Before everyone fall sick with fanboy rage, let me make it clear that I'm NOT about to dissect Bayonetta to bits and talk about how much of a terrible game it is. If I did, then I wouldn't consider myself fit to be a journalist in this industry because without a doubt, from what I've played on the demo (PS3), Bayonetta is one of the better experiences gamers will enjoy come early next year. But I guess I have a few questions that probably some of you could help me answer? See the game is getting universal praise and high marks from the likes of 1up, IGN, and even Edge, (although I don't trust the latter) and on many fronts rightfully so; but these extremely high marks are placing the game amongst the best of the best, I'm not sure it should be so I'm a bit perturbed.
IGN gave Uncharted 2 a 9.5 score because of the most ridiculous reason I've ever heard, they claimed at the beginning of the game the stealth portion was just too difficult to get through. What? Well going by what I've played in the Bayonetta Demo, (and although it's the PS3's version I doubt there's vast difference between the two) there are some points in the game the camera lagged, and to be honest, apart from all the wild moves the witch has at her disposal, there are not too many innovations in the game. I bring up innovation because it's one of the points reviewers love bringing up when reviewing a title, whether it can teleport its genre to new heights etc. But like 1up said, "Bayonetta is essentially a [Devil May Cry] sequel masquerading as a new game."
Again, the game is great and this is not a rant, but I just cannot see where all the innovations lie in this one. I will buy the Xbox 360 version come January, there's no way I'll opt for the PS3's because of obvious reasons and to be honest, the game is at the top of my most wanted for early next year. But the graphics are not up to par with what we've seen in games like Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2, nor is the storyline extremely compelling, the gameplay is fluid at must say and Platinum Games must be commended for the great work they did bringing this awesome title together.
At Metacritic, the Xbox 360 version of Bayonetta is at 9.4 and I suspect it might go higher, but by doing this, we, the gaming media have already placed Bayonetta at the top of the pedestal sitting proudly among the great games like Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots, Grand Theft Auto IV, Super Mario Galaxy, the Original Halo and Uncharted 2 just to name a few. Really, does Bayonetta belong there?
12/23/09 Ernice Gilbert
