Now before I start off my impressions of the game, I would like to say that I played the Playstation 3 version of the game and therefore I do not take into account or remotely care about the superiority of one system or the other, there are other reviews you can read if you want to be joyful or unhappy over the fact that X is better than Y or vice versa. What I am reviewing is what I played, nothing more, nothing less. The review shall be after the jump!
The best place to start this review is on the overall graphical design of the game. Despite criticims about it, the graphical quality isn’t stunning however considering the variables that are required to make this game function, it is still fairly good. Lets start with character designs. The character designs vary a considerable amount from Bayonetta’s sexy outfits which are essentially used as weapons during the game, leaving her almost naked, if you are into that thing I suppose it is an added bonus, however don’t expect to see any “special parts”, we can’t have governments screaming CENSORSHIP! on this game like many others have suffered recently. Luca’s character design reminds me of Nate’s from Uncharted, he might not look like much, althrough a bit more pathetic looking than Nate, however does have that resourcefulness look upon himself. Rodin on the other hand, pictured left is another example of someone who is more demonic than most.
Level designs are also varied, however on the most part, they all looked pretty damn stunning, especially in the later levels where you are placed into more city environments, which eventually leads into space. Another highlight was the motorbike race in Chapter 8 (??), which was pure high speed action and despite a few minor flaws, displayed the high speed chase very well. Cinematics are also unique, a lot of scenes play out on a roll of film type display where it will flick through scenes within the game to get to the next part of the scene. Hard to describe, but very effective in my honest opinion.
The music in this game was extremely enjoyable, if not the highlight of this series. Whilst you did have a few of the normal boring background sounds that every game seems to have (To cater to everyones tastes no doubt), some of the music in the game was extraordinarily catchy.
Voice acting was pretty interesting, I have read that some people really enjoy it, others say they dislike it. I am putting myself in the crowd that quite enjoyed the voice acting. I wouldnt call it the best I have heard, but I grew fond of Bayonetta’s strong British accent and the other characters whose voice actors suited the characters personalities and emotions almost perfectly. Another thing this game seemed to do quite a bit was have a lot of dancing, almost making it seem at times a bit like Space Channel 5, especially at the post-credits run where you had Bayonetta dancing in the different game environments with other angels and demons to the song ‘Let’s Dance Boys!’.
The story of this game isnt something exceptionally great and overshadowed by the gameplay, and honestly you dont really need to pay attention to it until the end of the story really. However, essentially it goes that Bayonetta is an Umbra witch whose civilisation fell 500 Years ago. She wakes up 20 years ago after being found in a chest at the bottom of the lake. Luca, a boy whose father is a diver/journalist who found the chest and was killed after opening it, presumed to be Bayonetta’s doing. She is also being hunted by angels and it is her duty to destroy them before they destroy her. Something like that at least, it gets more decent at the end of the game however.
The gameplay is very solid however. You get a variety of weapons at your disposal ranging from the normal items from guns and swords to more unique items such as whips, elemental gloves and ice skates. All of these can be equiped on either or both hands and feet, and it is pretty epic seeing Bayonetta use her feet to shoot pistols whilst swinging around a sword. You can chain these combos through the use of the triangle and circle buttons whilst the square button is a generic shoot better and X is to jump. The most important feature however is Witch Time. Whilst in most games you would want to get your backside out of a tough situation as quick as possible, however in Bayonetta, to get a good score at the end of the level as well as giving you a major benefit in battle, you have to dodge attacks at the last second which activates “Witch Time” which slows down time enough so you can go all out on your opponent without fear of them dodging or countering you. This may be a pain at times however to successfully complete the game, it is a required feature. There are many other gameplay features that shall be left for you to discover yourself. A special mention must be made to the mini games within the game such as riding a rocket towards a city (Which takes for ever!) and riding a motorbike through a collapsing highway whilst dodging angelic enemies.
The question however is, how long does it take to finish the game? Originally you are given only Very Easy, Easy and Normal modes to play the game in, and going straight to normal my recorded time was in the 12 hour mark. This is on par with Assassins Creed II which also disappointed me in relation to the time taken to finish the game. Therefore, in my opinion, the game is far to short for such great content available and the only thing in terms of replayability is playing in the unlocked difficulty settings, which at the very least does add a bit more of a challenge however I doubt it would add much time to the playthrough on the higher difficulty setting.
To summarize, Bayonetta is a game that I personally enjoyed playing quite a lot, however does have a bit to improve on in the graphics department and really needed to be longer, since I found it hard to get motivated to play the Hard mode after playing the same levels lots of times on normal just to get rings angelic halos, the currency in the game. Despite this, I seriously urge people to look into the game, since it isnt a bad game at all.
Overall Review
Characters: 9/10
Storyline: 7/15
Music: 15/15
Graphics: 10/15
Gameplay: 18/20
Replayability: 6/15
Personal Opinion: 7.5/10
Total: 72.5/100 B GRADE
