Samurai Shodown: Sen (Xbox 360) Review - PAGE 1

Samurai Shodown has managed to endure endless publisher drama and big hitters that share the same genre.  With the latest installment, Samurai Shodown: Sen, the franchise steps away from familiar territory in favor of 3D.  This is almost always a rough transition, with the combat system undergoing a complete overhaul in order to accomodate more than one plane.  

Sen was formerly known as Edge of Destiny, but got a last minute name change prior to its Western release.  Like so many others, the game spent a great deal of time in Japan's many arcades before heading across the Pacific.  Within the world timeline, the events in Sen occur during a period of westward expansion, and feudal Japan is rife with unrest.  Top fighters are called forth to play their part in the impending war.

Moves are dependent on a 3D axis, and the execution can be understandably tricky for 2D fighter series.  To balance things out, SNK has tweaked the movesets, throwing in some powerful instant attacks accessible via shoulder buttons.  Such changes were made in an attempt to ease players from the familiar 2D games of Samurai Shodown past into the three dimensional field, giving Sen a distinctive brawler feel.  Focus falls away from executing stylish combos, resulting in a different feel SS fans may find difficult to swallow.

Signature attacks are a bit more troubling to pull off in the 3D translation, as every shift may disrupt your assault.  Power slashes only work in key openings against opponents, and poorly executed strikes leave the character stunned.  This can get pretty annoying, as the AI favors quick 'n' dirty fights, and that doesn't exactly say much in the game's favor.  That being siad, it's relatively easy to counter the AI by simply holding your ground rather than get all fancy with the combo attacks; if you go on the offensive, the AI will be reduced to cheap tricks, but staying on the defensive will almost always give you the upper hand.

There's also the problem of AI, as in the artificial intelligence isn't very intelligent.  While good at mimicking cheap players, it seems unable to copy patterns of higher skill levels, even with the difficulty jacked up.  Ducking and spamming horizontal slashes can draw the computer-controlled opponent in, and then it's completely open to a power attack.  No counters, no quick recoveries -- the AI is practically one dimensional.  It never seems to notice player patterns, and either balls up in a corner or walks straight to its death.

At least Sen provides heavy doses of eye candy.  The characters themselves look incredible in 3D, without losing any major details.  Haohmaru manages to keep his bouncy locks, moving with remarkable fluidity as he pounds his enemies into the ground; Nakoruru flowy outfit follows her flowery movements with beautiful accuracy.  There are many highlights when playing through the game, the animations are fluid and the clothing has a limited range of movement. For a game making a transition as large as this the team at SNK made a strong effort to deliver a visual experience that would satisfy the toughest fans of the series.

In the sound category details often fail to hold importance, those engaged in a deep fight or near death moment overlook audio usually. Even so, the developers made sure to include some classic sounds from you'll remember from previous Samurai Shodown titles. With hard screams and cries of pain in high quality sound, each match feels like a life-or-death struggle between combatants. Also for those watching from the distance the soundtrack tailors itself to each location; the most noticeable shift comes from the Wild West stage in a lighthearted presentation.

When we settle down with the whole picture Samurai Shodown: Sen faces the same issues that King of Fighters had. The transition to a next-gen platform focused on the presentation over the mechanics, with special attacks losing priority to timed critical strikes.  The shift to 3D could have ended at just the models, but it winded up taking over every aspect of the game.  The unbalanced fighters doesn't exactly make Sen any more appealing; certain characters like Draco have almost excessive combination attacks to juggle players until their life is gone, and frequent shifting makes special attacks useless.

For the hardcore fighting fan Samurai Shodown: Sen doesn’t deliver may be a letdown.  It fails to live up to high standards set by its predecessors, thanks to a less than smooth debut into next-gen gaming.  We hope SNK is able to take their steps slower the next time around and focus on making the gameplay as enjoyable as the visuals are.