Afro Samurai

As Afro Samurai first boots up, you’d be forgiven for being impressed by the big names that flash across the screen during the introduction. Samuel L. Jackson is a name that most people who’ve seen a movie since 1995 will be familiar with, and most will know at least one of the supporting cast. Hip-hop fans will also be surprised to see that RZA (head of the Wu-Tang Clan) is responsible for the soundtrack.  And, even if you’ve never seen the five-part anime of the same name, you’ll appreciate the visual attention to detail.

Yes, from the outset, Afro Samurai looks like the real deal and – to be fair – that feeling lasts for a fair amount of time. From Jackson’s sometimes predictable, sometime hilarious lines as Afro’s sidekick, Ninja Ninja, to the initially innovative and fun “Focus” mode that allows you to slow down time and deliver a punishing (and generally fatal) blow to most opponents, you get the feeling that Afro Samurai is a truly solid game that you’re going to fall in love with. But then, the cracks begin to show.

You soon realise that the entire game is going to consist of the same basic motions. A cutscene plays out, then you start hacking and slashing your way through drone opponents until a trigger for the next cutscene is reached and, after you’ve done this two or three times, it quickly dawns on you that what Afro Samurai provides in terms of beauty, it certainly doesn’t provide in terms of depth. That isn’t to say that the game isn’t immensely playable, since it is, but it would have really nice to see some sort of variation to the way things are laid out for you – especially given the superb way in which the main character handles.

Parents take note; this is not a game for the kids. This is indeed signified by the big BBFC sticker, restricting sale to persons 18 years old or over, but it’s a point that should be restated, since Afro Samurai contains a LOT of blood. Some achievements task you with slicing off certain parts of your enemies, while occasionally you get to play a poker mini-game that rewards you with cards based on which limbs you’ve managed to cut from your opponent’s torsos during a specific time period. The claret flows almost constantly, and you can cut an opponent clean in half (either way, up to you) if you time your blow right. The game is the better for it. Quite frankly, if Afro hit someone with a motion that should cut their arm clean off (bearing in mind he’s using a razor-sharp Samurai sword), it would look ridiculous if the opponent just said “ouch!” and carried on without injury. In other words, the violence fits.

The occasional camera problem gets in the way with what is a generally stellar presentational job, but it isn’t anything to write home about. A more pressing issue is the amount of slowdown that sometimes occurs. You’ll play for twenty minutes and the game will be as smooth as butter, but then you’ll stumble across a massive patch of slowdown that can really ruin your flow. Again, if you’re enjoying the game, then you’ll live with it – but if you’ve already sitting on the boredom wall, it’s enough to push you over.

My biggest problem with Afro Samurai is that it appears to have been made specifically for fans of the Anime series. I followed the story well enough until the end of the first level, but then was absolutely confused. At one point, you find yourself repeating exactly what you just did because – apparently – you’ve gone back in time and frankly, things don’t get any clearer throughout the five or six hours that you’ll spend to play through the game. I get the feeling that folks who are fans of the franchise would understand and follow Afro Samurai without a problem, but to someone like me who had no idea that the game was based on anything – before reading up on it, that is – it makes absolutely no sense and pretty much doesn’t seem to care whether you understand or not.

One thing that Afro Samurai has going for it, is the addiction factor. I can’t pretend that I don’t want to see a sequel, because I do. The way in which some of the enemies defend when you’re in “focus” mode makes the game seem almost poetic at times, and that makes me want to go back to it. The only thing stopping me is that I know I’ll be bored of battling the less interesting combatants after thirty minutes, and not want to proceed any further. I would absolutely love to see the same level of presentation applied to a sequel that keeps all of the best parts of the original, but that also challenges the player to like it by taking a few risks here and there.