Way of the Samurai 3

The year is 1560. Which – as any fule, or Manga fan, kno – is the Sengoku Era, when Feudal Japan was in a violent political mess.

As that movie voiceover chap would have it, it was a time of war, and that makes it a very popular setting for ambitious hack-and-slash games such as the Way of the Samurai series. Sadly, the execution of this new version doesn't live up to the ambition. You start the game as inexperienced Samurai in a world divided into three: the Fujimori Clan, the Ouka Clans and the villagers just trying to get by. You have choices as the game unfolds. Pick a side? Play one clan against the others for your own gain and greed? Be good? Be evil? Be violent or kneel submissively in apology? Your choices will determine what sort of game you have – and which of the 20+ endings you see.

The aim then is Fallout 3 with blades. The reality though is some way off as the AI isn't up to standard, making the "cause and effect" notion somewhat piecemeal, and generally only succeeding during a handful of big decisions. The minute-to-minute stuff – draw sword or go gently – is inconsistent, with swords pulled on you with alarming regularity regardless of demeanour, even before you've made it across the region for a weapons tutorial. And not only is it possible to die en route to that tutorial, it's also possible to die during it – which seems unnecessarily harsh. Also, why can you only accept one task at a time? Given that the tasks generally involve running across the same eight locations to find things or deliver items, they soon become annoyingly repetitious.

The good v evil decisions are also somewhat undermined by villagers wandering onto your sword while you're trying to defend them from the bad guys. As for the knelt apology, it's a nice idea but one that generally just gives your opponent several seconds to slash away at you without response.

And yet … If you've got the time and wherewithal to accustom yourself to the foibles of the AI, the notion that you're going to spend a lot of time wandering, wondering and repeating (and repeating) certain activities, the deeper game gradually becomes oddly compelling. In short then, this is not a breakout WotS remould but a fan-pleasing, business-mostly-as-usual, genre franchise. Fourth time lucky perhaps chaps?