Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Onimusha 3

Written by Adam Woolcott on April 23, 2003

First Impressions: Guess who's back, back again, Samanosuke's back, slit the throat of a friend.

Hot on the heels of the excellent Onimusha 2, the wonders of franchiseЕummЕexploiting, Capcom, have now wasted no time in unleashing the supposedly final installment of its epic Onimusha series, the uniquely titled Onimusha 3. In many ways, Capcom is hoping that Onimusha 3 will become the pinnacle of the series Ц a tough act to follow given the original 2 Onimusha games were very, very good. From the looks of things, Onimusha 3 will certainly be the most unusual entry in the samurai slashing series when it releases next year.

The biggest bit of information surrounding Onimusha 3 is the reappearance of Samanosuke, the star of the original Onimusha. Those who played through that game will surely remember the questions as to the fate of Sam after the defeat of Fortinbras Ц namely wondering just what the hell happened to Samanosuke and where he took off to. Obviously, Sam is alive and well, and at the outset of Onimusha 3, his goal is to once and for all eliminate the evil Demon Lord Nobunaga (which happened at the end of Onimusha 2 as wellЕconfusing, but that's what the sequel is for). The strange twist, however is that Sam winds up in some weird time warp, and ends up in modern-day France, which is under attack, by, you guessed it, demons. No word on if the French surrendered though. Anyway, Sam eventually meets up with a fella by the name of Jacque Bran, who becomes the 2nd hero of the game. For those who follow the Onimusha series, you know the main character is usually modeled after a real-life star, and Onimusha 3 is the same way, in the case of Jacque. In this case, the star of The Professional, Jean Reno (not Janet Reno, don't worry) plays the part Ц and in a first, will actually voice his on-screen character (they couldn't do that with Jubei from Onimusha 2 though, for obvious reasons Ц the guy who they modeled is kinda dead). Just from this information alone, it seems apparent that Onimusha 3 will be a spectacle not seen in a while.

While little is known about the gameplay itself, besides the obvious stuff with swords and special ogre powers that's become standard in the series, Onimusha 3 does, graphically, take the series in a whole different direction. The previous entries in the series featured static 2D backgrounds like the original Resident Evil games, and no question they were beautiful, but still a bit fake. In Onimusha 3, the game is in full 3D, with realistic camera angles and more interactive, lively backgrounds. Whether or not this will significantly affect traditional Onimusha gameplay is unknown, but seeing how the 3D Resident Evil games compared to the 2D games, it probably won't be too different Ц but it's always possible Onimusha 3 might go the Devil May Cry route as well. The game is so far off from release that things could change at any time.

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

First Impressions: Guess who's back, back again, Samanosuke's back, slit the throat of a friend.