Gaming Bros

Bayonetta is a third-person action game made by Platinum Games, the team that brought us games like MadWorld and it includes the director of Viewtiful Joe and Devil May Cry. If you are a fan of the Devil May Cry series, then this is your cup of tea. Bayonetta tells the story of a witch who was awaken from a long slumber but cannot put together the memories of the past and who she is. As she fights and kills the angels that come to take her, she begins to remember what happened 500 years ago. A war between two factions, Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages, broke the balance between darkness and light and led to the current events.

You play as Bayonetta as you go through the sacred city of Vigrid and discover the secret of 3 dimensions: Paradiso, Purgatorio and Inferno. One of the greatest aspects of the game is the combat system. As you fight countless number of angels, you execute crazy combos with different weapons that are equipped on BOTH your arms and legs! Another interesting mechanic in the game is the Witch Time in which the game goes to slow-motion after you dodge an attack at the right moment. If that is not enough, you can also do Torture Attacks that summon torture devices which crushes your enemies in most brutal ways . You won’t get through the game with button-mashing only; you have to use the different combo’s and Witch Time to survive. Ending each battle with top skills and combos earns you medals graded from platinum to bronze; giving the game a great replay value and a good reason to kill angels in style. The game also excels in the graphics of characters, enemies and surrounding environment. Each one of those is made in the greatest details especially Bayonetta’s luscious lips. But nothing will impress you more than the boss battles. Fighting an angel 100 times your size is jaw dropping. Another triumph in this game is the music that gets you right in the action and atmosphere. The voice work is great but not the best, and the action cutscenes of Bayonetta kicking some angelic ass is mind-blowing!

The only negative point I have with the game is the way the story is told. Watching the cutscenes is fun but it is always interrupted by film-strip style stills that would’ve looked much better in full motion. Also, the story is very unclear in most of the game and you only know what the hell is happening at the end. This game is not a piece of cake! Like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta requires a set of skillful hands and some patience to finish. But is not the frustrating kind of difficulty, on the contrary, finishing each challenge is of utmost pleasure.

In conclusion, Bayonetta is a piece of art! A rare product that combines stylized action and Japanese madness. If your top priority in a game is fun gameplay, then Bayonetta is definitely for you.

4 out of 5

So I got the chance to play Heavy Rain in the past few weeks and here is what I think of the game:

Heavy Rain might be 8 hours long give or take, but I can assure you that the end result will be nothing less than satisfactory. The game starts slow but after the first few chapters it picks up pace and begins to engage you in the story. The game has a very dark atmosphere which makes it feel like a very bad dream and that’s exactly what the game aims to do. The gameplay is based on quick-time events that force you to make difficult choices leading to different outcomes. Even the small choices you make can affect the entire story and lead to a completely different ending.

The story revolves around four characters connected to each through the origami killer. I can safely say that the story Heavy Rain offers is one of the best in the video game industry and it made me feel like I was watching a proper Hollywood flick. I also liked the script and the dialogue used by the characters of the game. It may not be the best, especially if you compare it to Uncharted 2, but it’s still considered very good. The character development was remarkable and I really felt attached to the main characters. The only point I have against the story is the plot holes in-between. But I’m not sure if I can really blame it for that especially when you have a game that relies completely on your choices and can take many different paths. After all, this is a video game, not a movie.

Before its release, a lot of people were questioning Heavy Rain‘s gameplay style which is based on quick-time events. I found the controls working quite well to the point that I forgot I was controlling a character, it felt very natural to me and the choices were in my hands. Another point that played in Heavy Rain‘s advantage is the impressive graphics. You might find some flaws throughout the game like the details of the background graphic. But overall the work they did on the character models and surrounding environments was excellent. It played a big role in getting you in the atmosphere of the game. I also thought the game’s soundtrack is terrific and suits well with the game’s dark theme. The voice acting was okay but I felt that it could have been much better especially with a game that relies on the story and the dialogues.

In general, Heavy Rain is a well-made game and a must for gamers / movie lovers. The game tells a lot about the future of gaming and looking at how well Heavy Rain is doing in sales, I have a feeling this won’t be the last game in this genre.

4 out of 5