GamesRelay

Name: Bayonetta

Action games have never been so defined as the Devil May Cry series from creator Hideki Kamiya, yet they have proved popular for the past couple of years, the question is, can he repeat his success with a female in the lead? SEGA aims to answer that question with their newest game Bayonetta, which is a third person action game. The star of the show is a Witch who was awakened at the bottom of a lake after a 500 year sleep with no memory of who or where she is; twenty years later and she is still searching for clues to her past and the answer to the many questions she has. She knows that she was once part of a Covern known as the Umbra Witches which was responsible for looking after one half of a magical device known as "The Eyes of The World" and indeed Bayonetta believes that she holds a piece of it and is actively searching for the other half in the hope that her quest will reveal her past. Helping her is an informant named Enzo, and this is where the action starts when Enzo finds some information useful to Bayonetta, unfortunately he is attacked in a graveyard and Bayonetta must come to the rescue before she can learn what Enzo has found.

During the opening prologue Bayonetta fights in the graveyard against some Angels, it's here that you're taught the basics of fighting; it's a simple combo based layout with a kick and punch button system that can be strung together in different ways to launch varying attacks. As the tutorial moves on Bayonetta's guns are brought in, this can be done in two ways, either with a dedicated shoot button, or by holding the kick or punch button at the end of a combo; you might think that two guns would be enough for most people to fight with but not this Witch, she has four, one at the end of each limb.

One of the things you can't help but notice is that all the moves are all performed with a certain style; Bayonetta is certainly a Witch who likes to look good as she despatches her foes, the first real long range attack you learn for example involves her standing on her hands and using her legs in a variety of positions to shoot oncoming Angels, combine that with other combos and various back flips to dodge out of the way of enemy attacks and it's all pretty flashy. If you manage to dodge out of the way just before the moment of an impact then the action will slow down and you'll activate Witch Time which slows down the action momentarily allowing you to gain a greater advantage in the battle. With practice you'll begin to feel like you're controlling a character out of the Matrix.

Other abilities which the starting battles serve to introduce in Bayonetta's many talents is that of the Torture Attack. When your attacks land a hit on the Angels a magical attack bar fills up, should the Angels land an attack on you then energy will be removed; once this bar is complete you get the option of executing the move. Execute three of these attacks before a time limit expires and it's time to move on to the story properly; though therein lies the challenge, it's round about now that you begin to realise that if you've not paid attention to the differing combo techniques then you're going to be in trouble, even on the normal level of difficulty this very early part of the game can be quite taxing. After each major battle you're judged on your performance depending on how many combos you managed to string together, how many times you managed to avoid getting hit and how many points you racked up in general; you'll then be rewarded with a medal for your actions ranging from bronze to pure platinum.

Once the prologue is out of the way and before the story begins you get introduced to the Gates to Hell bar which is run by local mystical Innkeeper Rodin. It's here that you'll be able to upgrade Bayonetta's abilities and weaponry, at a small cost of course. This cost is in the form of halos, which you collect from dead enemies, although they do look suspiciously like the rings that Sonic collects; these act like currency in the bar, the more you collect the more you're able to upgrade. As well as the halos that you can find, the Angels also drop various bits and pieces that you can collect and store for use in concoctions, various brews that extend Bayonetta's abilities to different degrees and forms, though these can also be purchased from Rodin should you be running short for one of your concoctions. There is also a mini-game to be played while you're in the bar, Angel Attack; it's a way for you to collect a few extra bits and pieces, bullets you find in the main story translate to bullets at a ratio of 1 to 3, you use this in an old school shooting affair using your controller to move a target over an Angel and shooting before it has time go get out of the way. Shoot enough Angels and you can get something from Rodin's stash worth varying amounts of points.