Genji 2

E3 06: Genji 2 First Impressions

LOS ANGELES--One of the PlayStation 3 games presented at Sony's pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference was Genji 2, from developer Game Republic. The gameplay follows that of the original Genji, and both Yoshitsune and Benkei return as playable characters. In fact, the most significant change shown in the demonstration is the ability to swap characters and weapons on the fly. Read on for a play-by-play of the demonstration.

The demonstration showcased the Battle of Ichinotani stage and began with a wide camera angle that swept across a battlefield littered with hundreds of characters. According to an onscreen mission brief, the objective was to defeat 20 warriors and then defeat the stage boss. The view eventually focused on Yoshitsune, who you'll recognize if you've played the original game. Yoshitsune was backed up against a wall as about a dozen soldiers--who appeared to be some sort of lizardmen--slowly advanced. The artificial intelligence in the game doesn't appear to be set yet, because the characters didn't attack. At this point in the demonstration, the character-swapping feature was displayed as Benkei entered battle with the touch of a button. Benkei charged with his massive club and launched a spin attack for a combo of more than 15 successive hits. Also demonstrated was the ability to switch weapons instantly. Benkei used his club to attack and then quickly switched to a large pike of some sort. Yoshitsune was using his trademark double katanas and switched to a different pair of swords.

Eventually a mob of crabs entered, followed by more soldiers and a hulking samurai with a jagged sword. After Benkei crushed all the enemies, it was time to fight a boss named Mukurogani...who was also a huge crab. The crab had a weak spot on its underside that couldn't be reached by Benkei or Yoshitsune. So, to take advantage of the instant character swapping, Benkei used his powerful club spin to flip the crab on to its back. At that point, Yoshitsune came in and hopped on top of the exposed belly of the crab and performed a stabbing attack to finish off the boss.

That ended the demonstration, and there are no more details about the story or other features of the game as of yet. Judging by the heads-up display, it does look like Amahagane or some similar magic energy source will let each character perform special moves as he defeats enemies and fills up his energy gauge.

We'll bring you more details as they become available, so be sure to keep an eye on the gamespace for updates.

Gamespot