NBrid

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Written by: klamkilla

I like games.

I like games a lot.

Some times though a game comes along that is so bad that I just want
to put all of my consoles into a burlap sack, take them down to the lake,
smash them with a rock, then throw them into the water.

Fortunately for me though, this isn't one of those games.

Bushido Blade is hands down my favorite fighting game, even beating out
the slice of heaven on a CD that is Soul Calibur. The premise is this:
You choose a feudal Japanese warrior. Each warrior has their strengths
and weaknesses (girls are faster, but cannot use heavy weapons as proficiently).
Choose a weapon from a selection of sabers, rapiers, broadswords, and
hammers. Then choose a locale ranging from a cherry blossom grove, to
a castle moat. After making the above selections, let the fighting begin!

All fights take place in fully explorable 3-D environments. Meaning if
you're getting the the crap kicked out of you; you can run, jump up a
ledge, and hightail it into a forest, and wait for your opponent to follow
you, and that's when you hit him with a surprise attack to the throat
thus ending the fight.

That is the other draw of the game, it's unique life system. Gone are
the life meters. In Bushido Blade, one hit could cost you the game. For
instance, you and your opponent are fighting. You swing your rapier, but
it gets blocked leaving your midsection open for your opponent to run
his katana right through you. Fight over. Fights in this game can last
anywhere from 10 seconds, to 20 minutes, and often induce quite a bit
of tension because you know that the next hit could be your last.

Adding to the realism is the fact that you're allowed to systematically
cripple your opponent. Slice at an arm and it falls limp forcing your
adversary to use his weapon one handed resulting in slower attacks. Hack
at a leg and your enemy has to crawl around making a feeble attempt to
slice at your legs.

The game has no set moves, but it does have three stances high, medium,
and low. Each stance has three attacks and a block/parry. It is your job
to find the best weapon for your character, and from there you can create
all sorts of custom combos. The game features several other helpful attacks.
Such as when your legs have been dispatched, the ability to throw darts
at your enemy. Also, you can toss dirt in his eyes to temporarily blind
him. Finally, there are a lot of dodge/roll maneuvers available to you
so you can get out of the way of an oncoming sword attack.

The characters are animated very nicely by today's standards, which is
amazing since this game came out almost four years ago. The environments
are very blocky and grainy when you get up close to a wall or something
though.

Bushido Blade was a great departure for Square, and if it weren't for
them completely bastardizing yet another great game and making the sequel
completely suck-tastic, this would be my favorite fighting series topping
the Soul Edge/Calibur duo. As it is, Bushido Blade is a great game, and
you can probably get it cheap at FuncoLand or where ever.

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Final Score: 4.5   (out of 5)