Oh, how I miss playing a hack and slash game like the Diablo series or Titan Quest on the PC. There are not much good games like these at the moment, but thankfully MADFINGER Games managed to design and create one on the iPad.
Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD is a pure hack and slash game. Only this time, you are using your finger to dispatch your enemies rather than clicking haphazardly with your mouse.
Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD tells a story of a wandering samurai named Daisuke Shimada. As predicted, a wandering hero in novels and movies always gets stumbled into trouble and at the end, he/she has to fight through the end to help the innocents. You will be playing as Daisuke, slashing and butchering your way through to help the innocents in this amazing iPad game.
Although the story is not the main point of having this game, Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD tells the story in a great comic (manga?) stripes and they look really good.
It’s as good as if you are reading comics on the iPad itself and I do wish someday MADFINGER Games release some comic books on the iPad, as they look really artistic and stylish.
The game also looks as artistic and stylish as the comic stripes. The environment is beautifully designed and very…Japanese (on the 16th century where feudal lords reigned in the country). The colors, the mood are all great and look like real hand drawn paintings. The enemies need some varieties though as currently they all look the same, except for the colors of their hats and clothing.
The slashes of your samurai sword and the blood effects are nicely done too. And oh, I love the gore! Enemies are torn apart in two while you hack and slash through the game’s beautiful settings.
What makes Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD unique from the rest of the hack and slash games is that you perform the hack and slash using your finger. You swipe your finger on the iPad screen in different ways to perform combos! This really is a creative way to fully utilize the amazing iPad touch screen capabilities. Combo moves are quite similar to each other though, such as swiping your finger in the order of “Left – Right – Left” or “Right – Left – Right”. Some get a bit more complex such as “Up – Right – Left” and towards the end, there are more complex combo moves to perform for more damage. PS: Make sure you’ve cut your finger nails before you frantically swiping your fingers on the screen :)
Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD Review Conclusion
Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD looks and sounds great; the comic stripes for the storytelling, the environment, the effects, and the gore. The game design does a really great job in taking you back to the 16h century in Japan and set the mood really well. Enemies are never ending, which is great in a hack and slash game. You just have to keep on moving to a linear path in the game and slash your way through the enemies.
Although it can feel repetitious, this is what a hack and slash game feels like. If only the developers add more variety of enemies and some RPG elements on the game such as stats or perhaps points to unlock combos or upgrade the combos, Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD might be the best hack and slash game on the iPad. Even without these, it’s a game that you must have if you are a fan of a hack and slash game. Not recommended for children as the gore effects are quite..ahem, amusing :)
Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD is no Diablo on iPad but it should keep you happy until the day it ever comes.
Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD – MADFINGER Games, a.s.
Note: Promo code was provided for the review
