Title: Oni   Developer: Bungie   Type: Action Shooter
Absolute PlayStation2
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ONI

"Oni is a third person action game that blends hand-to-hand and weapons combat. It features the lean, mean, undercover cop Konoko, who conquers her fears and foes single-handed. Watch out James Bond you have finally met your MATE!"
Oni
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PS2 Readers Reviews
 
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PS2 Review SUMMARY and SCORE
Wjtw  "After Beginning Playing Oni A Year Back, I Was Immediately Hooked. Most Fighting Games Concentrates On Just One Area, While Oni Allows You To Run Around Entire Buildings. Add Hand-to-hand Combat With Weapons, And You Have A Kick-ass Game!

The Levels Are Huge And Well Designed. However, Some Of The Levels Were Not As High-quality As Those Shown In Screenshots, Which Were Clearly Pre-released. Bungie Toned Down The Graphics, I Think.
Character Modeld Were Fluid, With A Wide Range Of Moves, But Their Textures, Too, Were Toned Down.

Of Course, Oni Has Its Bad Points. Firstly, The Environment Is Too Bland(even Though They Are Well Designed For Realism), There Are Hardly Any Movable Objects, Except Those In Cutscenes, And Those Objects Were Not Even Solid(you Can Pass Through Them.). Konoko's Bike Cannot Be Rode On.
But Claims In Previews Said That Oni Would Have Alterable Environments! Movable Chairs, Tables, Blastable Doors, Etc. But None Of It Is Seen Here!
The Textures Are Mostly Greyish, Unlike Preview Releases As Well.

Also, The Ai Of The Characters Is Only Moderate, Despite Claims From Developers. The Characters Cannot Run For Backup On Their Own Free Will, But Is Instead, Scripted! After Tha Alarms Are Activated, They Would Reactivate It Again And Again! The Script Is Re-forked Over And Over Again.
Also, They Cannot Seem To Work In Teams. They Do Not Communicate, They Do Not Take Cover When I Throw A 'grenade' At Them. However, They Still Sidestep Whenever I Fire At Them (yes, A Whole Clip Is Needed To Kill A Simple Fellow.).
But Claims From Developers Said They Can Do The Above, And More! But So Far, I Do Not See Such Behavior...

Overall, Oni's A Great Game. I Recommend Everyone To Try The Game's Demo(on A Pc Or Mac, If You Have One... I Am Not Aware Of A Demo For Ps2).
However, You Would Be Sorely Disappointed If You Saw Pre-released Screenshots Of The Game. Pre-released Versions Are Better In Graphical Terms.
You Would Also Be Disappointed If You Want Alterable Environments... Except For Glass, Their Is Nothing You Can Change In Levels(perhaps Only A Few Extra Bullet Pockholes Here And There.)

Wjtw"
Graphics  7/20
Playability  33/50
Sound  9/10
Lastability  15/20
64%
Last updated on 2002-10-16 and based on views after owning/playing for approx 52 days.
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PS2 Review SUMMARY and SCORE
Michael Angelus  "Oni Is A Strange And Unique Game. I Am A Fan Of Fighting Games, But The Lack Of Long-range Weapons In Most Fighting Games Always Felt Like An Oversight That Was Simply Inexcusable. Guns Are Prevalent In Our Society, And There Is No Reason That Any Villian Or Security Force In The World Would Not Arm Its Troops In The Best Way Possible. That Left The Designers With The Awkward Task Of Explaining Why No Or So Few Enemies Carried Guns To A Fistfight. So When I Read The Case Of Oni, And It Claimed To Seamlessly Blend Gun-fighting And Martial Arts, The Designers Had My Attention. After That, It Was Up To The Game To Keep It. The Game Stepped Up To The Plate And, In My Opinion, Knocked One Out Of The Park.

Now, Let's Be Honest. The Game Is Not Easy To Use. The Controls Are Difficult To Operate At Times And Are Hardly Intuitive. It Takes A Fair Bit Of Practice To Become Even Competant Enough To Navigate The Boards Let Alone Fight Like A Pro. There Are Errors And Difficulty With Navigating Through Small Doorways, Which Can Spell Disaster When You Are In A Hurry. Is It Worth It? Oh Yes! Some Of The Features Are Brilliant, Including The Disarms, Special Moves, And Easy-to-use Attack Combos. Where The Game Failed At Ease Of Control, It Made Up With Ease Of Combat. Nothing Is Quite As Satisfying As Blasting A Bad Guy Off Of A Ledge With A Plasma Rifle Or Incapacitating A Enemy By Kicking Him While He Is Down. The Game Succeeds In Pitting Konuko Against Gun-toting Thugs Without Making It Hopelessly One-sided Or Flagrantly Fictional. Guns Are Deadly In The Hands Of Enemies, But All Is Not Lost, As Konuko Can Dodge The Lethal Doses Of Gunfire With A Little Practice. Did Fighting Games Need That Too? Yes, It Was About Time.

