Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Instant classic"

Bayonetta at first may seem like a Devil May Cry rip off with a female protagonist and it's angelic enemies. However from the moment the Prologue unfolds, it's clear that this is something else, and a much better beast. Beneath the deep combat system, it's over-the-top moments, absurd and violent deaths of angels, is a coherent story with it moments of sweetness. But the story isn't this game's main attraction, it's combat experience is.

A 500 year slumber is enough for a world to change entirely, memories to become lost and clouded, which is the case here. The game begins 20 years after Bayonetta's awakening. A tip from her informant leads her to the city of Vigrid. Vigrid seems to be closer to the angelic world than any other place on earth and angelic enemies do appear at almost every corner in the city. Bayonetta's fight through Vigrid teaches her about her past, the downfall of her clan, The Umbran Witches and their counterpart The Lumen Sages and awaken her lost memories. The bottom of the story is the traditional fight between light and darkness, The Lumen Sages with the God of Paradiso control power of light while the Umbran Witches with the demons from Inferno watched over the darkness. Both clans had deep respect for each other, but a tragic event caused the clans to go into war. At the end, only an Umbran Witch remained, Bayonetta, locked in a coffin at the bottom of a lake.

The main attraction in the game is its deep and nearly flawless combat system. Even from the beginning you can pull of incredible combos and chain them together with bullets from her many guns. One in each hand and one hooked to each of her high (incredibly high) heels. Apart from the combos you can perform right away, new attacks are available to buy through Rodin, the demonic barkeep/smith. However nifty combos aren't all you get when you want to finish of enemies. Bayonetta has a number of stylish special attacks to finish off her enemies. From summoning guillotines out of thin air to chainsawing them into pieces. Finishing off bosses has their own special attack, and monsters summoned from Bayonetta's hair. The only down side with all this? Performing advanced combos is a bit of a challenge. Luckily the game lets you practice during the loading which is cleverly disguised as a combo practice.

What fuels this fluid combat system is your ability to dodge incoming attacks. Avoiding these attacks will be life saving as enemies often deal lots of damage and rarely drop bonus health. Learning when to dodge will also reward you in another way as well. Dodging an attack at the last possible moment enables witch time (comparable to bullet time in other games). A powerful ability that reduces enemy movement to a crawling pace and lets you deal deadly attacks and drops their sometimes strong defenses.

The combat system however wouldn't do much good if the control system was not up to the task. It's fluid, fast and responsive. A reaction the instant you push a button, all the time. The game also features a well working auto lock-on, so your break dancing (literally) combos goes towards the enemy, and not open space. Throughout the game you will unlock new weapons available to buy through Rodin. And since the game lets you set up two arsenals of weapons that you can easily change during combat and even mid com-combos, getting other weapons certainly adds to the experience. This gives you a chance to easily and quickly deal with very different enemies, where different weapons may be the best way to go.

The game's biggest problem comes with the levels not following the traditional styIe. Some places you have to ride a motorbike or a rocket, and while it is not a bad experience, it's definitely not on par with the rest of the game. Dodging enemy assault being the weak point in this case, instead of its strong one.

Visually the game is very nice. While most of the focus is on the characters, there is never a problem telling what everything on the screen is. The game runs smooth at 60 FPS, even during the most chaotic events. Camera issues are close to nonexistent.

The soundtrack does somehow fit the game, with it's catchy pop and retro arcade synth. Most noticeable is "Fly me to the Moon" which is used throughout the entire game. Together with the soundtrack is an all-star voice cast, with Bayonetta, naturally, being the top one.

Even on normal the lesser enemies can be fatal, there are two harder difficulties to unlock for the skilled player. If you're completely new to this kind of game, there is also Easy and Very Easy available right from the start. Also the game rates how well you do it in each of the 16 chapters, and each chapter split up into verses, where each verse get its own rating. Aiming for the pure platinum is both challenging and rewarding.

With the fluidity and flexibility of it's fighting engine, responsive controller and good use of Witch Time, the game feels just about right almost all the time. And not a sister game to other fighting oriented action games, but more than capable of standing on its own two feet. Along with it's many memorable moments, many of them being silly, Bayonetta doesn't leave your mind when you put down the controller. This is an action game you definitely shouldn't miss.