't seem to have many graphical or audio glitches (one cannot say the same for Ghost Recon lol). Given Sony hasn't provided any real backwards compatibility options, this is something I might consider. I still have my PS3 hooked up if I have a hankering for some last gen goodness, but I also wouldn't mind playing those games with either increased resolution or frame rate, whenever the emulator gets to that point :-)
Banner Saga publisher Versus Evil are going to be releasing an Afro Samurai game, they announced this morning. The game is being developed by Redacted Studios for PC and next-gen consoles.
I kinda want a samurai champloo next gen game more. this announcement seems pretty cool none the less.
This is something unexpected! I loved the show and the first game was decent. I hope RZA does the music again for this game like he did the last one.
Very likely since he does the music for anything Afro asamurai. He eveb voiced a character in the movie. Plus i bet he'd b the one to play afro in a live movie.
First one was cool
INtroduced the free cutting mechanic used in games like Metal Gear Rising
You mean the demo was cool, the full game sucked
I played the demo over and over when it was released, loved it, but when I bought the actual game it was lame as hell, one of the most boring/repetitive games i've ever played, should of stuck with the demo I thought afterwards
I would love a new one, and yes keep RZA
Love anything Afro Samurai. Wish they would make another film with soundtrack by RZA again.
was gonna say the same thing hopefully another series/movie accompanies this game with RZA doing the music.
Hope they've got RZA and Samuel L. Jackson (or at least a damn good impersonator). Just wouldn't be Afro without those guys behind it
Samurai games are fun to play because players are able to play as one of not only history's greatest warriors.
I loved Way of the Samurai.
I really wish someone would take on the open world samurai game. I would love to play as a wandering samurai who gets into all kinds of classic stuff. If only it happened,,,
This article is why you make AT LEAST Top 10 lists.
Top 5 never covers everything because there is NEVER JUST 5 at the top.
The next 5 behind those are arguably just as good.
Agreed. They even left Samurai Showdown / Spirit from the list :(
And do you remember Soul of the Samurai by Konami on PS1?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
Very underrated title >.<
Too bad SEGA doesn't localize Yakuza Kenzan. But i hope the localize Yakuza Ishin (crossing my fingers)...
edit:
Anyone play Seven Samurai 20xx for PS2? I don't have the chance to play it. But i heard it's good.
I know Samurai Showdown, a classic, and Soul of the Samurai. As I commented, there are many samurai games to choose from and its difficult to choose the top 5, with other people's opinions. After all, my article is an opinion piece.
Well i knew it's just an opinion. But at least you can mention some of their names on your article. So, your readers knew that you still appreciate the titles, even all of those titles doesn't make on your top five list. Just my little suggestion. No offence ok :)
I loved how strategic the game was as well. Running around the open field trying to find an opening & cursing when your arm is injured & have to go one handed.
Also the lack of music when you battle gave the fights a more realistic feel. You only hear your swords clang & the ambient sounds around you.
Great game by Square when they were experimenting more often with their titles.
I have and played Bushido Blade before and its a wonderful game. It was difficult to choose from the many samurai games out there for the top 5.
I appreciate the comments, negative and positive. Since its an opinion piece, everyone's opinions are different and not everyone is going to agree. Kessen was also a good game too. The list could go to Top 6, Top 10, Top 20, Top 50 and so on. There are many samurai games to decide from and could be difficult to choose for the top 5.
Please add your own Top 5 Samurai Games to the comments.
sad face ign 6.6/10 gamespot 7/10
i'm still getting it lol
haha yeah I'm still getting it too :) I had it preorder (I basically preorder any game I'm going to get) and when the auto call came in it was the imaginary dude from the anime talking to me!