Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage (Dreamcast Game)
Reviewed by Brian Schell
You are Gutsu, a tough, but not real smart swordsman with a 7-foot long sword. Your mission is to find a cure for your mentally ill girlfriend Casco. The two of you enter a small town beset by a fearsome plague. Small plants called mandragoras, have been attaching themselves to people in the village and infecting them with the Mandragora disease, which deforms them into grotesque monsters. It appears that Casca has the early stages of the infection. To help combat the spread of the plague, Gutsu joins forces with the not-so-nice Baron Balzak, ruler of the town to find a cure.
The gaming elements are simple enough. You have the Dragonslayer, a 7-foot long sword that is every bit as unwieldy as it sounds. Gutso is always banging that sword in to walls and it's very difficult to use in alleys, tunnels and in close combat. He's also armed with a few grenades, a hand cannon, and a hand crossbow. You will be battling hordes of Mandragoran "mutants," converted guards, and even the odd demon or two. The combat portions of the game are clones of Soulblade, Virtua Fighter or most other fast action fighting games only with a really well though out storyline. A neat feature of this game is Gutsu's ability to go berserk. He has a normal "health bar" that shows his hit points or life force. He also has a second bar that gets longer each time he hits an enemy in battle. When the bar fills up, he goes berserk, and does increased damage with higher speed while taking less damage for a few moments-think of Popeye with his spinach here.
To begin with, this CD is as much movie than game. It's based on a Manga entitled "Kenpuu Denki BERSERK" and literally has as many cut scenes as combat action. Something like this game will probably be the future of filmmaking. The storyline and animation are some of the best I've ever seen in a game. The voice talent matches the animation, and the animation itself is quite amazing.
The actual combat scenes are exceptional as well, with an easy to learn interface and a completely automatic 3rd person camera that does all the work for you. The save points are few and far between, but the game is easy enough that there are only two or three battles serious enough to warrant in-game saves.
The game itself is reasonably easy, and took me around 5 hours to beat the entire thing and see all the options. Probably a 12 year old could do it three or four hours. I would definitely recommend this game as a great one to rent for an evening or two, as it has very little replay value and will be over fairly quickly. Actually this game has a mature 17+ rating- there is a scene where a bandit suggests raping a prisoner, and of course there is a LOT of blood. When Gutso goes berserk, the enemy gushes blood twenty feet into the air and they tend to simply explode in a mess of parts rather than simply fall to the ground.
Most games are monotonous fighting marathons with a bit of acting thrown in for a break. This game is the opposite; a story with a few combat breaks thrown in. As I mentioned, the game is short and probably won't be much good playing a second time, but it's one of the best looking and best written games available and I strongly recommend it.
Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
For more info: http://www.Eidos.com
Requires: Dreamcast w/VMU. Jump Pack optional
Leave a Reply