Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege Description

Though renowned developer Capcom is responsible for more games than most consumers actually know of, the company is best known for its offerings with three major gaming series. Resident Evil and Street Fighter are two of them, but on this occasion we're here to talk about the third and most recent series - Onimusha. More specifically, we're here to take a look at 2004's fully-fledged sequel, Onimusha 3 for PlayStation 2. Where previous instalments had a more authentic, almost medieval approach, Onimusha 3 is much more up to date. As the screenshots attest, Onimusha 3 once again sees players assuming the role Samanosuke Akechi, this time venturing to foreign locales such as Paris in an era that resembles a present-day society. But however you try to dress this epic adventure, underneath lies the familiar hack 'n' slash play mechanic we've all come to know and love. And as with all games of this type, Onimusha is remarkably simple. Kill some enemies, watch a stunning cut-scene, then move on and kill some more. And that's what makes it a great game. The cut-scenes and beautifully rendered and directed and FMV sequences are very welcome and appreciated, but it's the simple and dynamic gameplay that brings players back for more. Fundamentally, Onimusha 3 is the same as it was when the original was born, and that's no bad thing. It looks beautiful, it runs smoothly, it's easy to learn and is just pure unadulterated fun.

What sort of game is Onimusha 3?

Onimusha 3 is a masterful blend of survival horror and action adventure with Samanosuke and Jacques enjoying a much freer and more intuitive control system than those featured in the Resident Evil and even the two previous Onimusha games. Although not as athletic as Dante in Devil May Cry, the two main characters employ skilful, slick movements with which they elegantly dispatch the evil creations that confront them. The relentless action is complemented by deeply involving puzzles, some crucial to the exploration of the game, others smaller in scale but equally as demanding.

The in game locations include many real life destinations such as the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. Each of these awesome buildings has been realistically recreated around a fully interactive 3D game world. The overall effect is visually stunning and adds to the overall cinematic quality of the game-play.

What do the Souls do?

Samanosuke and Jacques have the ability to suck up the souls of the monsters they slay. With each kill the two main characters add more souls to their total enabling them to power up weapons and armour through three levels to ultimately max out their strength. There are several different types of these souls including health, magic and the mysterious purple souls.

Health souls are yellow in colour and vary in size. Magic souls are white, once obtained they increase the magic gauge and eventually allow the two main characters to unleash attacks of immense power. The most common souls which always materialise after an enemy is killed are the red Power up souls. To extract the largest possible soul count, players must time their attacks to perfection. When this happens, players will see a white flash of light and the enemy will be destroyed in a single strike. This is called an 'Issen' manoeuvre.

If an attack is particularly successful, a purple soul will materialise from the defeated creature. This is very large and slow moving which makes it difficult to collect in the heat of battle. Once five of these souls have been collected, Samanosuke or Jacques can change into an Onimusha demon, indestructible with increased power but for a limited time only. They can change as soon as the fifth soul is collected by pressing the R3 button. Timing these transformations can be crucial.

What weapons can you get?

Samanosuke and Jacques can collect many different weapons in the game. Each character has three main weapons they can choose from though these must all be collected first. Samanosuke's weapons are largely blade based and include Twin Swords (Tenso), Long Sword (Kuga) and the Earth Axe (Chiga). Jacques weapons are whip based and include Chain Sword (Enja), Spear Whip (Raisen) and the mighty Ball and Chain (Hyosai). The enhanced attack action incorporates a simple control system allowing players to easily execute devastating new moves. As in Onimusha 2, players can power up their weapons at any time for a one off super powerful hit by holding down R1 on the Playstation 2 controller.

What are the games strongest points?

Onimusha 3 is an action packed saga of epic proportion. From the first moments of the opening movie the player is bombarded with scintillating graphics and a dramatic soundtrack which immediately draws you in to the heart of Onimusha's magical world. The game-play is sublime and the intuitive combat system is a joy to control. The battles escalate to truly titanic proportions with magic and combat taking centre stage. There are many different enemies that lay in wait including some of the biggest and hardest boss characters ever seen.

Cut scenes fuse seamlessly with game-play magnifying the storyline and totally immersing the player. With the inclusion of the two main playable characters, gameplay is given an exciting new dimension. It's like playing two games for the price of one!