System Played: Xbox 360
Year Released: 2009
Year Reviewed: 2011
Afro Samurai is a hack and slash brawler developed by Namco Bandai Games based on the anime and manga by Takashi ‘Bob’ Okazaki.
The story goes, there exist two mystical headbands and with he who owns the ‘Number One’ receiving godlike powers. Only the owner of the ‘Number Two’ headband can challenge the ‘Number One’ but anyone can challenge ‘Number Two’. Wouldn’t you know it, the current ‘Number Two’ is Afro Samurai, an African-American samurai in a post-apocalyptic feudal Japan (naturally) with a huge ‘fro on the path of revenge for his father, a previous ‘Number One’ who was beheaded right in front of young Afro years ago by the current ‘Number One’, a mutated gunslinger named Justice.
Being ‘Number Two’, Afro is constantly set upon by challengers who fancy themselves ‘Number One’, but in order to take on Justice, they first need the ‘Number Two’ headband …which when you think about it, sounds like the setup for a pretty average video game.
The game follows the same story as the original anime series, but is dragged out a bit with waves of fodder enemies between the key showdowns. A lot of scenes have been changed (complexity toned down) so they can be told easier through the in-game cutscenes, but the end results are the same. Like in the anime, we cut between present and past, seeing Afro at the sword school and how he obtained the ‘Number Two’ headband, through his strife with the Empty Seven and Kuma, right up to the final battle with Justice.
Combat will feel instantly familiar to anyone who has played similar games and hasn’t really evolved any in 20 years. There is a light and heavy attack as well as a kick to chain together combos on wave after wave of enemies. Something which feels a little more original is the Focus mechanic which slows time down and allows you to line up a killer horizontal or vertical sword slice to finish off a weakened enemy. Depending on your aim, you can literally slice them in half or just nick off a hand which comes into play for the ‘body part poker’ mini-game, which your sidekick and constant bad influence, Ninja Ninja, will occasionally persuade you to take part in.
There are a decent amount of moves to learn and use, but none of them are as straightforward or as effective as just mashing on the default light and heavy attack buttons to wear enemies down and then finishing them with a Focus chop. Finding a full set collectables around specific levels gives you access to even more moves, though you’ll probably never bother with them.
The game doesn’t have a HUD which adds to the highly stylised aesthetic. When you’re low on HP, Afro will appear bloody or when your focus meter is ready to go, the pendent on the end of his sword will start to flash. It’s all very functional and works well as a replacement to the usual bar in the corner of the screen.
When you’re not decapitating people left and right, there is some Prince Of Persia style wall-running and platforming which really never works very well but fortunately you’re rarely penalised for messing up either, usually respawning right where you fell from (or even on the other side when the game is feeling generous/broken). Platforming in Afro Samurai unrefined, unenjoyable and constantly awful.
As you’d expect, there are a number of boss battles with characters from the anime. Without exception, these are all pretty bad however, falling into one of two categories. Most are straight forward button mashing affairs with a couple being outright dicks (yes you! Brother 6 with the flame thrower).
Graphically, the game goes the cell shaded route like many games with animated source material. The style fits but environments are often bland and enemies are all cookie cutter, with only a few actual variations and they all animate pretty terribly. They’ve also used crosshatch shading for shadows to try and make things look hand drawn but the result is everyone looks like they’re made of wood.
The game does have the same voice actors from the anime adding to the production value and authenticity. Sam Jackson never has much to do as Afro but makes up for it with Ninja Ninja who is as annoying and obnoxious as ever. Kelly Hu’s lines are awful and Ron Perlman, as usual, doesn’t have enough of them.
The music is awesome however, even without The RZA fully onboard ‘due to time constraints’. Still, the game manages to capture the same style and quality of music as found in the anime …and I don’t really like hip-hop. There are some sharp transitions between tracks and they maybe start to repeat a bit too often towards the end but even so, when action on screen is flowing and the soundtrack is in full swing the game is elevated high above the sum of its parts thanks mainly to the music.
Overall, Afro Samurai is a very average game, sometimes bordering on outright bad, propped up by a fantastic soundtrack which in the end is enough to save it but not to make it the ‘Number One’.
5/10
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