Review

There’s something majestic about Japanese games at their peak. The list of genuine classics to come out of the likes of Capcom, Namco, Nintendo, Sega and Konami is unmatched by the output of any other country in the world! As a developer, Clover were up there with the best but despite producing a number of classic games such as Viewtiful Joe and Okami they failed to make an impact on the retail charts and were closed. Platinum Games emerged from the ashes and can now be added to that illustrious list. Bayonetta, their second game following the good but disappointing MadWorld on Wii, is a shining example of Eastern gaming at its best!

It’s a hack and slash action extravaganza, taking the likes of Devil May Cry and God Of War to the next level. The controls feel natural almost straight away and the game eases you in with a tutorial that’s neither patronising nor too long. Obviously, the story is a huge amount of nonsense that gives the designers free-reign to create outlandish environments and enemies and then break them up with OTT cut-scenes. Don’t even try to make sense of it all, just go with the flow; it’s all about the experience anyway!

The game’s structure is split up into Chapters and then Verses with medals awarded for each individual Verse. Earning Platinum medals for each of these requires some pretty dextrous play and online leaderboards will even show how well you compare to everyone else in the world! This actively encourages you to go back and play each section again just to get a better rating.

Loading screens are brief but also a handy place to practice your combos away from the heat of battle. Good job too, as the sheer number of attacks at your disposal is incredible. Anyone who plays this as a random button basher will be missing an awful lot – they will probably die very quickly too! Bayonetta herself is so agile and deadly that even the likes of Dante and Kratos would be impressed.

The soundtrack too is phenomenal. In between outbreaks of Fly Me To The Moon you’ll also be treated to guest appearances of tunes from Sega’s back catalogue – including a remix of Splash Wave from OutRun (officially the greatest game soundtrack of all-time)! In fact the whole game is peppered with references to other games, some subtle and some, like the opening to Chapter XIV that pays homage to Space Harrier, not so subtle. Trying to spot them all becomes a challenge in itself.

Bayonetta, the character, is voiced to perfection and has attitude to spare as well as being sexy, flamboyant and hard as nails (with those glasses she also reminds me of an old teacher I used to have, rather worryingly). All these are attributes that the game has too. Playing through the game on Normal difficulty offers a robust challenge to anyone but my advice is to keep a bean-bag handy to throw your joypad into whenever frustration hits. However, this is a game that likes to cater to all levels of gamer. The Easy and Very Easy options all anyone to enjoy the game but they do remove pretty much all the finesse required. Crucially, how much you enjoy the game isn’t affected.

If I had to be negative for a moment, I’d pick on the in-game camera. On the whole it behaves and gives you a good view of the action but, on latter boss-battles in particular, it can be more of a hindrance. There were a number of occasions where I completely lost track of what was going on and died as a result of the camera.

Put simply, this is a game that has taken what Devil May Cry started and pushed it to the next level. Even new games like Darksiders and Dante’s Inferno seem retro by comparison. We wait to see what Platinum Games come up with next, but I’m pretty sure that this won’t be the last we see of Bayonetta.

About the Review

Platform

Microsoft Xbox 360

Developer

Platinum Games

Publisher

SEGA

Released

8th January 2010