I’m just going to start off and let you dear readers know that I have never seen Afro Samurai, nor have I played the first game in the series — This does have me at somewhat of a disadvantage when playing the sequel to the first Afro Samurai, Afro Samurai 2: Revenge Of Kuma. That didn’t stop me from enjoying this very quirky game, however, and it also got me interested in the animated series. That’s a bonus on both accounts for me — Something new to watch and an excuse to the put the first game in my Xbox 360. The game was good enough to make me want to delve deeper into the Afro Samurai lore, yet it didn’t alienate me because I knew nothing. Enough story was provided as I moved through the game to make me want to continue on and want the next volume when it releases.
The story, while hard to understand at first, gets fleshed out enough so that anyone can know what is going on. Let me lay a little bit of groundwork down for you; basically, there are numbered headbands in this world, and to win one you must defeat and kill the person wearing it. The story is somewhat like No More Heroes, except instead of becoming the number one assassin, you are trying to become the number one Samurai and effectively, God. This story takes place in the midst of Afro Samurai acquiring the Number One headband; He has just gotten the Number Two headband and now Kuma is out for revenge. The story tells of the struggle that Kuma has gone through to remember what has happened, and to finally take revenge on Afro Samurai.
The controls are pretty simple in this game, seeing as it is just a hack and slash title with some quick time events thrown in. Square is attack, triangle is block when prompted, circle is finisher when prompted, and R1 activates the special skill for the three styles you learn. When you successfully perform enough combos, the game prompts you to use those special skills as well. It’s especially useful during one fight late in the game when hoards of enemies keep getting thrown at you. At the beginning of the game you are given Kuma Style, which allows you to do an execution style finisher when you reach the proper combo level. The second style you learn is Master Style, and this one is useful for longer range combat because the sword seems to be longer; the finisher here is also the most useful because it takes out pretty much every enemy onscreen. Finally, you get Afro Style. This style allows you to jump over enemies while holding the R2 Trigger and hitting jump. I used this one the least; Basically, only when the game told me to. You can swap these styles on the fly with the D-Pad.
The graphics look really good on my PlayStation 4; I don’t know if they match the look of the cartoon or the previous game, but I did enjoy them. They looked somewhat like an anime combined with that graphic novel look, which made certain scenes really pop out at you. The black and white flashback scenes had very little color, but what color you did see really emphasized what was going on and Kuma’s feelings and intentions. The audio, however, was messed up. When characters would speak, it was insanely loud and sounded very hollow. I checked my television just to be sure, but it was the game that was causing this. When you aren’t fighting the sudden yelling, the actors did do a great job with the material they were given. You do hear a lot of the same things over and over from Kuma, but man are they emotional.
Afro Samurai 2: Revenge Of Kuma is a pretty solid game. I enjoyed my time with it, but unfortunately it was a very short time. I beat the game in almost one sitting, so that is kind of worrisome. There isn’t very much replay value in the game either; it’s a one time wham bam thank you ma’am type of game and I don’t see myself going back to it, unless it’s to import my save to the second episode. The game is very pretty and very well put together — I just wish there were a few more levels for me to slash ninjas and such to death. If you are die hard Afro Samurai fan, you need to get this game. If you’re looking to get into the series and its world, this may be a good starting point as well, since it won’t take away too much of your time should you dislike it.
A PS4 code for Afro Samurai 2: Revenge Of Kuma was provided by Versus Evil for the purpose of this review