Great idea, done well, with a good story. Still completely mental though!

User Rating: 8.4 | Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo PS2
Wellity well, more Japan-o-wierdness (heh... gonna patent that). This bag of mad sets you in the shoes (sandals... wierdo) of Hyakkimaru. As a newborn baby, Hyakki was sold to the 48 Fiends by his old man (!£$%&*hole). He was then robbed of all his body parts, limbs, organs the lot - 48 in all. The mutilated baby was discovered by a man called Jyukai, who operated on him to give him artificial... well, everything. Hyakki grew up, seeing the world in a black and white view through his "minds eye". When he turned 18, Jyukai told jim the full story of why he was what he was. Hyakki then swore to kill every last one of the 48 Firends, and regain his humanity. So, with one last operation, Jyukai gave Hyakki a bodyload of weapons - a sword concealed in each arm, a machine gun in one arm, even a chuffing bazooka in his knee!
The game starts off in monochrome, due to Hyakkis distinct lack of eyes. He also talks in a freaky, robotic voice. After finding and killing the first fiend, he regains his vocal chords, letting him hear his own voice for the first time. The second fiend holds his left eye, so when that's recovered, the game becomes colour. from then on, its a chapter based jaunt around Japan, searching out the rest of the buggers. You can switch between Hyakkis two sword arms and a basic Katana, both of which level up as the game progresses. the only real differences are speed - arm swords are mega fast, and the Katana is slower (but usually a leeeetle bit stronger). New abilitys are regained with Hyakkis body parts, like a dash move with the left leg, and a vibrating controller when a Fiend is nearby once you reclaim Hyakkis nose. You are also accompanied by a little kid called Dororo, who claims to be "A World Famous Thief". Wee ****
The graphics are good, but nothing special, until you get to the scenes where Hyakki regains something important. The sound is basic, more Muzak than music. Oh, ands its quite hard too.
Well, thats about it. Oh! I gave it extra marks cos i got it for a fiver, brand new.