THE HUB

OMG!!!

FEATURED GAME

FEATURED MEMBER

DoctorIrish

DoctorIrish

The Doctor is in.

QUICK POLL

One month until Metal Gear Solid 4. What will you do?

ASK THE PROS

THE GAMEPROS

FREE NEWSLETTERS

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



PS3 | Adventure | Genji: Days of the Blade

Boxart for Genji: Days of the Blade
Genji: Days of the Blade 28 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.75
  • SOUND: 4.00
  • CONTROL: 3.75
  • FUN FACTOR 3.25
  • AVG USER SCORE 3.3
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.2

Hands-On: Genji: Days of the Blade

Hands-On by Boba Fatt | 09/21/2006 | 09:53:12 AM PST

The sequel to the well-liked, but far too short Genji: Dawn of the Samurai is a launch title for the PlayStation 3 and it's clearly going to showcase the new console's considerable graphics firepower. But will the gameplay deliver as well?

The Genji saga continues to unfold with Genji: Days of the Blade, a launch title for PlayStation 3. Promising to expand upon the original title's well-received, but ultimately limiting and short gameplay, Days of the Blade appears to be riding the blistering edge of graphical capability, and may be the premiere title that folks fire up to show off their shiny new console's visual chops come November.

Days of the Blade, like the original Genji: Dawn of the Samurai, is an aggressive beat-em-up with gameplay that is immediately reminiscent of old-school bruisers like Double Dragon. The playable character roster has been expanded to four this time around, adding Lady Shizuka and dual-bladed staff wielder Buson to original heroes Yoshitsune and Benkei. Each of the characters is based on true-life historical characters, and the storyline evolves from actual legends.

We tested out an early level that pitted us in a crisp, beautiful jungle where a stream had carved a path through bedrock. Clobbering enemies ranging from brutal swordsmen to mean-faced crabs, we pushed toward a confrontation with a boss character that required us to switch characters on the fly, since Benkei's weapon made him vulnerable to Yoshitsune's sword attack.

Even a casual glance at some of Days of the Blade's cutscenes will force you to step back in awe of the PlayStation 3's power. The in-game engine evolved from character models used in the first Genji's cinematic cutscenes, and the detail is extraordinary. An apparently dramatic scene was unfolding in Japanese (the game will ship with both the Japanese and English soundtracks), but we were struck by one character's hair detail and the awkward manner in which his bowl cut faded into his decidedly unfortunate mullet.

The stunning visuals carry over to the gameplay, as well, with what might be the most extraordinary background work ever put to a video game. Every nuance seems painstakingly rendered like a painting, and the expanded locations promise even more gorgeous vistas to admire. Days of the Blade will deliver twelve to fifteen hours of action spread across five acts, or roughly twice the scope of the original. The epic story will unfold across 25 levels spread through four distinct areas, and you'll actually see the seasons change as time advances. And although such things were still under wraps from our prying eyes, Sony promises that as many as 80-100 combatants will be onscreen simultaneously, and the combat will spread to horseback.

There are still many unknown elements to uncover before Genji: Day of the Blade launches with the PlayStation 3, but it's absolutely clear that this game is going to be one of the prettiest ever put to a pixel.


Related Articles