X-Blades | Xbox 360 | Action | Feburary 20th, 2009

X Blades should be given just about every chance it can get. Being developed in-house over at South Peak Games, X Blades has quite the interesting history; originally inspired from a PC version of Oni Blade back in the day. Made specifically for the hack and slash genre, X Blades looks to combine the combat mechanics of melee, guns and magic. For all the good that X Blades uses it unfortunately throws in a little of the bad as well. There is a mix between good and evil and with X Blades you never really know where you’re going to end up. You’ll immediately know within the first minute of playing whether you’ll stick around to the end of eject the disc just to burn in your nearby fireplace. Does X Blades have any potential left?

To start, you are thrown into the shoes of Ayumi, the rather scantily dressed blonde hero. You are a relic or treasure hunter seeking anything you can get your hands on. The story in X Blades is largely forgettable and really doesn’t offer much to save itself after the first boss fight. You’ll be trying to find ways to rectify all the wrongs you left in your wake. Unless you’re a teenager, you’ll probably find yourself wondering what the point was of giving Ayumi nothing more then string clothing to wear to protect herself against the hordes of enemies swarming around you. Unfortunately you’ll be staring at her backside throughout the entire game before you can fit her with something a little more relevant to the fighting at hand.

Leaving our modest selves at the door for a moment X Blades’ frantic combat doesn’t offer much to dig itself out of its deep hole. As mentioned earlier, you are given three attack types—melee, guns and magic. Along the way you’ll unlock plenty of combos to help with depth. Throughout most of the game you should have no trouble using your blades to cut through each enemy wave. However, there will be an occasion where you’ll have to give a little more thought to your battles. What this ends up doing is creating a black hole in which as constant enemies fill the screen you’ll be busy trying to hit through both your blades and magic to keep up with the changing attack. Boss battles rely mostly on this tactic as well, causing you to keep track of your energy build up and health all at once.

 

This is a problem because this is where X Blades lines up into a predictable pattern as you travel through each level. It unfortunately puts less and less pressure on using the complex combat system leaving it less and less relevant. The elemental system for instance is quite unique offering a diverse range of magic to set to your button control for easy use. The magic requires energy in which you build up as you defeat each enemy. You’ll find yourself hoping that after throwing an area attack on the horde, you might just be able to breathe even just for a moment. Bosses are pretty much invincible from all attacks except one, which is something you’ll have to figure out through trial and error. After that, all that’s left is firing from afar while dodging the boss attacks as well as the horde of enemies that came with him. There isn’t much to the gun-blade itself, something more or less left out there for you to spam as much as possible much like a normal blade attack.

There are two distinct levels of play in X Blades: boss battles and normal encounters. Each level, although different visually, essentially follows the same pattern. Each time you enter a new area you’ll be walled off as enemies appear and a life bar is shown at the top of the screen. You’ll have to continually fight off every enemy until the life bar depletes. Afterwards you’ll be granted a chance to collect the fallen loot through broken vases and brick statues around the level. Unfortunately after a few levels, this becomes quite repetitive, even though it gives you a chance to unlock more combo moves. Because of this, there really isn’t much to platforming or exploration and you’re just left with gliding through each level just fighting to the next cut scene. 

 

The targeting system is one item on the list that should really be addressed. I might as well mention that there really isn’t one. Yes, using the left trigger will guide you into the next enemy, however, it gets quite frustrating after when you are in a horde of enemies and you have a specific plan in mind to eliminate the group.  Plus, outside of that the camera seems to lose itself through gameplay and during the cut scenes.

Visually, X Blades look fine; its cel-shaded look fits in with the artistry or the gameplay engine. Ayumi herself, for example looks rather detailed, even if a bit bare on the clothing side. The environments are rather unique although every level is more or less designed the same. Nothing really distinguishes one from the other, although doesn’t hinder too much on the gameplay itself. The ruins are detailed and offer their own feel to keep up with the rest of the game. The cut scenes are what brings everything together and the camera angles is something that seems to have a mind of its own. In gameplay you’ll find yourself fiddling with the camera to keep up with you and in the cut scenes, some rather odd movements are chosen. The lighting is actually noteworthy and manages to keep the mood of each level varied even if the environment itself isn’t.

You don’t need much to create an average run of the mill hack and slash title these days. Voice acting is done well giving the characters life and making the script and story of the game possible. Every last hack and slash is heard through every nook and cranny in the game. The musical score is quite entertaining which something you could say about the game is at least.

 

There really isn’t much that makes X Blades what it is, there is plenty of depth with combat, however, it is sacrificed for the purposed of swarming enemies. The elemental system is a nice touch to change it up, but is few and far between in battles and becomes useless once you get into the big fights. It doesn’t help that the menu text throughout the game is a bit small to read and ends up providing less direction.

You’re blonde, blue-eyed protagonist, Ayumi is about as interesting as your high school history teacher. She’s a flat character with no background or reason to be attached to her. You’ll quickly forget about her as the story concludes and there won’t be any reason for you to come back to the game.

 

X Blades had so much potential wrapped up in it; it’s unfortunate that developers seem to have missed the mark. While staring at the naked backside of our hero you almost find yourself distracted by how off-dressed the character is instead of focusing on the game itself. This is a strong recommendation for a rental given the fact that the achievements, although challenging, are rather easy to get once you complete the game, if you are able to last that long. Overall, X Blades has a few hits here and there as a hack and slash game in general, but a few bad design decisions keep it from being even an average hack and slash game.