It'due south difficult to think of an anime and manga belongings more suited to bring together Omega Force's Warriors meta-series than Berserk. Franchise protagonist Guts lives and breathes hack-and-slashing, enough that he, at first glance, can exist mistaken for a one-dimensional mercenary obsessed with killing. Unfortunately, Berserk and the Band of the Hawk'south simplistic gameplay does fiddling to demystify this shallow perception. It'south an inadequate introduction to the Warriors games although the abundance of anime and CG cine makes it a fitting gateway to the Berserk series even if information technology doesn't exercise its primary graphic symbol whatever favors.

For a manga serial that has lasted over 27 years, spanning myriad story arcs, it was wise of Omega Strength to focus on Berserk'southward most well known events, namely the narratives that have been adapted into various anime productions. The result is a comprehensive Story Mode that chronicles Guts' evolution from a raging teenage mercenary with no life goals to a homicidal developed seeking retribution. Band of the Hawk isn't a sufficient substitute for the anime since it glosses over many supporting characters' storylines. Furthermore, the best action scenes, from The Gilded Age moving-picture show trilogy in particular, have been omitted as you go to reenact those aforementioned battles instead. Unfortunately, these playable scenes fail to elevate its presentation to match the show.

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Berserk is representative of Warriors games at their most simple and straightforward which, when compared to their recent achievements with Hyrule Warriors and Dragon Quest Heroes, is all the more disappointing. Assignments are limited to three types: destroy, rescue, and kill. The game of region authorization--a hallmark of Dynasty Warriors campaigns--is barely utilized and would have added depth to Berserk's 46 story chapters.

Fifty-fifty with Guts' propensity for killing, at that place's no substantial or long term incentive to slaughter everyone that crosses his sword. At its best moments, amassing a body count of over i,000 while completing goals in a single mission feels cathartic just there's never the compulsion to wipe an entire map clean of enemies. To do so would add monotony to an already tiresome campaign, when the bulldoze to tick off objectives and reach the adjacent cutscene becomes more than appealing than staying on the battlefield.

Despite the multiple objectives, the occasional mid-mission plot twists, and all the running around, the majority of capacity can have less than x minutes to complete. What results are missions that are shorter than the cinematics that frame each sortie. The intermissions in the commencement tertiary of the story mode wisely reprises scenes from Berserk'southward Golden Age film trilogy while players are spared from footage from the divisive new Television show in favor of new CG scenes. Information technology's plot-heavy by Warriors standards merely works in the context of Guts' epic road to revenge.

Guts' brutal and offensive-minded repertoire is expressed through the uncomplicated combos that make up much of his move ready. It all comes down to how many quick and strong attacks you string together. After every hundred or so kills, Guts tin can unleash a finishing movement that wipes out every nearby foe. Such carnage is plumbing fixtures for him though it's like shooting fish in a barrel to see how a sense of routine can set up in apace and often. Without a greater variety of objectives, Omega Force'south brand of unrefined hack and slashing becomes all the more magnified as you labor through this lengthy entrada.

The novel entreatment of playing someone other than Guts loses its allure speedily since Costless Mode only features previously browbeaten story missions.

This reliance on the Warriors formula extends to the playable areas exterior the story. Free Way, a staple of the meta-serial, serves every bit an outlet to try out Berserk's supporting cast. They all control with the same quick assault/strong attack simplicity of Guts, each with their own brutal flourishes, where two dozen troops can be vanquished with a unmarried sword stroke. The androgynous Griffin kills with the lethal grace of a fencer while the skilled Casca moves with the agility of a ninja. The novel appeal of playing someone other than Guts loses its attraction quickly since Gratis Manner only features previously browbeaten story missions.

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Berserk's repetitiveness is all the more than pronounced in Endless Eclipse, the game's endurance way. Despite its seemingly intimidating 100-round design, this mode lacks graphic symbol every bit it's neither a tower dungeon nor is information technology a hectic moving ridge-based survival style. Instead, information technology mimics the Story Manner's prioritization on completing objectives with no penalisation for running past all the lesser enemies in each round. Endless Eclipse also underscores Berserk's lack of replay incentives, despite the grapheme-building rewards information technology bestows when completing missions. In Endless Eclipse, boredom is equally much an obstacle equally anything this mode throws at you.

Given how well Guts' bloodlust and battle experience are well-suited to the crowd fighting and mass slaughter of Warriors games, it'south disappointing that this tie-in lacks the date and dash of Omega Force'due south more imaginative efforts with other franchises. Its saving feature is the expansiveness of the entrada narratives, which serve equally a hearty sampling of the Berserk franchise'due south multiple story arcs. If non for these insightful cutscenes, the programmer'south penchant for adequate merely unengaging hack and slash combat would perpetuate the image of Guts as a i-note protagonist. And even if yous're a Warriors fan who knows non to await a Dark Souls level of gratifying melee gainsay, Band of the Militarist however deprives you lot of the juicy sights and sounds that one associates with Guts' savagery; the splashes of red that result from every kill hardly counts equally "gore".