E3 06: Genji 2 (working title) Hands-On

LOS ANGELES--Game Republic's Genji was released on the PlayStation 2 back in September 2005. Now, the Japanese developer is hard at work on a sequel for the PlayStation 3. From the looks of things, this game sticks relatively closely to the previous game, but with the change in platform comes a bump in graphical quality and a boost in length, as Genji 2 is said to be twice as long as the previous game.

Genji 2 puts you in the role of of up to four different playable characters. You can tap directions on the D pad to call in different characters, giving you the potential for multicharacter combos. We saw two playable characters. One is a fast-moving sword fighter; the other is a big, slow guy that lumbers around with a big pole on his shoulder. If you hold down the attack buttons, you can charge up your attacks, letting our pole wielder execute wild swinging and spinning attacks. In addition to your attacks, you can also jump, block, and dodge. Like the previous game, Genji 2 also lets you unleash Kamui attacks when your Kamui meter is full. It's basically a big super attack that lets you rip up a ton of enemies as long as you can time your button presses properly.

The demo level being shown partially takes place in a burning building. The fire looks pretty good, and the game has a stable frame rate as well. Fans of Genji should be interested in learning more about the sequel, and so far, it doesn't seem like it strays from the formula of the previous game very much.