Afro Samurai Review (PS3)

Afro Samurai is a beat em' up video game released on the Playstation 3, developed by Namco. It is based on the anime series of the same name.

Story : Some semblance of story exists here. There's two head bands which give omnipotent power and such, there's a vengeance story somewhere in there, and a bunch of other stuff. In truth though, none of that matters as the main point of this game is to kill a ton of bad guys. And it delivers in spades.

Graphics : Incredible graphics all around in this game. Your eyes will be massaged with great graphics nearly every second you play this game. Everything is drawn and animated beautifully. Lots of care was taken in this game, and it shows. But, like many games, this game suffers from horrible camera problems. Sometimes you can't see a character and there's nothing you can do about it. The lack of control is frustrating.

Sound : The music and voice acting in this game is excellent. The music fits very well and is stylish. Tons of hip hop/eastern style songs to be heard here, and they all fit with the hipness of the game. The voice acting is provided by none other than Samuel L. Jackson, and is superb. The same can't be said for the sound effects however; there's far too few in the game. Many sounds that should be present are totally absent.

Game play : The controls in this game are very good, at least for the fighting aspect. They're very complicated, smooth, and responsive. You can pick up the controller and have fun with the game very easily. There's nothing overtly frustrating with the controls, they're very good. But that's only for fighting. When it comes to platforming, this game is god awful and you'll have a hard time making the seemingly easiest jumps sometimes. In other words, the controls are good for about half the game. Fighting is a joy, jumping and running and everything else is mind numbing and aggravating.

The boss fights happen often and are very very fun. There are some that are just insanely difficult however, and these may require some codes or some other kind of cheating tactic. Still, the bosses look great and are a joy to fight.

Re playability : Most of the game is based around pure wanton violence and destruction. And in that regard, it's a blast that will keep you entertained again and again. The platforming aspects are garbage however, and may turn off players in the long run.

Overall : 6/10. Visually, a stunning beautiful game that's very fun at times and very frustrating at others.