Afro Samurai: Focus Kill Frenzy
23rd Mar 2009 | 18:02
*Promotional Feature*
The splitting image of its Manga counterpart, Afro Samurai is an incredibly stylish game. With swathes of enemies, a stat for 'gallons of blood spilled' and some painful-looking dismemberment, it's like Kill Bill Vol. 1, only with an Afro-sporting Samurai instead of Uma Thurman. And, as we mentioned in our review, the slow-motion focus kills are definitely the stars of the show.
But where's the fun in mere words telling you so? See for yourself as we take a look at seven different uses of the Focus Kill.
Better By Halves
Samurai swords are, by nature, pretty sharp things. Swing one in anger at a person and they're probably going to end up with an owie. So here are two such owies, one of the vertical and the other of a horizontal nature.
Footloose
The great thing about modern consoles like PS3 and Xbox 360 is that the tecnology is so precise, 3D models can now be sliced at the exact point said samurai sword passes through them. Check out Afro rendering this bad guy 'footloose', but definitely not 'fancy free'.
Off With His Head
Nasty business, really. It's quite funny, though, how the beheaded can still manage to scream obsceneties at you even though their lungs are lying a few feet away in an icky heap. Check out the double decapitation at the end of this one.
A Scalping Good Time
If full decapitation isn't your thing, you could always just go for a Afro Samurai haircut attack. It's just a little too close to the skin for comfort. Or should that be bone? Or brain...
Body Part Poker
Of course, the slicing and dicing is all very well, but it wouldn't be much fun in the long run if your efforts went unnoticed. So every once in a while, you'll get to play Body Part Poker. This lets you create a hand of cards with... well, a more literal hand from your enemy. Maybe a head or two... or even those feet we saw earlier.
There's a lot of fun to be had with this, and there's a surprising amount of freedom in your attacks - just tilt the left stick in the direction you want your swipe to go, and (thanks to that lovely slow-mo effect), you'll be able to pick individual limbs from your opponents to best suit your needs. Watch as we manage an 'Android Flush'.
Ladykiller
Afro's not too bothered about who he kills. Anyone who stands in his way is fair game, so when a group of topless women get all 'Femme Fatale' on him, he gives them the same warm feeling as he gives everyone else - that of blood gushing over their bare skin.
Focus Frenzy
While the L1 Focus attacking is where the meat of the gameplay is to be found, it's worth holding off from using it every once in a while. After chaining combos together (signified by more and more blood spatters on the screen), Afro's pendant gleams white. This indicates the special focus state is available. Triggered by L2, this gives you about ten seconds or so of drastically increased attack power, resulting in one-hit kills with standard enemies. Watch as we demolish a room full of em, in one hacking frenzy. Great stuff.
The game is out this Friday.