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Bleach: Shattered Blade
Author: Brian Ehlert

Bleach gained its popularity as one of the first Japanese Wii titles, as well as one of the console's first fighting games. Many fans begged for a North American release and nearly a year later, Sega has answered the call with Bleach: Shattered Blade. This brawler, scheduled for an October release, is primarily a weapons-based fighting game based of the hit anime series, as well as a direct localization of its Japanese counterpart.

The game uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as its only control scheme. Movement of your character is handled by the Nunchuk's analog stick, with the C button used to run. Pressing up or down will cause your fighter to circle the opponent, allowing you to maneuver to the rear for a strike. The Z button will simply block, while shaking the Wii Remote executes a quick attack.

Players are able to strike by moving the Wii Remote side to side, up and down, or in a stabbing motion. Holding the A button while doing any of those motions will execute a strong attack; holding B will execute a special attack, some of which can attack your opponent from a distance. In addition to the standard attacks, there is a special meter on the bottom of the screen. When it is full, shaking the Nunchuk will power-up your character and open up all new special attacks.

Shattered Blade also features a stamina bar, which drops rapidly during attacks in order to prevent players from executing endless quick attacks. When the stamina bar is empty, your character will stop attacking and be vulnerable to counter strikes. The stamina bar adds a bit of depth to what can become a mindless slasher; however, it replenishes so quickly that one can go multiple matches without ever realizing it exists. In addition to blocking until your opponent drains his or her stamina bar, players can counter by varying the direction of attack or by executing a strong attack to break a quick attack.

Overall, this system leads to very fast-paced gameplay that would serve up non-stop action if it weren't for cut-scenes. Every time players fill their special meter and power-up, the game presents a cut-scene that lasts approximately five seconds. Opponents will quite often remember their special meter is filled around this time, too, and proceed to power-up, which results in another five-second cut-scene. These relatively long breaks in an otherwise incredibly fast game really disrupt the flow of combat. Whether or not Sega will allow gamers to turn off the cut-scenes in the final version is unknown.

The game is visually appealing and, despite the speed of the fight, ran smoothly without any slowdown. The voice acting was in English, but the noise of the convention made it hard to judge the quality. However, it's not graphics or sound that will make or break Bleach: Shattered Blade - that belongs to the controls. Rapidly shaking the Wii Remote did not replicate the feel of fighting with a sword in the least; instead, the experience seemed more like Wii's own version of a button masher than a solid fighter. While the fast pace delivered an action-packed match between cut-scenes, rapidly shaking the Wii Remote makes it nearly impossible to accurately time your next attack or perform combos. I played numerous matches in which I felt I had no control over my character at all.

While Shattered Blade may provide enough entertainment to fill the void in Wii fighting games, the year delay in coming to North America has left the title feeling antiquated. Competing against other anime-based fighting games like Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution, Bleach may bring too little, too late.

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