Asura's Wrath Preview

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Scheduled release date:

Q1 2012

Publisher:

Capcom

Developer:

CyberConnect2

Number Of Players:

1

Genre:

Action

Screenshots

The instant we saw that over-the-top debut trailer, we knew action fans would be salivating. Asura’s Wrath appears to be a wild blend of insane, fast-paced action and classic Japanese drama, complete with massive, mind-bending combos, fancy QTEs, and catastrophic power. For some background, Asura is a demigod (any dude with 6 arms sorta has to be a God) who is shunned by his peers and cast down to Earth. Plus, Asura’s daughter has been kidnapped by his former friends and to top it all off, Asura apparently has no friends on Earth. He’s a marked man/God and that just pisses him right off. By the way, if you’re wondering, he’ll be able to use those extra arms to great effect (like grabbing projectiles), which sounds bad-ass.

Of course, we’re still not sure how that will work from a control standpoint. It’s often hard enough to have control over a character’s body; when you toss in a bunch of extra arms, all seemingly capable of different actions…well, we start to feel a little overwhelmed. But really, a lot of those maneuvers will likely be implemented by the aforementioned QTEs, so perhaps we shouldn’t worry. And besides, there will be the standard third-person action gameplay that focuses on an interesting atmosphere; a blend of sci-fi and mythology. Asura will be able to beat on foes with his hands and feet, and he can also jump, grab enemies, and oh yeah, at least one of those arms will fire some sort of ammunition.

The bottom line is that developer CyberConnect2 wants to entertain at all times; they want to provide the player with a ceaselessly shifting action experience. Furthermore, you can expect some depth from the combat; it may not be a chaotic button-masher, as Asura’s capabilities will require some practice and patience. For instance, there will be multiple ways to power up, and that includes building gigantic amounts of energy for one devastating attack. Battle strategy will come into play when facing enemies of different size and number; depending on whether you fight one mammoth creature or dozens of smaller opponents, your assault will change significantly. From what I can gather, it’s about avoiding repetition via continual pacing adjustments.

We’ve got Burst Mode, six arms, plenty of enemy diversity (in terms of both design and fighting style), great cinematics and an intriguing story, and that incomparable feeling of power we get from controlling a freakin’ God. What’s wrong with that? If you’re wondering about the developer, CyberConnect2 is known for their Naruto Shippuden entries, some of which have been very good. But Asura’s Wrath is a collaborative effort between CC2 and Capcom, with multiple designers and numerous influences. With plenty of eye-opening visuals and mechanics that should be accessible, I’m thinking this one is just crazy enough to work.