28-May-2004 An ancient CVG proverb says, "Licensed game, never good." Although it's not possible to find truly terrible licensed games anymore, the majority are bad and a pitiful few are above average.
So, you might blame us for approaching Samurai Jack with negativity, but that would be like shaming a war veteran for jumping at loud noises. We brandish our scathing katana for the purposes of this preview with pride. Let's see if Jack has the smarts to parry our best blows.
Strength From Within Sure enough this looks set to be a by-numbers action adventure. The game makes good use of samurai swordplay, borrowing techniques from blade warriors such as Onimusha and Tenchu. Jack leaps high into the air to come plummeting down to spike giant beetles, and uses Sakai (slow-mo) combos to cut a swathe through groups of villains. This sort of thing mirrors the TV show pretty well, and the overall presentation style is clean and refreshing too. What's missing, though, is the humour found in the contrast between Jack and his madcap foes.
Exaggerated camera direction is worked into scenes wherever possible to remind us that this is supposed to be goofball entertainment. For our money, though, we haven't encountered anything as violently funny as in the cartoon. You need Jack to be surrounded by chaos to highlight his ridiculously Zen approach to adversity.
Instead what's on offer is a Samurai Jack themed quest, pseudo-Zelda switch-kicking and lock-picking taking you onto deeper, darker dungeons. Progress and pacing is almost entirely non-threatening, although we're sure it gets trickier in the latter of the 24 levels.
We're not totally hating this sim-Samurai Jack-ulator. It's a slick production that ought to be worth at least a weekend's rent from SJ aficionados, who'll also appreciate the input of original artists, voice actors, and the music composer from the series. Just don't expect it to give Onimusha or Ninja Gaiden a run for their Yen.
It's not the stuff of legend, but this lonely swordsman could be famous for a rainy CVG weekend. Obviously we wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Jack...
This game is all about prepping Jack for his final confrontation with Aku, the bug-like volcano god from the TV show. To this end Jack searches for relics, to be exchanged for health, power and Zen. He must also rescue enough innocent citizens to be granted magical powers for his sword.
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