Onimusha Warlords is very similar to the Resident Evil mold.
Since it is made by Capcom expect the controls to be mostly the same, but
a little tweaked, and expect the same item hunting found in the classic survival
horror game. Only this game is set in medieval Japan, and adds a little more
action to the genre, that it's refreshing to play. It's a pretty satisfying
game.
Graphics
What can I say about this game? It's a pretty game no doubt. The
character models are superb and the full motion videos are really the
best I have ever seen. The FMV is really clean. No graininess or anything.
Truly spectacular. But since it is a Resident Evil type game, this game
does use the pre-rendered background interface. Remember how you couldn't see
enemies cause the screen wouldn't change leaving you wondering where the enimies were?
Well it happens here. But not that often. It's the only thing I didn't really like.
But hey I got through it like I did with Resident Evil. The special effects are nice too.
Different swords contain different special attacks, like lightning, fire and wind. It's nice
to look at once you destroy a slew of enemies. No quips about the graphics here.
Sound
Great sound. From the lighting sword to the fire, the effects are nice to
listen to. The voice overs are still B movie quality, but it's not unbearable.
The hacking a slashing, the screams, yelps and the death groans are all right on
the money. The music always comes at the right time when an important event occurs.
But there isn't really much gameplay music. All I hear is the footsteps of the main character
and some of the normal fighting sounds. But the sound is good overall.
Control
The controls are the same as Resident Evil. Up is to go forward, left backward, and
the left and right are to turn left and right accordingly. But what Onimusha does really
well is when the fights start to happen. You can hold the R1 button and your character
is in a fighting stance ready for attack. While in this attack mode, persay, the main character
can dodge and slash enemies. You can be attacked by multiple enemies and once you lay waste to them it's possible
to not be hit even once. I mean 5 zombies in RE were really hard to deal with at one time. 5 zombies in
Onimusha is no problem. Bring em on!
Overall
Great game by Capcom. While some puzzles are really frustrating, you can
skip some. The story is pretty good and gets you deep into the game.
This first generation title definitley has some bite. Enjoy it from the
masters at Capcom.
--Alvin
Graphics: 8.6
Sound: 8.8
Control: 9.4
Satisfaction: 8.6
Overall: 8.9
