Bernhardt Sep 26, 2008
Way I'm going to do this up is, my first post is going to be a game review for those who haven't played it yet; I'm going to then submit a second post which will all be plot discussion for those who've already played it, and will thus contain spoilers.
Finished this game about a month ago, but haven't had a chance to compose my thoughts and write about it up until now.
Between the gratuitous violence, gratuitous profanity, and how the characters are so casual about killing, the game rather reminds me of Kill Bill, if not Quentin Tarantino movies in general; the whole Western/South-Western Californian setting also furthers the comparison
PLOT
You play the role of badass otaku rockstar-like dude, Travis Touchdown; one day, he won a beam katana on an internet auction, and decided upon a new career: ASSASSIN. Then, he happens to Sylvia Crystal, a chick from the United Assassins Association, and offers Travis the opportunity to fight his way up the ladder of the world's ten best assassins. Guess who wants to be the best?
GAMEPLAY
Moves
First off, the game starts off with an assassination mission, and you're immediately tutored (if you choose to be) in all of the basic moves in the game: You have low stances and high stances (determined whether you hold the Wiimote horizontal or vertical in relative to the TV), and for both stances, you have slash attacks, beat attacks (kick/punch), charged slashes, and charged beats; A button for Slashes, B buttons for beats, and hold down those buttons for their respective charge attacks, and release; you also have wrestling moves; beat a stunned enemy to initiate a wrestling move, then swing the Wiimote and Nunchuk together in tandem according to the combination given on screen.
Then you have deathblow attacks; when an enemy is at the last inch of their life during your combo attack, you get to swing the Wiimote in a random direction (as specified on screen) to finish them off; if you swing is successful, then slot machine reels will spin; when you match up three of the same reel, you'll achieve its corresponding "Dark Side" mode, in which you gain some semblance of invincibility, and you gain the ability to kill enemies instantly by using a Wiimote-waving technique according to the slots you matched up.
The boss fights, of course, are the highlight of the game, and in the same vein of Devil May Cry; you have to watch the enemies movements, and look for a good time to strike; weak points aren't the obvious, puzzle-like shticks that Zelda games offer; in other words, it's more slash-happy, and more so trial-and-error. Which I like. Essentially, it's a hack n' slash game, with life sim elements added in for good measure and originality.
Between Missions: Part-Time Jobs and Earning Money
Between missions, you're in town, running whatever errands you need to, and working part-time jobs to earn money to pay entrance fees for the next assassination mission; part-time jobs are little mini-game events: You'll be doing things like coconut-collecting, lawn-mowing, mine-sweeping, gas station attendant, stuff like that. There are also side-assassination missions you can do to earn money; you can repeat your favorite jobs to earn the money you need.
Rolling around town will probably remind you of Grand Theft Auto; granted, you'll never have to steal cars, because you already have a motorcycle, and it's bigger and more powerful than any other car would be!
Customize your Character!
You can also use your money to upgrade your character, by buying new Beam Katanas and related equipment from Dr. Naomi's Beam Katana Laboratory, hip new clothes to customize your character at Area 51, train your character and improve stats at Thunder Ryu's...and those are just a few things you can do to further trick out your character.
SOUNDTRACK
The soundtrack, as is befitting of the game, has a very modern sound, including styles like jazz, rock, and techno. The assassination missions and boss battle themes form the meat of the soundtrack; the mission themes are essentially variations on the same theme, but that's okay, because it's an awesome theme! The boss battle themes REALLY rock out, though!
My only gripe, is that they should've put more jazz into it; pieces like "Fork in the Wall" (Sylvia's theme), "Walk Like This," and "Hot Dreams" were all very good, but too short, and more jazz would've been even better! Another thing was how many themes were 5-6 minutes long on the soundtrack album; they must've repeated 3-4 times each! Most of the time, I end up skipping forward when 2.5 minutes of the track have played, because it's repeated at least twice by then. The soundtrack album did NOT need to be 3 discs long!
Well, that's about it for the review...let's move onto the spoilers!
