Developed by: Bungie

Available On: Windows 9x, Mac OS, Sony Playstation 2

Review System: Intel Pentium III/933mhz, ASUS V7100/GeForce 2 MX Graphics Card, 256MB RAM, Windows 98SE. Also tested on: Intel Pentium II/400, Matrox G400MAX Graphics Card, 128MB RAM, Windows 98SE

Game Type: 3rd Person Action/Adventure

Reviewer: StorminNorman

Bungie have been working on Oni for almost as long as John Romero was working on Daikatana. The amount of hype surrounding the game has been phenomenal, especially after Bungie were bought by Microsoft. Well, Oni is finally here... and while it lacks some of the promised features (Multiplayer support and truly dynamic environments), it still rocks pretty hard.

You are Konoko, a TCTF agent whose past may not be as it seems. As you work your way through the game, the story unfolds, revealing a plot thicker than that of Ghost In The Shell. You are helped in your missions by Shinatama, an android that is linked into your brain patterns, and Dr. Kerr, a man who appears to be your mentor. The way the game tells the story is excellent, with cutscenes revealing the intricate plot, and providing Konoko with more excuse to kick butt. You almost feel like you are watching an anime.

This feeling is helped by the fact that Bungie have chosen anime as a visual theme for the game. Imagine GitS with a decent plot and full 3d-rendered graphics, and that's basically what Oni is. From Konoko's spiked haircut (that even reflects!) through to the obligatory schoolgirl style character (the tragic Shinatama) and Kerr's uncanny resemblance to Dr. Elefun from Astroboy, the game is an otaku's dream. Even the voice acting is reminiscent of a badly subtitled anime series... (err... is that a good thing?). All the game needs is a Japanese soundtrack option (it already has English subtitles) and the experience would be perfect.

It has to be said that graphically Oni is excellent, using a limited 3rd person/behind camera view (similar to American McGee's Alice or Tomb Raider), without too many of the issues associated with such a perspective. Instead of the camera disappearing behind objects, the objects become semitransparent, and while this does allow you to cheat slightly by looking through walls, it eases the frustration levels of some parts of the game. All the characters look excellent, with bright, colourful textures and strongly defined facial features (you can see the cybernetic parts of Shinatama's face in-game, not just in the picture of her that pops-up when she talks). While the game doesn't look as good as say, Alice (which is based on the Quake 3:Arena engine) it has its own visual style that suits it well. There are graphical flashes when you attack someone, and, at least on the PC version, minimal fogging. I did notice on the slower machine that I tested Oni on, that translucency slowed the framerate down, as did a lot of action, but this was to be expected.

The sound in Oni is pretty decent too. I mentioned the voice acting before, but for me, that's part of the `anime experience' that Oni offers. Other sounds are good, from the meaty `thwack' noises when Konoko lands a right hook through to the sounds of most of the weaponry in the game. The best sound effect of all has to be when Konoko pulls off her `spinning lariat' or `backbreaker' moves, where there is a nice crunchy bones-being-bent-in-ways-they-weren't-designed-to sound. *crunch*

Oni offers some excellent gameplay. Rather than simply being a shoot-the-enemy-find-the-lock-to-open-the-next-door style game, its a beat-the-living-crap-out-of-the-enemy-find-the-lock-to-open-the-door style. Basically, Oni implements a nice fighting system, rather than rely on weapons all the time, and the best part is, the fighting system actually works. Bungie have gone to great lengths to make the controls work nicely, and they do, with an impressive amount of moves for Konoko. From standard kicks and punches, to the supercool Running Lariat (Konoko runs up to an opponent, spins around their neck (*crunch*) and kicks any enemies in range), Konoko has enough moves to make her worthy of the next Tekken game. She even shouts the name of some of her super moves (`DOUBLE SPIN KICK!'), to add that extra authenticity to the anime stylings of the game.

