Capcom is planning to cap a banner year with a revival of the Onimusha series, their classic mixture of Resident Evil style monsters with medieval Japanese mythology.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 17th century Kyoto and massive pillars of conjoined human faces have just burst from the ground, screaming in pain.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where you come in. As heroic samurai Musashi, you must cleanse the city and rid the world of underworld entities known as Genma. These include multi-limbed tricksters, lion-headed warlords, and gluttonous boar-men who want to stuff you down their gullet.<\/p>\n
In Musashi\u2019s arsenal sits a magical gauntlet acting as both guide and boxing glove, several golden weapons summoned from the ether, and the sharpest katana in all of existence. As we discover during our hands-on, it\u2019s capable of slicing through literally anything.<\/p>\n
Combat is what distinguishes Onimusha: Way Of The Sword from its dark fantasy action forebears. Capcom\u2019s first mainline instalment since 2006, and the fifth overall, is a bold attempt to modernise the series through deeper, more visually spectacular violence.<\/p>\n
Built on RE Engine, the game uses motion capture provided by expert sword fighters. This gives encounters heft and while clearly fantastical, moves carry weight and menace, whether you\u2019re battling groaning zombie warriors or just cutting down some bamboo trees.<\/p>\n
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Underpinning everything are the core tenants of blade-on-blade combat. Instead of spamming attacks, it\u2019s all about picking the right time to block, break through guards, and pull off perfect ripostes. Each time you do, your blade cleaves enemies at the precise angle of entry, leaving them in deli counter slices on the ground.<\/p>\n
They drop precious orbs you can hoover into your magic gauntlet by holding the left shoulder button (be quick, because other enemies can gobble them up for strength buffs). These orbs power different aspects of your build. Yellow ones replenish health, and red are currency for upgrades. Blue, though, are the most exciting, because they fill up your Oni Armaments.<\/p>\n
The first Oni Armaments are gleaming twin daggers called the Two Celestials, which are capable of one-shotting multiple foes in a blitz of golden fury.<\/p>\n
Later comes a double-edged naginata called a Wind Whipper that unleashes howling vortexes to blow away crowds. Follow-up flaming attacks can even ignite the gusts. Gradually building towards these special showstoppers gives combat a constant stream of crescendoes.<\/p>\n
Skirmishes came thick and fast in the Kyoto-based sandbox section of our demo. We witnessed squads of undead soldiers terrorise the city by dragging people kicking and screaming out of dwellings, and piling burned bodies high.<\/p>\n
Quests are playable in any order. One of them involves hunting down three talking statues, each guarded by a floating fleshy mass that you\u2019ll need to suck into your gauntlet like a Cronenbergian Ghostbusters.<\/p>\n
Another mission involves an even more dangerous enemy. During the quest \u2018Be Careful What You Wish For,\u2019 Musashi spots citizens praying to a mysterious jinn. One of them begs it for a way to get out of her piano lessons, so it responds by snipping her fingers off. Wish granted.<\/p>\n
Next, a loved-up couple plead for a way to be together forever, so the jinn traps their spirits in a pair of inanimate dolls. It\u2019s a creatively realised monkey paw dilemma.<\/p>\n