E3 Impressions – Bayonetta

Posted By: R.James

What do you get when you mix Sarah Palin with some bad ass, hand gun pumps and a full body suit that can transform into a beast who’ll snap your opponents in two? Well, my friends, you get Bayonetta, the new game being developed by Platinum Games.

Okay, so she’s seriously hotter than Sarah Palin, but come on…I mean if you squint…it’s uncanny!

Regardless, this game was certainly one to see at E3 this year. Taking up a large chunk of the Sega booth, this title was swamped by convention goers pretty consistently from beginning to end. And for good reason. Since it’s being developed by the same team that brought us the Devil May Cry series, it was important to find out just how much like DMC the game really is. Well…it really doesn’t stray to much from what made DMC famous, which if you’ve played any DMC game is pretty self explanatory (over-the-top combat, ridiculous and hammy characters, crazy boss battles, and a less than reasonable learning curve). On the other hand, it does a nice job refining all of those things into a really fun experience. For starters, this game doesn’t feel quite as hard as a DMC game, though what I played was a rather small chunk. The combat is fluid, though a bit button-mashy, the enemies explode real nice, the moves look just bonkers, and the graphics and music are really well put together. It all makes for a game I would actually consider buying down the line, which is a feat unmatched by four installments of the DMC series.

One of the nicest features I found in the demo was the interactive loading screen. I know that sounds weird, but here’s why: one of the most annoying things in DMC is constantly having to pause the game to go to the combo list when you can’t remember a move. Here, before you enter the level or when you die, you have an opportunity to practice the move before taking into live combat. It’s a nice touch that let’s the player know the developers were anticipating that not every gamer is a DMC/Ninja Gaiden wunderkind.

If there was anything about the demo that really disappointed me it was that the game may just be too crazy for it’s own good. I mean it’s so over the top and so loud and so wrapped up in it’s own 12-year-old boy sexual fantasy (Bayonetta’s finishing move is called the “climax” – yeah, wish I was making that up) that some people might just get turned off by it from the start. My friend Dave (whom you all have heard talk about this on the podcast) was turned off by it specifically for this reason. My viewpoint: if you can revel in the silliness and low-brow comedy of it all, it’s actually a pretty cool game. Sure, we’re talking about a hot-emo-witch-milf (from Alask…okay I’m really done now!) with bullet pumps here, but you can’t say that those elements don’t separate Bayonetta from the rest of the crowd.

Bayonetta is currently scheduled for a Q4 2009 release date (VGReleases.com)