We were quite taken aback when Sammy first announced that it would be publishing a game based on the movie Seven Samurai in conjunction with late director Akira Kurosawa's son. And we were even more surprised when Sammy finally unveiled the game at E3, since it actually has very little that's obviously in common with the film that inspired it. Seven Samurai 20XX takes place in the future, and its plot, setting, and cast are completely different from those of Kurosawa's classic. Superficially, the game has much more in common with sci-fi-themed anime than with the black-and-white samurai movie, and the gameplay itself is reminiscent of third-person hack-and-slash games like Koei's Dynasty Warriors series and Crimson Sea. At any rate, we were eager to get our hands on the E3 demo and slice our way through it. What we found was a game that's easy to pick up and play, looks very good in motion, and could end up being a lot of fun.

The demo focused on the game's main character, Natoe, who's attempting to fight off an army of evil robots in an effort to save the last human city. In the full game, Natoe will recruit six additional characters to help him in his battle. It's evident that there are some storyline connections between the film and the game, but from a visual standpoint, they are quite different. The futuristic setting has resulted in Final Fantasy VII-like characters and environments that actually looked good.

Seven Samurai 20XX plays much like the aforementioned games, as well as Sega's Shinobi for the PS2. Natoe can perform a variety of combinations using one of his swords. When he gets surrounded by groups of enemies, he can easily dash from one enemy to the next, swiping at each one in a quick and elegant fashion. Interestingly, Natoe has a power-up ability that lets him take out both of his swords at once, making him stronger and quicker at the same time. However, this ability only lasts for a short time, and when it runs out, you have to wait a few moments for it to recharge again. Fighting the standard robotic enemies in the game is a breeze, but when you encounter a boss character, it requires a little more strategy and thought since the bosses are usually equipped with one or two incredibly powerful attacks. The demo featured two different bosses, a monstrous red-haired man and a particularly large robot.

It'll be interesting to see how the storyline pans out in Seven Samurai, and how much it actually stays true to Kurosawa's film. In any case, Seven Samurai 20XX will undoubtedly appeal to those looking for a pure action game. We'll have more on Seven Samurai 20XX soon.