cover story System: Xbox 360, PS3 Developer: SURGE Publisher: SURGE 1 Player ESRB: M Available: January 27 Who says there’s no Justice in the world? words Dave Halverson 020 021 cover story rage. There’s isn’t a single traditional element to distract you from the only things that matter: the story, the action and the music that drives it. From the moment the game begins you know you’re not in Kansas anymore and that you never want to go back. Afro’s completely unhinged, foul-mouthed alter-ego Ninja Ninja makes damn sure of that. Sam Jackson pours himself into the narrative with more intensity and liquid cool than the anime, pulling from a script that sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard in a video game. Not for the f-bombs or sexual innuendo alone, but from writing that makes English sound as cool as Japanese. SURGE also knows the significance of a great original score; the kind of music that can elevate the action and evoke emotion. The RZA-inspired soundtrack in Afro Samurai is the best I’ve heard since Symphony of the Night and should be a LOUD wake up call to an industry that’s long forgotten what a pivotal role music can play in a game. Every facet of this game drips with style. The opening credits alone blow traditional canned video game filler out of the water and onto the shore to dry up and die. Even the loading screens are cool. For what little there is they’re so apropos they seem like an element of the game. Stepping into the visuals the same dedication and innovative spirit applies. As good as the game looks in screenshots and footage, neither compares to seeing it in in-motion on a big HD display. There’s no catchy name (that I know of) for the technique SURGE use to make the game look like a living, breathing thing but it looks like there should be. The organic surfaces possess a bump and sheen unlike anything I’ve “Afro Samurai is like no other game seen that’s hard to describe and the little touches of detail prevalent throughout, especially where they count most, simply should not exist in a game this size by a team this size created with on a budget before it. Not only does it live up to the series’ this size. Afro himself is completely dynamic to the terrain and his afro and headband move in perfect harmony with his every move. standards, it sets its own.” he legend says that only the warrior who wears the Number seems about as likely as Uwe Boll landing the live-action film rights. Plumes of ocean spray burst off rocks, snow flurries gust randomly, 2 headband has the right to challenge the Number One for Like Takashi Okazaki and Sam Jackson, David loves hip-hop, anime/ clothing and bling flutter and shine, and the skylines have that soft rendering the enemy vulnerable to Afro’s clean horizontal and vertical the sacred power he possesses. That Number One used to manga culture, Kung-Fu and everything that goes with them and filtered look that can stop you dead in your tracks. Every surface has slashing attacks. If only it were that simple. Outside of the Empty Seven’s be Afro Samurai’s father right up until a man named Justice understands the difference between ham-fisted Mortal Kombat-style tripe something special to say, just like the characters themselves. From the expendable clones, Afro’s enemies generally don’t take well to being chopped off his head and became a god. Now Afro wears the and the raw intensity that studios like Gonzo, Gainax and Production I.G. riveting monologue of The Daimyo to the slithering evil of Ron Perlman’s hacked into bite-sized pieces. The AI is more than up to the task at hand Number 2 and seeks Number One—not for power but revenge… have fashioned into an art form like no other. All he had to do now was Justice, polygonal characters have never seemed more alive. Anyone as the game and Afro evolves. That doesn’t stop Ninja Ninja from taunting For a doujinshi manga to become an animated TV series in Japan find a publisher to finance it and fill a studio with an international team who’s seen the series will be in complete awe of how amazingly well you with a little Body Part Poker though. Three of a kind earns Afro a new isn’t uncommon, but to do so in the manner of Takashi Okazaki’s Afro of elite developers as committed to the project as he was. Anything SURGE have brought the tone of the anime to life. If you thought the skill—I’ll leave the rest to you. Strategic blocking is also a must in order to Samurai, picking up Studio Gonzo and Samuel L. Jackson by pure less than a 110% from a group of gifted individuals all on the same Empty Seven were odd before, wait until you see some of their attacks. stun an enemy just enough for one of three pouncing moves or finishers, happenstance along the way, can only be surmised as fate. Even so, page wasn’t going to get Afro Samurai done the only way it could be; The gameplay in Afro Samurai is rooted in epic combat scenarios linked and when the Focus gauge is full (Afro’s pendant will glimmer white) Afro as popular and renowned as Afro Samurai has become throughout by throwing out convention and working solely from the animation itself. by adventure/platforming elements not unlike those found in Tomb Raider, can launch into OverFocus—a permanent state of In-Focus where the the UK, Japan, Australia, and America, the road from five part anime It took some doing, but eventually the stars aligned for Afro Samurai only completely re-jiggered for the Afro Samurai mythos. I was hoping blood and body parts fly freely. Focus moves can also be used to reflect mini-series to 7th generation video game is paved with peril. Not so once again. Sitting down with the newly formed team late in ‘07 as they for a decent-size, tight, gratifying action-game and got a grand-scale and slice bullets. None of these will save you from the game’s patterned- much in getting a game like Afro Samurai made but in getting it made embarked on adapting Afro Samurai into an interactive experience felt anime opus set within massive versions from every chapter in the series based boss fights but you’ll need them otherwise. Fighting well and right. Because when it comes to anything as almighty as Afro Samurai, a lot like all my visits to Shiny Entertainment in the early 90’s as David, that look more built than modelled. Forests, quaint villages, breathtaking mastering techniques to level Afro up is paramount to getting anywhere it’s better to leave well-enough alone than risk sullying something so Mike, Doug, Nick and Nick were piecing together Earthworm Jim in a mountain passes, fortresses carved into the earth and areas that you’ll just near the No. 1 Headband. Speaking of which, I wish there were a way for profound and beloved. The mere idea of running Afro Samurai through similar fashion, based on a singular vision by the seat of their pants. A have to see for yourself all project an aura of authenticity. The combat is, everybody who will play Afro Samurai to see the animation beforehand. So traditional licensing channels would petrify most, which is why Afro year later with the follow-up anime Afro Samurai: Resurrection about to as expected, finely tuned and wicked to the core, divided between light much of what SURGE accomplishes here ties into Jinno, Sword Master, Samurai probably would have never been made if David Robinson hadn’t hit stores, and a live-action Hollywood film in the works (with all the usual and heavy slicing attacks, special “Father’s Legacy” attacks earned by Okiku and Ninja Ninja; basically all the family Afro has ever known. At one stumbled upon it as randomly as Gonzo and Sam Jackson did. As soon suspects attached) I’m ecstatic to report that the results are much the collecting Mementos (watch for the eerie manifestation), sweeping and high point the game took me from such a gameplay high to an emotional low as David saw the pilot—which I’m betting was probably the same one same. Like EWJ all those years ago, Afro Samurai is like no other game kicks, and In-Focus maneuvers that send your opponents appendages I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach I didn’t recognize at first. It’s been Sam Jackson happened to come by—adapting Afro Samurai into a video before it. Not only does it live up to the series’ standards, it sets its own. flying. By focusing his thoughts (holding LT) everything around Afro goes so long since I felt this kind of exhilaration I’d forgotten what it was like. game religiously became his mission which given the subject matter Like a shot of WD-40 into the frozen cogs of an industry that’s been black and white (and red all over) and appears to move in slow-motion The last time I felt this rapturous was playing Symphony of the Night > afraid of its own shadow for far too long, Afro Samurai is a Godzilla breath of fresh air.