X-Blades (XBox 360)

[Charlton]

Overview

X-Blades is an action-adventure game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. X-Blades features a special combination of cinematic style, beautiful animation, and relentless, high speed gameplay. Players assume the role of Ayumi, a stunningly seductive yet tenacious heroine who battles enemies with her pistol blades, acrobatic ability, and magic spells. With full anime cut scenes, the story unfolds revealing demonic powers and spectacular landscapes, all ripe for exploration and battles.

General Features

• Anime noir, film-quality animation
• High-speed gameplay
• Purchase abilities using money attained through victories
• In-game bestiary guide offers hints to enemies’ weaknesses
• Upgrade magic abilities to fight off elemental beasts
• Design your own control scheme, mapping magic attacks to the buttons you want

GamePlay

In the game, players control an anime-style heroine that destroys anything in her path using guns, blades, magic, and a healthy dose of cinematic flair. X-Blades is a hack-and-slash style action-adventure game in which the player must fight monsters, using a pair of gun blades and spells, through indoor and outdoor levels in order to progress. Monsters are encountered in both preset numbers and in areas with Monster Generators which spawn both standard and boss opponents until they are destroyed. Power-ups and coin fragments which grant upgrades are hidden throughout the game. Power-ups include combat techniques, magic, weapon enhancements, and teleportation.

[Charlton]

X-Blades is a great action game. It comprises most of the elements that you would imagine from the best games in the genre: diverse combat with tons of unlockable moves, impressive visuals that optimally frame the frantic fights, and a long quest with plenty of creepy monsters and gigantic boss encounters. For every step forward that X-Blades takes on the road to action nirvana, it takes another step in the opposite direction. The depth of combat is too intense as multiple enemies flood the screen, the striking visuals lose their luster as repetitive environments make things predictable, and the boss battles are wars of attrition rather than tests of skill. However, it's still a fun.

Ayumi is the typical treasure-hunting heroine except for one major visual distinction: she is not wearing any pants. You would be wondering why she is fighting with a horde of angry creatures without durable fabric protecting her from their vicious attacks. You will have to play through the entire game to unlock a pair of form-fitting pants, so leave your modesty at the temple entrance if you want to guide Ayumi through these haunted ruins. The story is largely forgettable, chronicling Ayumi's quest to drive off the dark side that she has unleashed onto the world.

You have three types of attacks at your disposal : melee, guns, and magic. You will obtain plenty of unlockable moves and combos throughout the adventure. You can mow through the early enemies with little more than your titular blades, but most of your foes require a more thoughtful approach to dispose of them. Elemental attacks are your main tool, letting you quench the heat of a fire creature with an icy blast or neutralize a dark baddie with a burst of pure light energy. The multiple types of enemies will fill the screen, you'll have to smartly switch between different attack types to survive, creating dizzying encounters that require raw button-mashing prowess with clever magical use.

[Charlton]

Levels

In X-Blades, there are 2 different types of levels:
- boss battles
- normal enemy encounters.

Everytime, when you enter a new stage, the passage to the next area is walled off and a life bar appears onscreen. You need to dispose your foes until their life bar fully depletes, leaving you free to catch your breath for a moment. Depending on the type and number of enemies, these stages can be either exciting or monotonous, and the game never seems to strike a balance between how many enemies it has onscreen and how much strategy you need to exert. When the enemies are removed, you're free to collect the scattered loot, which lets you unlock more moves. For gathering items, you need to smash every breakable object insight, so you can destroy old vases and dusty statues, without any interesting platforming or exploration.

Visual Effects

The visuals in X-Blades are quite effective.

Environment - The environments are finely detailed and make the broken ruins of this abandoned temple feel quite realistic.

Enemies - The enemies come in a variety of creepy forms, from minidinosaurs that chomp relentlessly at your naked backside to armored spiders that fling dark magic from across the screen.

Lighting - The lighting is particularly noteworthy. The ruins will light up with every magical strike you unleash, torches will flicker realistically on walls, and the shadows created due to the sun and other light sources behave like they should.

[Charlton]

Graphics

X-Blades is a sort of ball-faceted virtual which might fade if it is set too long. However, you will enjoy beautiful scenery, if you can detach your eyes from the back-shop Ayumi for more than 10 seconds continously. Then you will probably be forced to close your eyes under the repeated assaults of diarrhea effects of any kind. And on PS3, this display of flashes and sparks seems even more violent.

Playability

The playability of X-Blades is exclusively designed for the hard-core action gamers. You are left in-between the explosions and dozens of enemies, so you are forced to concentrate only on fighting. You will never have the time to speak.

Sound

The sound effects of the game are little down while the music is extremely rocking. Well, you posture of the French Ayumi is simply superb but you her voice is unbearable.

[Charlton]

Conclusion

X-Blades is a competent action game. However, the game lacks its fine touch that could have made it something special. It just cannot seem to make the most of its solid backbone. The highly repetitive nature of X-Blades will probably act as a strong drawback for majority of players. Also, the diverse combat is too often made one-dimensional, the impressive visuals lack variety, and the imposing bosses are pushovers.

Well, there is undeniable fun with fighting against a horde of unholy enemies, and there is plenty of value for those who thrive on disposing of dark forces with two endings and a few unlockables. Ayumi can atleast tear through her foes in style, and if you can forgive the repetitive environments and shallow battles, this can be enjoyable for a while.