Capcom had been creating classic upon classic, both with new
titles like killer7 and with sequels such as Resident evil 4 and Devil May Cry
3. With the company in such a rich vein of form we had nothing but high hopes
when the next game in the long running Onimusha series appeared. However, it
seems cuts had to be made somewhere along the line and while Capcom's other
much loved franchises had been lavished with time and love this fourth
instalment of samurai and zombies seems to have suffered as a result.
It all starts promisingly with several minutes of highly
energetic cut scenes showing our new hero cutting through demons of all shapes
and sizes. Once the real game starts though it is clear very little has changed
from the first Onimusha title released at the dawn of the PS2 (and originally
set for the PSone). Pretty much nothing has altered with movement and combat
remaining near identical and as clunky as ever.
For the first time the title has a camera capable of being
moved. This sounds like a great idea until you realise that levels are still
the same static maps as before, only now you can move the camera around. It
seems a half hearted and somewhat pointless addition, something underlined
through the fact that the game always looks at its best in sections where the
camera is fixed.
The movable camera also means that combat can turn into a
complete farce as it refuses to move from behind your character often leaving
you looking at a wall while various assortments of demon hordes happily hack
away. The act of fighting still consists of pressing attack three times, block
and repeat, though as your character gains experience new moves can be bought
leading to some mildly impressive combo ceilings.
Due to the new camera the game now needs a lock on function,
which again sounds like a great idea. However, locking on to a target is a
little clumsy, for instance if the target you are locked onto is behind you,
you will still need to move around a 180 degree movement arc before you can hit
them. Why (as with Devil May Cry), you simply cannot point the controller
towards the enemy and strike remains a mystery and of course adds to the game
being clunky that little bit more.
Combat and movement are made even more galling by the highly
impressive cut scenes that feature throughout- seeing your character leaping,
spinning and striking with ease during the cut scenes only for the game to then
throw you back to the laborious control system begins to seem like a bad joke
very quickly.
During the course of the adventure you will get the chance
to play as a number of different characters, each having their own weapons and
abilities. While some are interesting the inclusion often seems like an excuse
to have players do a stupid amount of backtracking around the levels. When
accompanied by a support character the AI is for the most part decent. They do
have a habit of charging in against any foe without fear for their own safety
though. Stupid as this is, injured or knocked out characters do recover in time
so it is rarely of major concern when they are taken out by a demon three times
their size.
Graphically, at least the title is fitting of a Capcom game.
Presentation is of a high standard with detailed levels and characters that
help set the tone and time period well. It seems an odd juxtaposition of such
lush visuals with such a jaded and ageing control schematic.
What seemingly comes across is that there was not either
time or money to give Dawn of Dreams the complete overhaul that titles like
Resident Evil 4 received and so in order to avoid a release delay some pretty
visuals were stuck onto the tried and tested formula of previous titles. This in
itself would not be a major problem if it were not for the camera being so
seemingly unfit for the games environments.
Overall, we are left with a clunky and outdated release.
Those wanting the survival horror feel will be drawn to Resident Evil 4 and those
wishing for high adrenaline action would be better served with Devil May Cry 3.
Seemingly in this form the Onimusha series has very little left to offer, in
future instead of treating it like a low grade cast off it would be better if
Capcom approached it with the care and vision of one of its more high profile
franchises. Maybe then Onimusha will finally stop being a visually visceral
series with 32-bit gameplay.
Overall 5/10
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