Bayonetta Review: Which Witch Is Which?

The first time I saw “Bayonetta” was at last year’s E3, and, in all honesty, I wasn’t really impressed. I’ve never been a fan of the “Devil May Cry” games, and a game that played like those, starring a witch with magical hair just didn’t seem very appealing. After a short demo of the game behind closed doors, I walked away from Sega’s booth more interested in “Aliens vs. Predator” than some game from a bunch of guys that made that other game. But something happened over the last few months, as the hype began to build around the game, I started to realize that “Bayonetta” might actually be something I could enjoy, and, as the release date came closer, I was actually really looking forward to it. Low and behold, after a run through of the final product, it turns out that first impressions aren’t always right.

“Bayonetta” starts out, much like so many of today’s games, by introducing you to an overly complicated storyline. This time it happens to be about Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches who keep the universe in balance, but 500 years ago that balance has been thrown off, and it’s up to Bayonetta to bring set everything right by bringing together the Right Eye and Left Eye jewels. It’s a complicated story of angels, demons, and journalists that only seemed to serve prolonging the game itself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad story, there’s just too much of it, and the game has no problem reminding you of that.

I’m of the school of thought that thinks it’s okay to have a game throw a cut scene at you here and there to help progress the plot, but “Bayonetta” takes its poetic license just a step too far. While the battle sequences are abundant and satisfying, almost all of them are punctuated with some kind of a cut scene that helps progress the story just a tiny bit. Over and over again you’re told of the Creator by some of the most impressively designed monstrosities that I’ve ever seen in game, just as you are about to disembowel them with your magical hair. We get it. Most of the information is redundant, and most people are playing this game to kick some ass with a hot witch, and instead it felt more like Kojima than a Platinum.

Story elements aside, “Bayonetta”’s a winner. Once you jump into the action, you’re in for a wild ride. The controls are basic, and extremely responsive. At it’s heart “Bayonetta” can hack-n-slash with the best of them, but if you want to really succeed at the game, you can’t simply mash the punch and kick buttons all day. The combo system in this game is exceptionally deep, and, with the exception of a few techniques, almost universally available right from the very start. The devastating attacks will take time to master, but are well worth it when it comes to both the damage dealt, as well as their onscreen representation (giant hair foot anyone?). One of “Bayonetta” biggest surprises was that it is the first game to really handle bullet-time well. If you can time your evade maneuver correctly when dodging on-coming attacks, Bayonetta will slip into “Witch Time” which slows down everything around her, allowing her to dole out loads of damage without the worry of being attacked. Jumping in and out of Witch Time is a smooth transition, and it’s also extremely satisfying to pull off, especially if you’re on the verge of death.

Layered on top of the punching, kicking, slicing, and dicing is a nice variety of gameplay as well. It seems like the team at Platinum Games went out their way to mix up the different elements and get Bayonetta’s feet off the ground every once in a while. While it won’t appear in every chapter, you will take to the streets as well as the air in some really unique missions that feel like completely separate experiences from the rest of the game.

“Bayonetta”’s world (which is also technically our world) looks beautiful as long as you have a second to stop and look around it. The action is continuous, and only broken up as you go from battle to battle. However, this game does suffer from one of the biggest problems that almost every 3D game has suffered since their inception: the camera. While it doesn’t ruin the whole game, spinning it around in certain situations can be extremely frustrating, especially when it locks on Bayonetta when you aren’t expecting it to. Either give us a fixed camera, or full control over the camera, make up your mind.

If a game could win you over with its details, then “Bayonetta” would deserve a blue ribbon. The game is chock-full of Easter eggs that both Sega, Capcom fans, and universal video game nerds will appreciate. In addition to that, each level is punctuated with its own mini-game called “Angel Attack” that allows you to rack up some power-ups or spending money depending on how well you do. There was, however, one minor aspect of the game’s bells and whistles that ruined a bit of the experience for me: the voice of one of the characters, Enzo, is the exact same voice of Pesto, the Goodfeather from “Animaniacs.” It may seem weird, but every time that character spoke all I could think of was a giant pigeon. I know, it’s small, but it’s also very odd.

To call “Bayonetta” “over-the-top” would be an understatement. Everything about the game, from start to finish, was overdone, but that’s exactly what this game was trying to do, and it succeeded gloriously. The battles were big, the story was epic, and the gameplay was intense. All in all, I walked away from the game rather impressed, and a bit surprised. If you’re looking for a solid action game to fill the gaps between “Uncharted 2” and “God of War 3” “Bayonetta” is a standout option. Hell, even if you’re not looking for something to fill the gap, and you don’t mind playing something that’s driven as much by sex as explosions “Bayonetta” is still worth a shot.

Rating:

 
“Bayonetta” was developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 5, 2010. This review is based on the Xbox 360 version.

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