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Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie SlayersBy Marlon Esmeralda - 02-23-09 Print  EmailDo you like seeing a hot chick in a bikini? How about slicing up multiple zombies into tiny little pieces with a samurai sword? Well if you answered yes to both, then Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is the game for you! This game is all about girls with attitude and an urge to destroy any walking undead creature that dare step in their way! Sounds awesome, right? Well while the concept is pretty interesting, there are quite a number of things stopping this game from being a great title. Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is actually the fourth game in the Onechanbara storyline. It is also one of the first two games to come out in the US. The other game came out for the Xbox 360, which the Wii game is the sequel of. It’s kind of weird that they both released on the same day, but if you would like to check out the review of the Xbox 360 title, click here. Since this is pretty much my first Onechanbara game (as it was a Japan only title), I wasn't entirely caught up in the story. From first playing this game all I can tell is that Aya is a sword-wielding girl in a bikini who slices up zombies with her samurai sword. She has a younger sister named Saki who slices up zombies as well, but prefers to be more clothed than her older sister. The two seem to be part of a cursed bloodline called the Baneful Blood. That’s about all I could comprehend at the start, but along the way some things start to make more sense. However, by the end of it all, I was still a bit confused about many things. It's too bad the game doesn't really give you any back story to the previous ones. The story isn't really presented well either, as it’s basically a wall of text scrolling on the screen. The reason for this is because the dialogue in this game is in Japanese. With that being the case, it may be a bit disappointing for some since you pretty much need to read in order to understand what's going on. However, you can skip all that stuff if you choose to. The gameplay of Onechanbara is pretty simple. You choose a girl to play as, and then you pick your chapter. The chapter starts and all the bloodshed will begin. In other words, this game is a simple hack-and-slash. Each chapter will have hordes of zombies coming at you and you need to slice your way through them. Once you reach the end of the stage, the chapter is complete. That's pretty much it. The chapters aren't really that hard either, as you're basically going from point A to point B, while fighting zombies along the way. You could even run pass zombies if you wanted to. There are some points where you will get boxed-in and will need to kill all zombies in the area in order to progress, so you can't really run through a whole stage. The controls are nicely done in this game, especially for a game that uses Wii motion control. The attack button is tacked onto the Wii remote's motion sensor. Shake once to attack, shake more and perform a combo. It’s really not that bad, as you don't have to shake hard or anything for the move to register. Using motion control may make some moves difficult to pull off though. Something that may be a bit disappointing is that some zombies can only be killed with these advanced moves. Therefore, perfecting these moves is a necessity. Luckily the game has a practice mode where you can practice performing the more advanced attacks. Once you get the attacks down, it just makes zombie slaying a bit more fun. What makes the game even more fun is that each character has their own unique fighting styles, two in fact. You got your main fighting style, which is pretty much the sword. With the press of the C button, your character can switch between styles without any disruptions. For Aya, her second style lets her wield two swords. This style does change the controls though, as the Wii remote will control one sword and the nunchuck controls the other. To pull off a combo, it will require a drumming motion. These different styles for each character helps things stay fresh as each character offers a different experience. I did have a small problem with the camera. It’s not perfect and you will need to use the + and - buttons on the Wii remote to move it. An easier way is to use the Z button to make the camera appear behind you. There is one point where the camera did upset me a bit, and that was when I was in a very small room. You see, whenever the camera gets backed up into a corner, or wall, it will want to move on its own. This causes the problem of throwing off your sense of direction. There is an option for how far back you want the camera zoomed out, and since I zoomed it out to the max; I guess that’s what may have caused some of the problems. It’s not so bad though, as you will get use to camera over time. Graphics are decent, and are pretty standard for the Wii. It’s not too bad though as the girls are nice to look at and are well animated, especially when performing multiple combos and slashing through zombies. With all the action happening on screen, I was surprised that there was hardly any lag. Its pretty satisfying though, watching these girls slice up zombies into tiny pieces and spilling their blood all over the place, even onto the screen. There is also a splatter gauge in the game, that indicates how much blood has spilled onto your character. Once full, your character undergoes a change and will be in rampage mode, where she is faster and stronger. It’s a nice gameplay mechanic, but I liked how it’s presented in the game. As your splatter gauge rises, you will see blood all over these girls, which really shows off how awesome (or disturbing) they are. The sound effects are also a nice touch. Hearing the cries of zombies as they get slaughtered into mince meat, helps draw out the mood of being an actual zombie slayer. The music also matches the game pretty well, with its upbeat techno soundtrack. However, due to the overpowering sounds of zombie slaying, I could hardly hear it at times. As stated earlier, the game has retained its Japanese voice-overs. So if you're a fan of the Japanese language, then I guess it’s a plus for you. Aside from the typical story mode, you will also have Free Play and Survival. Free Play is playing over the chapters that you have already completed, and Survival is enduring multiple waves of zombie attacks until you die. The great thing for both these modes is that they have a split screen co-op option for 2-player goodness. These modes also come along with quests, which work like achievements in the game. A factor that makes this disappointing is that you won't know what each quest is until you have accomplished it. Completing the story mode and beating the quests will unlock many things in the game. For example, it unlocks harder difficulties, more playable characters, more costumes for the girls, and a View mode where you can see the character models for the girls and the zombies, as well as their sound bits. I will say this, for a $30 Wii title, Onechanbara: BZS is a pretty nice game. You can question the effort put into the poor presentation, but everything else in the game is fairly decent. Killing zombies never felt so nice and the game is full of content to encourage you to keep playing. It is definitely a game you need to invest some time into in order to enjoy the most out of it. That may be hard for some gamers, as the linear gameplay may get boring as you play the game for a long period of time. If that's the case, I recommend playing the game in short bursts as it will easily satiate your lust for zombie slaying. Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is a pretty sweet game. The controls will take some getting used to, but once you’re accustomed to it, the game will become much more enjoyable. The simple gameplay may disappoint some gamers, but I think the simplicity of this game is what makes it great. This game is called Bikini Zombie Slayers and that’s what you should expect. Not all the characters are in bikinis though, but zombie slaying is definitely the highlight in this game. If you feel the need for a quick zombie massacre, then this title should fit right up your alley. Ratings |
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