Crazy, heart-pounding, and yes, stupid action. It's refreshingly raw, and yet, has what can best be called "grit&q
What it is is damn fun, hilariously moronic, and refreshingly challenging. In a market where complexity, realism, and multifaceted gameplay have become the main marketable features of games, here is an experience which dares to be simple! The main focus of the game is moving your character, a bareknuckle badass, through a 3d environment and beating down everyone you meet. There isn't really an rpg element. You don't get into vehicles with machine guns or have bullettime. You punch, kick, dodge, and occasionally use menacing powerups and that's pretty much it. You can customize the moves assigned to each key, and as might be expected different moves have a variety of speeds and attacks. New moves and powerful attacks called "God Reels" can be bought at shops between stages, and there is the opportunity to test these moves out in an arena. Other minor things to be done include a casino with blackjack, video poker, as well as weird side challenges which are occasionally offered to you by npcs. It may sound pretty boring, and it might be, if the execution weren't spot on. The combat is fantastic and just plain addicting. This is the key point of the game and its really so well done that it drives the whole experience. The feeling of dodging several combos from opponents, then launching a thug into the air with an uppercut, then pummeling him while in the air, then stomping on him repeatedly... is just amazing. There's just so much that you can do in the fighting system that its really hard to get bored with it. Taking out hoardes of generic gooneys is pretty fun, and yet the very challenging bosses are a unique sort of fun as well.
Which brings us nicely to the next point, which is difficulty. A lot of reviews have focused on difficulty as a negative point (*cough IGN cough*). Godhand is very challenging, and if tough games really turn you off, then you should be cautious about purchasing it. The important thing to note here is that , while difficult, the difficulty is rarely unfair. You will get beat down, but it will be from a poorly executed dodge, or an overaggressive attack that got you surrounded by 5 guys. It's a difficulty that makes you get better at the game and encourages considering a new approach to the situation. Its really more of a breath of fresh air than anything else. In so many games, the focus is squarely on exploration and story. Once the basic mechanics are learned there's hardly ever a point in GTA games where a player is really challenged. Even in games that are difficult it is often a sort of artificial difficulty which, as in RPGs, forces the player to do menial crap until it isn't so hard. Godhand is hard because of how the enemies react to you and deal with your moves. Even once you know how to dodge and combo and all that, this game will still make you work to win.
To do this, a system is employed where you will "Level UP", which basically means you were doing well enough that the enemies will now be better. They will simply fight better, blocking and countering more effectively. It's somewhat comparable to the system employed by Need For Speed: Most Wanted, except where the AI opponents in NFS:MW would CHEAT to catch up to you, the enemies here aren't really doing anything besides becoming smarter. This is satisfying and always keeps you on the edge of your seat and engaged. A completed stage or defeated boss really impresses a sense of accomplishment on you, as it means you won by virtue of your actions and skill, not your experience points and raw time invested.
One of the more raw features of the game is its visual presentation. The backgrounds are nothing spectacular. They 're sufficient, but nothing exciting. This is sort of a minor detraction, really, because its unlikely you'll find yourself paying attention to the scenery as you kungfu everyone is sight. Still, at times it feels like a little more attention to the environments would have added a greater degree of excitement and interest to the fighting. The character models are generally fairly well done. You'll find yourself fighting the same selection of generic enemies a lot but this is really almost acceptable just by virtue of the fact that this is a brawler game, through and through. The enemies are various enough to not be utterly boring, and you'll encounter some that are so weird that your first instinct (if it wasn't already) is to jump kick them in the chest. The high point here is the animation which is extremely good. Punches and kickes look like you expect them to look, fluid and fast. The excellent animation really saves an otherwise rather "Blah" graphics package. Seeing all those kicks and punches flying around is part of what makes the game so exciting, and the animations convey this excitement very, very well.
Sound is an overall plus, with a unique and oddly fitting soundtrack. It's not thumping techno or generic metal, but instead a sometimes funky, sometimes jazzy, guitar laden rock. It's really unlike anything I've ever heard before, and its fitting for a very unique game. The effects are fantastic with convincing thuds and whacks for hits, and odd bits of speech from opponents as well as the protagonist himself. All this doesn't jump out as great but rather blends into the overall experience in a subtle, yet beneficial, way. The story is hardly "Good", but doesn't come off as bad. The various bosses you come across have bizarre and funny characterization. Really, it's all enough to tie the action together without ever slowing it down. I don't find myself skipping the cutscenese, but I don't wish they were longer either.
The main thing here is fun factor. Reading all this crap, you're really (or should be really) wanting to know one thing. Does it work? Yes, it does. It works beautifully. The action is frenetic and wildly engaging. The game doesn't have to dangle experience and fancy graphics in front of you , you'll WANT to keep fighting hordes of badguys to advance the game. The fact is, the game takes every expectation most people have regarding storyline, graphics, and game design, and knocks them the F out. This game is fun. A lot of people have been saying that this is a game either mainly, or exclusively, for brawler and beat-em-up fans. That's not necessarily true. I'm not really a brawler fan, but I'm a fan of fun action games. I would say that if Bruce Lee or Jet Li movies get you going, this is your game. If you've ever pretended you were a kungfu master with a broom before when you thought nobody was watching, this may be your game. If you just want to punch and kick people a real lot, this is your game! It's fun is broader than just a "brawler niche", but it doesn't go past the appeal of the action. If Final Fantasy games or Civilization are your main interests this really isn't your thing but come on... you should have figured that out already. Really, the best way to tell if this is "your thing" is to watch a few gameplay videos here on gamespot. If you go "Wow... that's cool" or, like I did, just giggle like a moron, I'll recommend buying or at least renting it. At 26 bucks off of Amazon.com, it's not a huge investment anyway.
I'll close with a comparison that I can't help but making to one of Clover Studios other games, Okami, which has faired generallly much better than Godhand. Where Okami is light and lets you leisurely explore and take in the beautiful world, Godhand is a dense, actionpacked experience which largely ignores all other aspects of the game in favor of a challenging, rewarding gameplay experience. You can play Godhand for half an hour, get your ass beat, and still have a great time. Okami is more of an extended gameplay sort of thing. Okami is a masterpiece of game design, almost art. Godhand is... well... not. Okami,subtle Godhand, vulgar. It's almost as if the guys at Clover said "We want to make the antithesis to Okami just for the hell of it" and Godhand was the result. Despite all this, they're both fantastic. My point here is that a game needn't adhere to rigid expectations of what a game should be to be a good game. Clover has shown that inventive game design can take many shapes, but in the end what matters is how fun it is. It's a lesson which will probably go unlearned as more and more Battlfield and Madden games flood the market. In summary: Buy Godhand if-
you want a ridiculous, over the top, action game with little besides a deep, rewarding combat system and lots (LOTS) of campy weirdness.
Rent Godhand if-
you just want to beat crap up but don't know if that can entertain you for the entire duration of a game.
Stay away if-
you don't like action games (duh) or expect a level of sophistication in your stories or graphics. Also if you don't have the patience to learn the combat system or are frustrated by difficult games.