Seven Samurai: I’ve heard of the seven dwarfs but this really is something else. Is it any competition for games like Nightshade or the almighty Ninja Gaiden?

Ninja’s have always been a great source of inspiration for game developers and now these influences of old ninja games are used in new games. Shinobi got his two remakes and Ninja Gaiden is ready to claim his throne. And let’s not forget about Tenchu. This game may be mediocre now, but it was the reference for ninja games a couple of years ago. Could Seven Samurai 20XX survive in this arena of top-notch ninja games? Well, to be honest, if the game didn’t have its gorgeous story, I would have thrown it in the garbage can long ago.

You are a lonely samurai who fights evil without much enthusiasm. In fact, you just help people because they are inefficient losers who can’t defend themselves. One day, you accept to help a little town in their struggle with the enemy. The enemy concerns the Humanoids. Humanoids are a mixture between humans and androids. Sadly enough, these iron nitwits aren’t defeated that easily. You will have to get backup from other mighty samurai, and to find them, you must deal with different dangers. Seven Samurai will do against the strength of an army of these humanoids. Seven happens to be a holy number, yet to obtain this number, you will have to perform some unholy actions.

The first fight is a real bummer. You won’t get far without abnormal powerful thumbs. You must defeat your enemies by pushing the square button as much as possible. To make matters worse, these walking vacuum-cleaners keep coming in large numbers. Without exaggerating, I can tell you your screen will be flooded with hundreds of these humanoids. This wakes the usual slowdown problems of course. This might be fun for like five minutes, but after ten of these battles you become so bored of these returning fights… I can’t even begin telling how boring they are. The battles in the end of the game need a little more precise acting because of the irritating enemies.

While travelling through slums, deserts and old dungeons you will meet some bizarre creatures. This game is characterized by its strange Japanese taste or tasteless events for other people. What to say about rapping samurai on roller-skates? Even better is the guitar playing disco-samurai. And then I didn’t even mention the fat secret agents who like dancing on a round table and carry an oversize weapon of mass destruction. This game really got me thinking about stuff like why samurai rap on roller-skates in the first place. You see, this game manages to transform from a serious game about honour en courage into a weird Japanese movie. That’s part of the strength of Seven Samurai 20XX. The best scenes of the game are real beauties. They even gave me goosebumps, and that says a lot of the emotional impact of this game.

The graphics in this game are nicely done. The environments are sometimes colourful and covered in many details. Sadly enough, these environments are sometimes changed for grey and boring surroundings.

The gameplay in this game should be quickly forgotten. You can enter a fight with your eyes closed and still claim the victory. You’ve got one button to slash your sword and one button to dash, and that’s about it. Not very extensive indeed.

Seven Samurai 20XX is a game that survives because of its interesting storyline. You can’t decline the fact that everything else is very, and remind the very part, mediocre. The gameplay exists in pushing only one button and walking. Don’t expect a decent puzzle, you can look for hours without finding it. A typical game that is made to rent for a couple of days. Wash away your stress and enjoy this game slashing for exactly one hour. That’s in fact how long this game will be enjoyable.