Samurai Western Critic Reviews

Above and beyond any of its imperfections, Samurai Western is a bloody, fast-and-furious hack fest that is amazingly fun to play.

They've left out the overbearing story elements and achieved a deliriously unselfconscious zaniness.

There's a lot of replay value, and although the game could have mixed up its level variety a bit more, it certainly gets the job done.

A fun and original back-to-basics action RPG full of stuff to do and unlock. If you can forgive the awful camera and slowdown, this is definitely worth playing.

The whole concoction makes for one super-stylized, decidedly different action game.

Take an old franchise - Way of the Samurai - and up its anime influences. Add in a good shot of Kill Bill, wrap it up in David Carradine's Kung Fu TV series and skewer it with The Magnificent Seven. There you have it, Way of the Samurai 3 - Samurai Western.

Samurai Western could've been one of the great beat-'em-ups, if it had a little more variety to its gameplay. Special stages, like a train chase or a level spent on horseback, would've been great; so would the ability to pick up new weapons, "Onimusha"-style.

With a bit of polish, and a smoother targeting system closer to that in titles such as "God of War," Samurai Western could have been a joy to play. Unfortunately, Atlus provided a game which is a bug-ridden and frustrating experience.

The problem is that the story mode is easily beaten in under five hours, and though it's short, it doesn't stay all that fresh.

There are instances where the game is genuinely fun, and some of the boss battles are nicely challenging but its weak spots are too numerous to ignore. You can go ahead and skip this one.

If it sounds stupid, it's probably appropriate.

I don't think it's the idea that you put a swordsman against an army of outlaws in the Old Western period that doesn't work well for Samurai Western. Rather, it seems to be the presentation of it.

Western is an old-fashioned game about an old-fashioned time, and although it may not possess the swaggering production values or wit of "Red Dead Revolver," it’s a thoroughly guilty pleasure.

But at full price, there's just not enough variety here to justify the purchase for most people.

If anything, Samurai Western is a rental that is best enjoyed in a two-hour burst (four if you want to finish the game) before being put back down again.

If the concept of a samurai in cowboy country is that appealing to you, scrounge up a copy of "Rising Zan: Samurai Gunman" for PSone. Its gameplay, graphics, and camera are by no means better, but at least it embraces the setting for all its worth, and even gives the main character a kick-ass theme song!

An incredibly short game, but still manages to repeat itself constantly over the course of the story.

Though it’s refreshing to play a quirky game amidst a sea of copycats, Samurai Western is far too repetitive to merit a purchase unless you are the type who feels an action game isn’t fun unless your thumb is throbbing and your wrists are one flex closer to carpal tunnel syndrome.

At best, Samurai Western is a rental good for the first one hundred enemy slaughters, but more or less loses its vigor beyond that. It can be beaten in a day, and even the wealth of unlockables and broken co-op mode aren't enough to warrant a purchase.

Samurai Western is an OK action game with a unique Western theme and some cool RPG depth. Unfortunately, the camera is horribly frustrating, the characters are lame, and the constant button mashing will probably make your hands hurt.