Samurai Western Preview

From the creators of the Way of the Samurai series comes Samurai Western, a tongue-in-cheek approach to the western genre. In the game, you play as a samurai named Gojiro Kiryu as he embarks on a mission to purge the Wild West of outlaws and injustice. You have many Samurai abilities at your disposal, including the ability to dodge and deflect bullets, double jump, and many other skills.

As you progress through the game, you have the ability to upgrade and level your character, much like an RPG game. You can choose between 6 different stances with their own unique special attacks. Completing the missions in the game unlocks many different items, ranging from new weapons and accessories to brand new playable characters.

You also have the ability to go two-player co-op with a friend and take on the enemies together, with one of you being the samurai and the other being a gunfighter.

The action in Samurai Western felt fast and furiously fun. Dodging bullets and deflecting them back to the bad guys feels smooth and natural, and looks great as you do it. The environments are also quite destructible, as you can knock down awnings and destroy tables in order to get to your foes.

Graphically, the game looks pretty smooth, with a unique graphical flair that adds to the kitschy feeling of the storyline and overall theme. You’ll take on swarms of baddies at once, as they surround you from all areas, hitting you with gunfire and bombs, as well as old fashioned fisticuffs. You can take your enemies down in very violent ways, including but not limited to beheading them and slashing them down the midsection so that blood will spray like a fountain. Think of the Crazy 88 fight in Kill Bill Vol. 1 to get an idea of what all of this looks like. The only problems with the graphical presentation are drawn in and some aliasing jaggies.

All things considered, Samurai Western is shaping up to be a fun, albeit mindless hack n’ slash action game that melds two classic film genres into the gaming world. Check it out this June.

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