Gamernode: Reviews - Bleach Shattered Blade

Bleach Shattered Blade

• Bleach Shattered Blade
• Wii
• Polygon Magic
• Sega
• October 23rd, 2007

What would you get if you made a game that has elements of Tekken, Bushido Blade, Street Fighter and Naruto all rolled into one? You'd end up with Bleach Shattered Blade, a sword fighting game.

The new title is based upon the anime series Bleach. Ok, now before everybody rolls their eyes into the back of their heads and starts to say, "Oh no, another anime based Wiimote gimmicky game that isn't even worth the box that it comes in," you'd be wrong.

I have to admit, similar thoughts started to creep into my head when I first saw this game, but I tossed out these preconceptions along with taking out the garbage one night and started with a clean slate.

Now for a little background. Bleach is about a high school student named Ichigo Kurosaki who has the ability to see spirits from the netherworld. He acquires special powers and becomes a Soul Reaper, and fights demonic bad guys that try to trash everyone's peaceful existence.

In Bleach Shattered Blade, the story continues as Ichigo tries to find the 13 shards of an all powerful blade to keep the gate to the living open. The shards, however, are also sought by those who just want the power to kick everyone's ass, natch.

There are several modes of play: episode, arcade, versus, and training. In episode mode, you're able to select one of three characters in the beginning stages. The story unfolds in a parallel way as each person goes through similar dealings as they finally face the boss fight. Each storyline shows the events from their particular point of view. As you finish each character's story, you unlock new characters to use.

Arcade is basically fighting without the storyline, while versus lets you pound live opponents or selected computer AI fighters. While you can play against your pals, there is no online multiplayer. Training mode gives you some short lessons on the art of slicing and dicing.

For those of you who played Red Steel, you know how awful the blade interface was. You waved your Wiimote and about a second later, the action would translate onto the screen. In BSB, there is none of this lag. Your blade attacks are executed through slashing, hacking and stabbing moves. Pushing the A or B buttons modify your attacks while the nunchuck is used for moving your character around, defending and charging up your "bankai" meter. When this is full, you can do special attacks.

The biggest issue with this game is that it can easily be underestimated. If you just wave your "sword" with abandon, you're going to have some success in winning your fights. But if that's all you do, you'll be bored in no time. Any fighter can basically be played by this hit or miss technique, but in order to really get some fun out of BSB, you're going to have to work at it by learning the moves that are available to you.

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