THE HUB

OMG!!!

FEATURED MEMBER

elementxstyle

elementxstyle

GP Design shop.

QUICK POLL

What's the next big game coming this year?

ASK THE PROS

THE GAMEPROS

FREE NEWSLETTERS

Sign up now to receive weekly or daily updates on your favorite games, stories, and more!



PS2 | Action | Samurai Western

Boxart for Samurai Western
Samurai Western 15 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 1.5
  • SOUND: 2.0
  • CONTROL: 3.0
  • FUN FACTOR 2.0
  • AVG USER SCORE n/a
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 2.7

Review: Samurai Western

Review by Manny LaMancha | 10/24/2005 | 10:07:32 AM PST

What do you get when you dump a skillful and determined martial artist in the Wild West? Look inside and find out...

The name alone conjures up images of a strange game-genre mash-up: Samurai for graceful but deadly maneuvers, while Western for frantic and brutal gunplay in the streets and deserts. Indeed, the first cinematic you get when you start up Samurai Western is a scene done in silhouette of one sword-swinging Asian character and three cowboy-up'ed riflemen.

The Good...
Despite the fact that your hero character, Gojiro Kiryu, is being assaulted by an endless procession of dusty dudes, gunslingers and TNT tossers, this is a distinctly martial-arts game--not surprising considering developer Spike's roots as the creator of the Tenchu franchise. And Samurai Western is a simply designed game that's easy to pick up and play. Button mashers will enjoy pounding away on the controller to slice and dice; control-pad artists will like carefully timing a dodge to deflect bullets and knives back at their foes and unleash more powerful jump attacks.

There's also an opportunity to improve your fighter, RPG-like, as he grows in experience. Stat points can be allocated among his attributes (such as health and defense skills), and equipment he picks up along the way alter his stats and attack style. A nice design feature has any accessories equipped accurately represented in the game's cutscenes.

...The Bad and The Ugly
While Samurai Western is a somewhat standard hack-and-slash with a quirky setting, it doesn't hold up for two main reasons: lack of polish and much-needed variety. Graphically, Gojiro passes through many of the boxes, barrels and other items lining his path, yet hits invisible barriers that prevent him from having full access to seemingly open areas, which is just plain sloppy considering the strength of today's console hardware. The camera often pivots wildly--a distraction that becomes life threatening when you're trying to keep gunmen from draining the remaining color on your health meter. And, though it's fun at first to hear your pursuers cussing and barking threats, that too soon sours as the same phrases are repeated over and over and over...

Samurai Western could have been a stylish gallop through the Wild West, but it ends up yanking back on the reins, leaving you champing at the bit on a one-trick pony ride.