As part of the now long standing agreement with Gamebridge, Rising Star Games will be bringing Way of the Samurai 3 to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 early next year. Already available in Japan, where the title was received so well that a second edition, Way of the Samurai 3 Plus, was released for the PlayStation 3 simultaneously with the Xbox 360 version, Way of the Samurai 3 is set to push the boundaries of what is expected from medium budget creations on Current-Generations systems, and in more ways than one.

            Way of the Samurai 3 sees the player stepping into the shoes of a nameless rōnin. Creating their own character in a Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires head-swap fashion, the player enters Amana, a land in which war is rife. A feudal lord has overthrown Lord Sakurai, forcing villagers to overwork themselves through imposing heavy taxes, and a rival clan plots to overthrow the new ruler. Unsurprisingly, it’s not long before the player becomes involved in a tangled web of desperation and deceit.

            The game flows much like a traditional Adventure game, with the player furthering their game through communicating with non-playable characters (NPCs) and performing heroic feats in combat. Where Way of the Samurai 3 aims to differentiate itself is in that of a player’s choices. Much like the ideal behind Fable II or perhaps even Dragon Age: Origins, a player’s in-game actions will affect their progression as well as the final conclusion. This acts very similarly to the dialogue system in Mass Effect, in which the direction a player leads discussions will determine their outcome. The true effect of this is not yet known, but even with the small amount of time Electronic Theatre has spent with the game, the possibilities are certainly no less than intriguing.

            The game’s world functions much like that of Fable II, with the player able to traverse from town to town either by foot or by fast-forwarding via the map. Always under the watchful eye of the clock, however, fast-forwarding to another location will still skip time forward, with the sun rising and setting in accordance with the clearly presented time of day.

            With reportedly more than one hundred weapons featured in the game, it would be imprudent were we not to mention the combat aspect of Way of the Samurai 3. The game quickly teaches the player to concentrate of defence rather than aggression, with much of your success reliant on the statistics of your equipment and reaction speed. Blocking opponents’ manoeuvres and counter-attacking is most obviously the best tactic, and while the timing may take some getting used to, the system is surprisingly flowing due to the vast array of available weaponry.

            While Way of the Samurai 3 is promising in many areas, visual fidelity is most certainly not one of them. Clearly displaying it’s relatively low budget roots the game’s environments are scantily detailed. To suggest the game is a step backwards or a hark to the previous generation of hardware would undoubtedly be misleading, but Way of the Samurai 3 is already somewhat of a compromise visually. The version Electronic Theatre sampled was English language, though the London MCM Expo did not provide ample opportunity to assess to quality of the voice acting.

            With Way of the Samurai 3 being a fairly unique proposition on the Current-Generation systems, side-stepping the linear structure of Tenchu Z and Afro Samurai whilst providing an eastern theme not witnessed in the likes of Fable II and Mass Effect, there’ll undoubtedly be quite some anticipation for it’s release early next year. Based upon what Electronic Theatre have seen this far, it’s deservedly so. Electronic Theatre will keep you updated with Way of the Samurai 3, and the latest from Gamebridge and Rising Star Games.

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Comments

Sparkle Horse

+2

 

 

the more i read about this the better it sounds! do you know how much it will be yet? i bet it's going to be a little cheaper than the really big games.

Tuesday 10 November 2009, 02:58

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