The iPhone is becoming a more “hardcore” gaming platform, and I’m really happy about that. I don’t have anything against Bejeweled-y titles, but I’d also like to see more serious titles hitting the platform — more meaty experiences. Speaking of meat: let’s talk about Samurai: Way of the Warrior. It is both “serious” and “meaty” – literally. With just a few swipes of your finger you can literally cleave your enemies in half (with a little blood spatter on the screen for good measure). The control scheme and interface are suitably minimal to match the on-screen action, although having just finished the game, I’m of the opinion that the game mechanics are a little too simple. Turning the enemies into minced meat sure looks great, though!
Presentation
The thing that first attracted me to the game was the graphical style. Now this is what I think portable games look best as — cool, stylized art instead of attempts at more “realistic” 3D graphics. I just don’t think the iPhone is powerful enough to look as good as Xbox 360 or PC games, so I always feel a little let down when they try.
The in-game action looks amazing, and the visuals are literally bolded for maximum pop. It’s almost a pity that you sprint through so much of the scenery, because it really is one of those games where you would want to stop to smell the flowers (before chopping them in half!).
There are cutscenes between each level that are beautifully illustrated, although the english writing here doesn’t quite meet the level of the art. I’m not a huge stickler for proper English, but it’s certainly a shame about the writing, since it really brings down the overall presentation level of the game.
Controls and Combat
Most of the controls are simple enough, although the tutorial doesn’t really flesh them out properly. Moving is as easy as tapping and holding in a direction on-screen, and slashing your enemies requires only a swipe of their sprite. You can chain swipes into combos (there’s a list on the upper-right hand of the screen), and this can be very useful when fighting multiple opponents.
Aside from requiring different inputs (i.e. up, left, right as opposed to up, right, left), the combos just don’t feel that different from one another. You can really just keep spamming one combo as long as you know how to counter. If you don’t know how to counter, you’ll lose a a chunk of your HP, but if you do, your enemies will hit nothing but air while you appear behind them and plant your sword in their backs.
Unfortunately, countering is difficult — a little too difficult at first. As far as I know, the game never really teaches you about it either. From what I can gather from my numerous deaths, successful countering means you swipe on your enemy (as if to attack) the moment before they take a swing at you. Do this right, and you’ll dodge their swing and appear beside them or behind them…ready for some payback. There’s no visual signal or sound to tell you when you can counter, so it’s very much a matter of timing and feel. Add to this the number of enemies that you have to kill in a row without healing, and you’ll really wish that countering and dodging was made easier.
The levels are gorgeous, but they’re also very repetitive. I’ve played as far as the third level (it’s taken me about an hour) and nothing about my enemies has changed except for the colour of their hats and the number of hits they take before going down. Even the game’s three boss encounters are just extended versions of a normal fight.
Critical hits!!!
The only thing that kept me going until the end was the story (those cutscenes are amazing) and the critical hit animations. Swing your sword enough times at the enemy and you might just get lucky and cleave them instantly in half or chop their heads off. These special deaths are gruesome and are accompanied by a delicious cutting sound that make you really feel like a deadly samurai. The normal deaths are a little less amazing, since the enemies look like they’ve tripped over a rock and planted face (well, aren’t you a violent gardener!) instead of having been bested by your sword.
Conclusion
Samurai: Way of the Warrior is a decent game, but it could have been a lot better with a bit more polish and some extra complexity. The writing brought the fantastic presentation down a little, and the fighting mechanics — as enjoyable and gory as they are — got just a little too repetitive. If you’re really in the mood for a gorefest that requires more manual dexterity than most action games, then give Samurai a shot. Otherwise, I’d wait for a sequel or at least until the developers slash the price for a quick $0.99 sale.
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Samurai: Way of the Warrior is available for $2.99 on the App Store (link here).
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TAGS: action
