Way of the Samurai

The ronin warrior of Acquire (Japanese developers of the Tenchu series) finds an American master in the form of BAM! Entertainment.

Way of the Samurai wants to be the definitive video game version of Akira Kurosawa?s Yojimbo with you in the Toshiro Mifune role of the central-wandering ronin. If "Yojimbhuh? Toshirwho Mifuwhat?" is what?s running through your head right now, just think "Clint Eastwood Western" with a Wild Eastern slant.

I Wanna Be Tatsuya Nakadai When I Grow Up!
The story: While drifting through the countryside, you come upon a beautiful girl being accosted by a gang of thugs. Her fate?and the rest of the plot?is completely up to you as your actions (and inactions), victories (and defeats), and choice of words (and moments of stoic silence) will determine where the story goes and which people in this troubled li?l country town become your friends and which ones become bitter rivals. In fact, every play through the preview build made for a totally different game; it was about as close to an ?interactive movie? as you could hope to get.

Electric Sanjuro
In case you?re worried that it?s all about ?story,? don?t be?these are the Tenchu developers we?re talking about. While Tenchu?s trademark stealth elements won?t a part of the game, rest assured that the battles in the early version were furious and fun with dozens upon dozens of different swords with their own vast set of unique moves and combos. Your anonymous samurai hero/anti-hero could block, parry, and even dig vegetables out of the ground and kick them into the air with his feet for a quick mid-battle snack. Post-battle victory sake not included.

While a single play-through isn?t going to take a particularly long time, Way of the Samurai is the kind of game that virtually screams, ?Replay me, dammit!? As you play through, you?ll unlock new character faces (Japanese film fans may recognize a few) and costumes (recall the Panda suit in Onimusha and revel in its beautiful weirdness) to make your second, third, or thirtieth time through as original an experience as the first.

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