If you thought the Dead or Alive series was over-the-top in female exposure, just wait till you pop in your copy Onechanbara – it’ll blow your mind on how much skin is exposed by the lead characters. While it isn’t the only ‘attracting’ feature of Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Squad, it definitely is the one that sticks out the most when you first begin your single-player campaign. To be fair, the game does feature a two-player cooperative mode, but I seriously doubt that’s the first reason gamers will be purchasing Onechanbara. Based around the fact that you are slicing through and cleansing the world of zombies, Onechanbara has the right recipe to lure in teen boys who can’t get enough of blood, action and good-looking female characters. Women gamers may want to avoid it altogether since it exploits and exaggerates almost every body part of a woman.
Dressing up your characters with skimpy outfits is a nice addition to those who want to see their girls in different clothing, but it hardly is enough to factor into the replay value of Onechanbara. What Onechanbara boils down to is the ability to see half-naked chicks going to town on zombies and I don’t mean that in a sexual way. Slicing and dicing through hordes of the undead is the main aspect of the gameplay as you collect glowing orbs from the recently deceased to move on to the next levels. It won’t wow you in innovation or originality, but it does have entertainment value if you appreciate amplified women exposure. While I normally don’t speak on the price of titles since the wide majority of the 360 games retail at the normal $59.99 here in the states, I have to make an exception for Onechanbara as it’s on store shelves for $39.99.
Clearly priced as a budget title, it’s a good thing D3 Publisher didn’t put the higher price point on Onechanbara since the game released two and a half years ago in Japan and it’s evident by looking at the visual representation of the title. Visually speaking, Onechanbara is as depressing as it is sexy. Looking as if it was a PlayStation 2 title, the game doesn’t look and breathe like it’s a HD Xbox 360 game. Rather, it has ugly textures, poor animations and repetitive use the same enemy models; so in other words, Onechanbara isn’t anywhere near eye-candy. The same can be applied to the audio due to the lack of English voice-overs and disappointing music selection. You’re best bet going into Onechanbara is not to expect a visual masterpiece or anything remotely resembling a beautiful looking title.
For those who couldn’t already predict mediocrity from the storyline, you better be prepared for an insipid storyline with no strong motivation to push through it till the end. No reasoning in sight, these girls go on their adventure in their underpants to vanquish the world of zombies – not the most flattering story arc of 2009 by any means. The only other variation in gameplay is the occasional boss fight you’ll run into, but even then the game is a cinch to run through without having any difficulties. So what reasoning does one have to play through Onechanbara? Well if boobs and zombies aren’t enough to convince you, then there’s really no other justification for buying Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad. If you haven’t had your fill of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, I’d recommend picking up Onechanbara for the absurd storyline and characters alone.
