Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: SEGA
Rating Guide: How I Review Games

Review:

I will admit that I had my doubts when SEGA first revealed Bayonetta.  My inner man-person was totally into the idea of a heroine with nothing but hair covering her body.  But my inner gamer-person was telling me that there was no way I’d be into another Devil May Cry clone with a woman in it.  Today I’m here to tell you that the old saying “never judge a book by its cover” fits perfectly with Bayonetta.

This game is a freakish ride of action, combos and violence that I just couldn’t get enough of!  Are you ready for the baddest asskicker of all female video game personalities?

Gameplay, Graphics and Sound

Bayonetta takes place in Vigrid, a fictional city in Europe, during a time that two factions of warriors that were at odds.  You had the Lumen Sages (followers of light) and the Umbra Witches (naturally followers of the darkness.  Bayonetta just so happens to have been born of both so you can imagine her struggle especially after suffering some memory loss of what the hell happened to her.

The journey begins with an epic battle that she and a fellow Umbra Witch, Jeanne, are engaged in.  When the initial battle sequence is over, you find yourself on a quest to find the Left Eye and Right Eye which are the two distinct treasures that the factions shared.  If you’re familiar with games like Devil May Cry, then you’ll likely be right at home controlling Bayonetta.  She has a mixture of combination attacks that make even Dante jealous.  I can’t even begin to describe how massive and devastating her attacks and combos are.  It’ll take some time to master them but once you do, it’s a sight to see.  I guess though that the number of attacks and how hectic the action is may be a problem for some.

You can string together viciousness in a way that shouldn’t be allowed.  And I haven’t even mentioned the fact that Bayonetta has guns on her boots so even when she’s kicking, she’s dishing out double the damage.  The guns are her primary weapons and they’re called Scarborough Fair.  Crafted by her good friend Rodin, the guns are named Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.  How cute eh?  Rodin is where you purchase new weapons, items and attacks. 

Bayonetta is a gorgeous display of panic and chaos.  One of my favorite moves to do was a Witch Time attack which slowed down the action a bit and let you pick off enemy after enemy.  There’s nothing like slowing down the action or watching a huge high hell come crashing down on monsters.

I’m telling you that she has an arsenal at her disposal that includes typical weapons to concocting compounds (she’s a witch afterall).  The collection of treasures and such was a bit tedious but the action kept you busy enough that it wasn’t much of an issue.  And the environments and stages were so “busy” themselves that you didn’t have much time to do anything but kick ass.

The enemies in the game were a good mixture of small to large.  You definitely go into many battles thinking how the hell am I going to defeat this huge beast.  The boss battles were that epic.  Another thing I liked was during the loading when you were able to practice a few moves before the action began. 

Xbox LIVE Extras

Bayonetta doesn’t have any action online unfortunately.

Conclusion

Bayonetta was definitely a “hair” rasing experience.  Imagine everything you enjoy about the Devil May Cry series and inject it with a lot of adrenaline and that’s what you’ll get with Bayonetta.  The action is faster, the combos are an event in themselves and plus Bayonetta herself is hot.  She has guns on her boots for crying out loud!

I think we have the next great action title on our hands ladies and gentlemen.  Bayonetta, complete with an outfit full of hair, is all win.