Publisher: Gathering of Developers
Developer: Bungie
Website: oni.godgames.com
Genre: Action
Beat ‘em up games for the PC have been rather thin on the ground recently. In fact, scratch that, they've always been thin on the ground. While the PC is undoubtedly the best platform for first person shooters, consoles are king for beat ‘em ups of all sorts. Thankfully, Bungie clearly decided it was time for a change and brought us Oni, a game that's essentially a beat ‘em up with a twist. How does a third person free roaming close combat action game with the odd funky gun thrown in for good measure sound? Yeah, pretty cool, huh. Now imagine a healthy dose of Manga influence thrown in for good measure. Is that drool I see on your chin?
The characters have huge eyes, every single enemy is a martial arts expert and the main character, Konoko, has spiky, shiny purple hair. Yep, Oni is pure Manga alright (albeit rather westernized Manga) and what Manga-influenced game would be complete without lots and lots of kung fu action? Simply put, the combat system is by far the game's strongest point. At first, combat might seem a little awkward, but after you learn some more moves and notch up a few level completions you'll be beating up enemies left right and center like Bruce Lee in a bar fight. Konoko has some incredibly cool combat moves at her disposal, many of the more lethal ones accompanied by a loud cry of its name such as “Double Spin Kick” or “Rising Fury.” Cute huh? Also, pulling off most of these “special” moves is nowhere near as complex as the [left + left + right + A & B together] style combinations of console beat ‘em ups either. Bungie clearly put a lot of work into the combat system and it paid off – it's easy to get into and a blast to use, just the way I like it.
While it's easier to do damage with them, guns tend to be your secondary weapon in Oni as ammo is pretty sparse. Kudos to Bungie for coming up with a few original weapons though. While there is the obligatory pistol and machine pistol, there are also some much cooler weapons such as the Screaming Cannon that fires a floating, seeking, life sapping projectile entitity known as a Screaming Cell. There's also a stun gun (stop ‘em with a shot then drop ‘em with a flying kick!), a portable mortar and of course a missile launcher, this time called a Scram Cannon, that fires a swarm of missiles. While they're often useful for defeating enemies when you're low on health, you'll tend to stick to using Konoko's martial arts skills more, simply because they're so much more fun to use.