Too many action games spoil the broth

There's an old adage, although not sure how old it is because buses haven't been around that long in the grand scheme of things. "You wait ages for a bus and then three come along at once" or words to that effect. What does it mean? Well picture standing in the cold, you've just been shopping at your local gaming store (you're not trusting online due to the onset of heavy snow and potential postal delays) and bought Darksiders, nope Bayonetta , scratch that, Dante's Inferno (yes it's not out yet but this is hypothetical).

Eager to get home you head to the bus stop and wait patiently. God, it's sickening, you're desperate to get indoors to the warmth and slap that disc inside your ever eager PS3 or Xbox 360 (you decide). Yet, standing in the cold for what seems like an eternity yields no results, conjuring images of GTA style car jacking or a wanton kicking oneself for not passing the driving exam and buying your own vehicle.

Darksiders (THQ) screenshot

Seconds turn to minutes, your fingers turn to frozen sausages and snot begins to cascade down your nose, dripping onto the cold floor. "Where's the friggin bus?"... Well you would blurt it out loud except your lips have stuck together due to the extreme cold. Minutes turn to hours (that's probably an exaggeration but bear with us) until finally not one, not two, but three buses pull up next to you, the beckoning hiss of the doors opening and the steamed up windows hiding the contents. Rather than snort all over the bus driver of the first bus, you grit your already frozen teeth and mumble like a loon about lousy service yadda yadda. If looks could kill, all three drivers wouldn't stand a chance. But you're happy now (in the loosest sense), you've got three buses to chose from and home is ever closer.

So what's the relevance? Well, if you've been itching for a sword busting, gun toting action game since Devil May Cry 4 then you might have reached boiling point as there haven't been any games to fill the void, until now (hence the likening to waiting for a bus). It seems developers have switched to free roaming assassinations, zombies and hi-tech military actions in favour of the good old fashioned combo based hack and slasher. Prior to the end of last year things were looking rather peachy on the gaming front, but as the end of year release schedule got fatter and fatter, a financial dietitian was called in and a number of games slipped down the slippery slope of a delayed release or in this case a 2010 window. Well, we're here now, and whilst we still have fond memories of the end of last year, 2010 offers new pastures. Except, somehow three publishers (EA, SEGA and THQ) have decided to launch three buses at the patient gaming masses at once.

Bayonetta (SEGA) Screenshot

Cue the delights of Darksiders, Bayonetta and Dante's Inferno all offering gamers a veritable slice of action gaming. It's true that Bayonetta has been out in Japan for some time now, and for those with Japanese Xbox 360s and a firm grasp of import gaming, good on you. For the rest of us we're having to wait until now. THQ's Darksiders is therefore superficially first off the block for the majority of western gamers. Offering guns, large swords and enough demon swagger to satisfy the most blood thirsty of thumb bandits. With an interesting story based on the biblical four horsemen of the apocalypse, Darksiders has all the right ingredients and has an equal measure of cool gameplay to boot.

SEGA's Bayonetta on the other hand offers more titillation with its glassed wearing female lead, offering a zany take on sex guns and rock and roll - did we get that right? Platinum Games have laboured over the game to get the feel just right and with a Devil May Cry background look like they have nailed the familiar yet new IP. The game has received remarkable scores and even if you're not keen on the characterisation of Bayonetta the witch, the gameplay more than makes up for it.

In early February, EA throws in its might with the game based on the divine comedy poem Dante's Inferno. The game is set in Dante Alighieri's vividly imagined nine circles of hell - limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, violence, heresy, fraud and treachery and offers more demon busting swordplay. You might have stumbled across the demo in your travels which offers you a nice teaser of what to expect. QTE, Swords, demons and lots of gritted teeth. Great!

Dante's Inferno (EA) Screenshot

So to put things into perspective, that's three action games which play very similar, which feature swords and or guns, a heroic lead and enough demons to overdose on, phew (and hence the three buses at once analogy - we got there in the end didn't we). For the penniless, how is one to purchase all of these and more importantly are you going to want to? Well from our perspective, you might well do as Dante's Inferno, Darksiders and Bayonetta all seem to be pretty decent titles. So what's it going to be? Why couldn't the publishers work together and stagger the releases a bit better. Why do they believe that competition is healthy and haven't they heard of another old adage 'too many cooks spoil the broth' (no, we won't go there)?

Well the choices are simple really, you either sell a kidney, work extra shifts or rob a store, perhaps nag a relative for another xmas gift or two or three and get all three games. Maybe you could buy one, rush through it, trade it in and get the next one and so on (yes some people do practice this). Alternatively you could form a syndicate with your local gaming friends and each buy one game and swap them round once you've finished, although we figure for most, this is perhaps too much hard work. Either way, who says choices are dead, there's no such thing as too much of a good thing is bad when it comes to gaming, or is there? Now excuse us and the adages whilst we grab our guns, swords and get covered in demon goo for the umpteenth time, who says originality is dead.

Posted By: Robert Cram

Date: 2010-01-06