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Those who were fans of Midway Games’ classic arcade boxing game, Ready 2 Rumble, will remember Afro Thunder, the pugilist with the fro and a killer punch. This fall, Namco Bandai is bringing Afro Samurai to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Based on the hit animated series starring Samuel L. Jackson, Afro Samurai brings a unique blend of music and completely interactive sword fighting to the consoles. Fans of the cartoon will be happy to know that Jackson will provide the voice of the sword-wielding, chain-smoking titular character Afro as well as Ninja Ninja.
Electronic Arts and Def Jam tried unsuccessfully to blend music and fighting with Def Jam: Icon. The Chicago studio that created the title was shuttered last year. Namco Bandai’s first American development team has partnered with Wu-Tang Clan member RZA, who also does the music for the TV series, to create an exclusive score for the game. But these beats are for more than just music to your ears.
“A lot of things are tied into the music,” says David Robinson, senior producer of Afro Samurai at Namco Bandai. “Enemies attack according to certain beats, allowing you to strategize who to kill next and how you’re going to kill them based on the music that’s playing.”
To say that the blood will flow freely in Afro is an understatement of massive proportions. Hunks of flesh fly at rates that make you think Afro is wielding a wood chipper instead of a katana. The developers even threw in a dynamic slice mode where the screen slows down and you can hack apart multiple enemies with precision as they attempt to duck and jump away from your sword.
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“We allow players to target multiple enemies at once and then go back and forth and fight them,” said Robinson. “You can choose how you kill each enemy.”
The game, which follows the first season of the show, adds new backstory along the way. The overall goal is to hunt down the murderer of your parents, and become the number one hitman in the process. You’re currently number two, and second sucks.
“Because you’re the number two hitman, most levels assign you a simple task, but as soon as people hear you’re around, everyone wants to fight you,” explains Robinson. “When you face off against bosses they have much cooler attacks to contend with, but it’s all to the beat of the music.”
With everyone kung fu fighting, Afro Samurai looks like it’s going to serve up a rare Mature-rated license (the U.S. version of the show which debuted on Spike was inspired by a 1999 Japanese manga) that will deliver on the original content. With influences from classic action fighting games like Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, and a sense of style all of its own (from kung fu robots to a drug-induced like Afro Reflection mode where new moves are learned); this is one afro that’s never going to go out of style.
Afro Samurai
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