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Review By: Jared Black |
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| Developer: |
Bungie |
| Publisher: |
Rockstar |
| # of
Players: |
1 |
| Genre: |
Action |
| ESRB: |
Teen |
| Date
Posted: |
3-20-01 |
The
graphics, while sharp, are very…dull. Since you’re fighting
indoors most of the time, you’ll end up exploring plenty of
rooms and hallways. Most rooms are very empty, with only a
couple boxes or a computer terminal in each. Even in areas where
there should be a lot of things there aren’t. Combine sparsely
lit office buildings with minimal objects in each room, and you’ve
got some dull exploring ahead of you. Some of the areas you’ll
encounter are simply huge (a giant warehouse actually feels like
one as you run through it), but there’s not a lot to be found
in each level. However, each level is well designed. Reportedly
Rockstar consulted real architects when they were designing each
level, and it really shows. This adds a lot to gameplay and
helps to keep you on your toes, as you need to keep an eye on
all angles so you aren’t surprised by someone on a balcony
above or below you.
Luckily,
Bungie did do a good job in other areas with the graphics. Each
of Konoko’s (and the enemies’) moves and interactions are
very realistic, if a little slow. Konoko in particular looks
very good, with a wide range of motion, incredible detail found
on her suit and plenty of nicely animated moves. Weapons look
good also, with lots of pretty lighting effects. Finally, the cut scenes
are put together nicely and do a good job of conveying the
storyline.
Sound is
also used minimally, but with good effect. The voice acting is
wonderful, as each of the main characters’ lines don’t sound
forced or dull. They have a lot of emotion in their voices and
help give a lot of "character" to each character.
Computer-controlled enemies also have their own quips and
sayings…there’s nothing worse than dying (especially due to
complicated controls) and having the computer taunt you
afterwards. You’ll also run across the occasional civilian,
but unfortunately they usually don’t say much more than
"Here, take this hypo". Most of the time there’s no
music, although during dramatic moments some music will kick in
to help build tension.
Despite all
of its problems, Oni remains a fun game with plenty of combat
and a decent storyline to push the action forward. For someone
as stubborn as I am, just trying to master the control setup is
itself fun in a sick, twisted way. If you can get a hang of the
complicated control scheme, you’ll find a lot to like about
Oni.
HIGHS:
- Innovative
combat
- Nice
weapons with a lot of variety
- Excellent
character models
- Good
voice acting
- Authentic
feel to the environments
LOWS:
- Often
boring and barren areas
- Control
scheme is very complicated
- Fighting
against multiple enemies is difficult
FINAL VERDICT:
Once you get
the basic controls down (you’ll never truly master them), Oni
is an innovative beat-em-up that involves a lot more strategy
than most other games in this genre. It’s a nice change of
pace from other games in the genre and certainly the best of its
type on the PS2.
Overall
Score:
7.6
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Konoko
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