Akai Katana (Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, Arcade)

• Release Date: 05/17/2012 (US)
• Genre: Shooter
• Rating: 3.5/5
• Studio: Cave

If you are trigger happy and a ‘fire-at-will’ kind of guy, content with blasting your foes off, Akai Kanata from Caves is the game. There’s hardly any planning and strategy-making. All you need to do is to blast things off as you come across them. That’s what the game is all about. The game is highly enjoyable but from the strategic point of view, it is disappointing as well. If you are in search of some strategy making and tower-defense kind of stuff, this is not your cup of tea.

The game defies logic – often ignoring the mechanics and physics but that will not make any difference to the common gamers. For the hard core shooters this game provides a perfect chance to score high.

The game has three modes to play with – the arcade mode, which is its original form, the Slash Mode (particularly meant for the Xbox 360 version and the super hard Climax Mode and if you are especially playing the twin player mode, I can assure you a hell of fun which will worth more than $40.00 you pay for the game. Some may say that the thrills are not worth the price of the game but I bet to differ with them. Thrill and fun unabated and that too in such an organized way – what else can you hope for when you are paying $40.00? If you are a starter you might get into a hurdle but then there’s a tutorial menu for you to go through and believe me there’s no dearth of entertainment that will make you really satisfied though weary at the end of the day, That’s much better than some of the more fancied games which promise much more but ultimately delivers hardly anything.

The speed is ominous and so are the special effects though the effects could not shrug off the animated effects more reminiscent with the primitive days of animation when CGI was still a matter of future. All said and done, this is not the game to thing about but a game to enjoy and forget it once you are through!

We like:

• The speed, which is the backbone of the game
• The unrelenting action
• The straightforward gameplay
• An impeccably designed animation that sets the tone of the game

We hate:

• Lack of strategy that would have made the game more interesting

Official Website of the game: http://www.giantbomb.com/akai-katana/61-32099/