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When Genji first hit the PS2 last year, we were enthralled by its visual sense, amused by the outright cops from Onimusha, and hopeful that, should a sequel arise, it would deepen the storyline and combat while expanding the game's scope. Sadly, though Genji: Dawn of the Blade is a well-hyped PlayStation3 launch title, no such growth has taken place. This Genji is very much like the last, albeit much prettier, and for round two, the shortcomings are much more damaging.
Anyone who's had a friend that couldn't resist the newest A/V gear might be familiar with what it's like to sit down in front of this game. Just like that loud but empty action movie used to show off the latest DVD player or television, Genji really serves as little more than a gorgeous demo of the PlayStation3's processing power.
In that respect, it's a resounding success: the graphics are often sublime, with perfectly coiffed licks of fire radiating heat waves that blur your line of sight, flower petals drifting through the air, and an alternate plane of existence that serves only to be prettier than everything else in the game. (So long as you've got a 720p capable display, that is, since lack of 720p support will see your resolution bumped down to 480... it's still pretty, but hardly as impressive.)
That being the case, Genji should really come with an interactive demo mode, so that we could just have direct access to the music, which is a strange blend of traditional and ominous minimalism that suits the action perfectly, or cue up the most impressive visual moments, play through them to the amazement of friends, and then put the disc back on the shelf so the drive is free for Resistance or some other more worthy fare.
But it doesn't, and to see all the good stuff you've actually got to play it. Far from next-gen, the experience is very old-fashioned. Starting off with returning heroes Yoshitsune (swords and speed) and Benkei (massive club and slow force) you'll gain access to two more playable characters over time. Each can engage in Kamui, which uses energy to take the battle to a plane of existence where quick Simon-like button presses painlessly dispatch loads of foes.
Most of the time, however, it's run, grab a key, fight off a couple dozen enemies, jump, dodge (by quickly moving the Sixaxis, or, better, the right stick) and take down another dozen bad guys before the boss battle. Said bosses are large and intimidating, at least, and often require more thought and skill than the rest of the game. If the remaining action better prepared you for these encounters, we'd enjoy them more.
The sequel's improvements, from a gameplay perspective, are few and shallow. Alternate characters Benkei, Shizuka and Buson can now be summoned with a flick of the d-pad, which arguably allows for a more flexible battle strategy. But Benkei is so slow that he leaches all the fun out of battle, while Shizuka is too weak to have any real impact, and is only useful when her unique ability to cross broad gulfs is required. Most of the time you'll stick with Yoshitsune, since he's the only character that features a balance between speed and power.
As much as we're sometimes awestruck by Genji's eye candy, we're more frequently struck dumb by how unwieldy the camera is. Isn't this the next generation? Wasn't the irritation of being attacked from off-screen and being unable to control your perspective distinctly last-gen? As the game progresses it becomes s simple button-mashing frenzy, because otherwise you'll spend your time just staring at the mini-map to make sure that nothing is about to drive a spear through your back.
We'd be happy with a multiplayer option that allowed up to four people to take control one character, like a Japanese influenced Gauntlet. Perhaps that was too daunting a task, or perhaps Midway's own Gauntlet sorrows forced a pass. Regardless, it would be much better to allow a friend to call out over the mic when a demon was about to punk you from behind.
If button-mashing doesn't get you down, there is some fun (and definitely some beauty) to be had in Genji. That being the case, it may seem as if we're being too hard on the game. But we've been here before, and know that down the road, once a couple other games with slightly better eye candy arrive, Genji will just accumulate dust. This is a reasonable indicator of what the PlayStation3 will be able to do, but little more than that.

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