Being able to fight enemies is a handy feature in Oni, as actual weapons and ammo in the game are somewhat limited. This isn't a bad thing, because often it's better to sneak up behind someone and break their back than it is to shoot them from a distance. When Konoko does have a weapon however, she can still fight, which is handy as most weapons are useless at close range. The weapons include a nice automatic pistol; a submachine gun, designed so that when an enemy is firing it, 90% of the bullets that fly from it miss Konoko; a plasma cannon, which has the slowest moving projectiles of any weapon in the game; a nice railgun-style weapon that is good for long-distance sniping; and my personal favourite, the screaming cannon, which basically fires a huge, heat-seeking glob of energy that kills pretty much anything it touches, including Konoko if she happens to be nearby. The game implements a lock-on feature, which is nice, allowing you to run backwards while shooting without losing your target.

The levels in Oni were supposedly designed by real architects, which is obvious from the way many of them are laid out, especially the TCTF headquarters and the National State Building. This means that there is almost no unfilled space in any of the maps, which is nice, although it does lead to an inordinate number of empty/useless rooms. Still, it does give the feeling that you are running through actual structures rather than just maps designed for the convenience of a game engine.

The easiest (and in my opinion the most unjustified) criticism that can be made about Oni is that it does consist primarily of `find-the-switch-to-open-the-door' gameplay. I've heard some people provide this as a major criticism of it, but lets face it, even Doom consisted of similar gameplay. I found that I enjoyed finding the switches so much that I didn't particularly care about whether it was repetitive or not. That said, the game does have a few flaws, some major, some minor. To me, the biggest flaw is the save points. I don't mind the idea of fixed save points, but Oni spaces them out a little too far, especially on the later levels. To be fair though, Oni is essentially a console-style game, and most console games do a similar thing these days, so it makes sense that Bungie have chosen to follow suit. The other criticism I have is that Oni is a hard game. Even on the easy difficulty level (there are 3: Easy, Normal, and Hard), Oni is tough, and may put less experienced gamers off. This, coupled with the save points, will see you replaying some parts of the game several times before finally getting through. Of course, the sense of achievement when you do complete a save point is akin to the sense of achievement you get from winning a tight Unreal Tournament deathmatch game. Finally, the smallest niggle I have is the lack of access to the options screen from within the game (you have to quit the game and restart it to access this screen once you are in a game). While this isn't a major issue (I normally set options before I start a game anyway, and rarely need to tweak them), and few console games do this anyway, it would have been nice to add it in, at least on the PC version. Also, it isn't possible to bind the keys from within the program, you have to edit a text file in the Oni directory to do this. Again, this is a minor complaint, as the game's default controls are pretty much perfect anyway (although assigning the E key to drop weapon on the PC is somewhat annoying), the only thing I could complain about is the lack of mousewheel support... although given that Konoko can only carry one weapon at a time (this is not a bad thing, as she doesn't need to carry more), it isn't a major hassle. The other control criticism I have is that to adjust the in-game mouse sensitivity in Windows involves using the Windows Mouse control panel. This means that currently my windows mouse is cranked up to ridiculous speeds (I couldn't be stuffed changing it back), as I tend to play with a high sensitivity in most games, Oni included.

None of these criticisms detract from the game itself though. Oni is an absolutely brilliant game, with a strong focus on story, and excellent fighting mechanics. One level is even a dream sequence that Konoko has to fight through! Which reminds me... Konoko has got to rank as one of the best characters in a game in recent times, she, along with most of the other characters, oozes personality. She can go from being an angry, intense killing machine in one level, to almost crying at one point in the next (yes it does happen). If nothing else, Oni brings us a character that is totally believable, and she lacks the outrageous dimensions of certain other female game characters. (*cough*Lara*cough*)

Oni rocks. That's all there is to it. I hope that someone sees enough of this game to turn it into a real anime (even though the last game to anime conversion sort of sucked... Sin) and I would be interested to see where Bungie takes this concept. Go now... buy this game. It rocks. Konoko said so!

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