Game review: Bayonetta - Xbox 360 (From Your Local Guardian)

Game review: Bayonetta - Xbox 360

12:03pm Thursday 21st January 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

I'll be honest here, I'm not really one for hack-and-slashers.

For the most part I find them tedious button-bashing affairs and, whilst a good majority of them look rather good, there's just something about them that never wins me over.

Bayonetta is something of an exception.

Taking control of the title character the story starts off with Bayonetta fighting alongside Jeanne against some strange angelic creatures that are wielding spears and have a somewhat fiery temper. Oh, and they also have a two headed dragon on their side.

As you fight your way through the hoards of angels, a narrator explains the backstory – informing you that many years ago, there was a war in Europe between the Umbra Witches (an ancient clan of powerful and magical women) and the Lumen Sages (a group of men who worshiped the light and drew power from the heavens).

500 years later Heaven (Paradiso), Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio) and the human world are in balance, and Bayonetta wakes up at the bottom of a lake with no memory of what has happened to her or who she is.

The only thing she is aware of is her magical ability - it's a bit like The Bourne Identity, but instead of a controlling highly trained spy with amnesia, you're controlling a witch.

As your progress through the game Bayonetta begins to remember more and more battle combos. These are brought to you with a mini-tutorial in the first few levels, giving the gamer a welcoming introduction to the proceedings. Also, as the level loads, it gives you the opportunity to test out a few combos in an empty arena.

Equipped with guns (which are completely customisable – two on the heels of her stilettos and two in her hands), Bayonetta is all about the action, and it's game mechanic is flexible enough to accommodate both the casual gamer and the hardcore elitists.

Whether you the type of person who likes to master fighting combinations, or the sort that just likes to bash buttons and hope for the best, the game proves to be quite satisfying on the action side of things.

Being a witch, Bayonetta can also call upon magic. She does this by using her hair as a conduit to Inferno (aka Hell) and summoning some big bad demons to devour the various bosses she'll encounter.

She also has the ability to walk on walls when in moonlight - this bring a unique perspective to the action, but can at times be a little confusing.

Other strange abilities include the various torture and punish attacks.

On several occasions I managed to throw an angel or two into a magical iron maiden. It's also quite satisfying to throw them on the floor repeatedly.

Bayonetta isn't just about the action though. In between the action there are puzzles to solve, keys to find and doorways to open. This brings a bit variety from the all out action sequences and greatly improves the pacing of the game.

One minor drag about the gameplay is the camera, which is constantly fixed and cannot be moved. On occasion it can work against you and will position itself somewhere totally unhelpful.

Having that said, it’s a minor irritation and doesn't happen anywhere near enough to ruin the proceedings.

Graphically, the game is as strong as you are gonna get on the 360, it's sharp, vibrant and very rarely suffers from any lag - quite an achievement when you consider how much is going on at times.

The environments are vast and whilst at times you may feel a little isolated, wandering around Bayonetta's world is a constant pleasure to the eyes thanks to the level of detail that has gone into the game.

Bayonetta herself, despite bearing an uncanny resemblance to Sarah Palin, looks fantastic, as do all the other characters that crop up in the cutscenes.

Speaking of which, the cutscenes themselves are a bit hit and miss. This is mainly because a few of them are presented as static film strips, and I can't help but feel that had they been fully animated this would of added to the experience. Nonetheless this is a minor flaw and is easily overlooked.

The fully animated scenes on the other hand are fantastic - put together with some very impressive action design, decent voice acting and a fair amount of humour and innuendo, they are very enjoyable to sit back and watch in all their tongue-in-cheek glory.

The sound design is also spot on. As already mentioned, the voice acting is pretty decent, even if Bayonetta's overly sexy English accent is somewhat cheesy. The action is also represented well on audio side of things, with every explosion, bullet, kick and punch accounted for.

One of the most striking things with Bayonetta is the music. It varies from dramatic orchestral numbers, to easy listening pop songs - including an amusing version of "Fly me to the Moon" which is sure to bring a smile to your face. It's a quirky little trick that demonstrates the game’s sense of humour, and it works perfectly.

Overall, Bayonetta is an extremely well crafted game that has set the benchmark for all future hack-and-slash action games.

Well done, Sega, this game has bewitched me.

Score: 9 out of 10

The Good:

Great fun
Accessible for those that aren't fans of the genre
Impressive graphics

The Bad

Fixed camera can irritate
Plot is a bit chaotic