Bayonetta (XBox 360 game)

[Jackolantern]

Bayonetta - by Sega (Xbox 360) - Rating 8.5/10

I just rented Bayonetta this weekend. I believe GameSpot gave it a 9.0 on the XBox 360, and I have to agree. It is an amazing game. For anyone who has ever pictured completely over-the-top action sequences in their head and wished they could be put in charge of a $200 million+ action movie, this game will be quite satisfying. And then there is Bayonetta, the heroine/anti-heroine of the game. With her attitude, constant flirting, and trademark lollipop that she is always sucking, she more than makes the game worth checking out. One of my problems is that as the game goes on, it almost seems like her bizarre attitude calms down a bit, but not with the story; more like the writers seemed to run out of steam a bit in writing the dialogue or thinking up things for her to do. The other problem is that a lot of the crucial info required to fully understand the story is given to the player through written books, so you end up reading a lot of on-screen text. While some of it is simply background for players who want to know more about the highly creative world, there are books that you really need to read to understand why some aspects of the world are the way they are. And knowing most players today, it is likely that few players will read it.

As far as gameplay goes, Bayonetta shines. The genre mostly fits into the new-school beat'em-up, such as God of War or Heavenly Sword, as the game gives you hundreds of combos to experiment with and a healthy dose of twitch-laden dodge manuevers. The game doles out money in the form of golden rings that fall out of defeated enemies (a nod to Sega's blue mascot obviously). You can spend said rings at an area called "The Gates of Hell", where you can purchase healing items and other consumables, new moves, new weapons, and accessories (which all give Bayonetta new effects). The only problem here is that a lot of the gear and other items are likely designed to be purchasable on a second play-through, as you just never have enough rings to make large purchases, such as the accessories or rare weapons. This is compounding by the amount of consumables a new player is likely to need their first play through. However, these are very small blemishes on an otherwise polished, enjoyable game. Absolutely gigantic boss fights are peppered liberally throughout, the enemy art style is amazing, and it just stays fresh. There are a couple of diversions in the game, such as a motorcycle racing scene, but unlike many other games who try this (such as Gears of War II), the scene is mostly a give-away to the player. Players who like the diversion scenes can get in to them and try to achieve higher completion ratings, but for those players like me who only wanted to get back to the main game, it is very unlikely that you will die on them.

All together, Bayonetta is a great game. I originally got the demo on the PS3, and I can say that the XBox 360 version is much better. The graphics are much clearer, run at a higher frame rate and there is less loading. If you haven't checked out Bayonetta, I recommend it!

[hallsofvallhalla]

sweet the game sounds great. I will have to check it out. Its been a while since I have played a good game.

I am the guy on the Gamefly commercials smashing stuff because of another bad game

[Jackolantern]

sweet the game sounds great. I will have to check it out. Its been a while since I have played a good game.

I am the guy on the Gamefly commercials smashing stuff because of another bad game

I raaaarely buy games these days. Most action-oriented games have gotten so expensive to make now that they only include about 8 - 14 hours of gameplay, and that is easy enough to beat in a 5-day rental