The Video Effects Are Good, And Though Some Would Argue That They Are Not Top Of The Line, They Are Very Much In Sync With The Theme And Look Of The Game. This Game Is Not About The Scenery, It Is All About The Action. I Will Take A Game That Plays Well Over A Mediocre Work Of Beauty Any Time. I Enjoyed The Look Of The Game, And Though Some Of The Boards Are Dark And Difficult To Navigate At Times, I Am Still Enjoying The Visual Features Of The Game, From Lighting To Combat, With Equal Measure. The Fact That Enemy Bodies Linger After They Are Defeated Is Intensely Satisfying. Music Seems To Play Only At Certain Times To Help Build Emotional Intensity, But The Sounds, From Konuko Taunting The Enemies To Gunshots And Footfalls To Grunts And Sounds Of Impact, Are Well Laid Out And Right In Sync With Play. The Action Breaks Only Rarely, And The Pace Is Regular And Well-laid Out.

The Storyline, While Perhaps A Bit Transparent And Thin, Does Make Sense And Justifys Some Of The Themes In The Game Without Intruding On The Navigation And Fighting On A Regular Basis. The Robot Companion To Konuko Is Slightly Irritating, But This Detracts From The Game Only Slightly. Her Interruptions Are Usually Quickly Bypassed, And She Occassionally Offers Helpful Hints On Gameplay. Enemy Ai Is On Par With Brilliant At Times, With Enemies Scooping Up Weapons In Attempt To Dish Serious Bodily Harm Upon Konuko, And Enemies Attempting To Fight At Long Range If They Have A Weapon That Easily Does So. With A Variety Of Enemy Weaponary, Konuko Is Never Short Of Ways Of Inflicting That Harm Right Back. Saving Is Performed Automatically At Checkpoints, Which Are Fairly Reasonable, Though Some Of The Checkpoints Are Spaced Rather Far Apart, With Many Enemies And Obstacles To Defeat Between Saves. This Can Occasionally Lead To Many Attempts At A Single Area. Load Times Are Slightly Lengthy, But Not Unreasonable.

Some Things That May Have Aided Gameplay Are: Weapons That Do Not Disappear When Left For Too Long; More Actual Damageable (and Destroyable)scenery, Perhaps Similar In Vein With The Ambitious System Used In Fighting Force 2 Attempted To Implement, With A Point System Based On The Amount Of Damage Inflicted Upon Enemy Bases And Equipment; A Even Wider Range Of Weaponary And The Addition Of Actual Melee Weapons As Well; The Addition Of Multiplay Co-operative (why Can't Another Tctf Agent Be Played By A Second Player?) Which Would Also Open The Door For Sparring With Another Player In A Versus Mode, And A Save Anywhere System Would Have Been Appreciated.

What Do The Folks At Rockstar Games And Bungie Really Need To Think About In Lieu Of Oni? That Is Simple; They Need To Get On Oni 2. Oni Earns A Full 9 Out Of 10 Once You Finish Mastering The Navigation Controls, And If Anything Out In The Fighting Genre Deserves A Second Stab At Fame And Glory, Oni Is That Game. Do Yourself A Favor, And If You Have Any Interest In A Fighting Genre Game, Pick It Up For The Ps2. This Is The Game That Fighting Force 1&2 Should Have Been, And I Am Looking Forward To The Next Installment In The Series That I Hope Will Follow."
Graphics  11/20
Playability  43/50
Sound  9/10
Lastability  18/20
81%
Last updated on 2002-01-10 and based on views after owning/playing for approx 6 days.
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What was your overall verdict on this game:
GRAPHICS:
Very Poor - an embarrassment to the console
Nothing spectacular, but still functional
Quality visuals that clearly show the power of this machine
Graphical masterpiece that is amongst the best currently available
Pushing the visual capability to it's absolute limit
This game has graphics that were never thought possible on this console

SOUND:
Makes little use of the CD capacity and audio hardware
Functional sounds that compliment the on-screen action
Quality atmospheric sounds that are highly effective
Music and effects that greatly enhance the overall enjoyment
Sounds like this were never thought possible on this console

PLAY-ABILITY (The way the game actually plays)
No fun to play, control is bad, gameplay lacks ideas
Offers moderate enjoyment but lacks a reason to play regularly
Quality title that has all the features you would expect
Top-notch title with nearly flawless gameplay
Little room for improvement and the best game of its type
Introduces new gameplay aspects not thought possible for this console

LAST-ABILITY
Wouldn't even buy for your worst enemy
Life-span would be a short rental period
Recommended purchase which should offer a weeks enjoyment
Has the potential to still be played regularly weeks from now
This will remain a popular game in your collection for months
You will enjoy playing this game occasionally even years from now


 
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