There,s going to be a new kid on the block as far as fighting games go, and that kid is the video game God Hand. The game is published by Capcom and developed by Clover Studios – the same people who made Viewtiful Joe, and Okami – so you know it will be good.
God Hand,s plot revolves around an ancient tale of how humanity was once on the very brink of extinction by forces dark and evil. No hope was left until a face off occurred between the dreaded evil lord and a fighter who was endued with special fighting powers from on high: the God Hand. The hero wins the battle, and all is well-almost. Years later, a drifter named Jean comes upon a girl who is attacked by ruffians. He steps in to rescue the girl, but during the fight has his arm cut off and he loses consciousness. When Jean wakes up, he finds that his arm has been replaced with a new arm, the legendary God Hand, which has the ability to give the user super human fighting abilities.
The world is at war again with the evil forces, and Jean, will use martial arts to kick some butt and take names.
This is the shell of the plot of God Hand. While the game is a hybrid action-fighter, it has an offbeat sort of direction where humor is injected into the game. The characters say things that are in the style of sarcastic comments or wit found in Japanese anime shown on Cartoon Network. Since you are the sole possessor of the God Hand, the evil forces have you marked as a moving target to be snuffed out. In other words, they want your power. In one scene, an opponent tells Jean that he wants the God Hand. Jean replies, “The only thing I,m handing out is an ass kicking.” Some Bruce Campbell-esque stuff there. Not only will you be able to ward off your enemies with your standard fighting moves, you,ll be able to pick up objects around you to smash and cause a great deal of hurt to your opponents.
The special ability of the God Hand allows your character to charge up his arm and unleash over-the-top attacks for a short period of time. While in God Hand mode, your enemy is defenseless and cannot retaliate. God Hand moves are picked up during the game, or can be purchased at shops or stores. Gee, what ever happened to the divine intervention aspect of the game? But in any event, with the fighting moves and God Hand special attacks in your arsenal, the mission of beating your foes to a pulp should prove to be a doable (and enjoyable) task. The action of the game is staged in third-person view, and the main character roams the territory while running into foes.
Enemies come in all sorts of forms, and some of them will remind you of past characters in other fighting titles. One of the more interesting ones is the dominatrix character, in full professional regalia, sporting some rather scary looking whips. Well, she sure looked like a dominatrix to me, anyway. In one action scene, she takes hold of your head and basically does a super speed version of slapping the snot out of you. The other graphics look good as well, and the special effects come at you at a furious pace as you defeat enemies with explosives, martial arts moves and your God Hand attacks. The sound effects and music are almost overwhelming, and never seem to let up. The comic aspect creeps into the voice acting as the villains sound super cheesy, and the fighting cries of the characters are filled with “Aieeeee!,” “Hiiiiiyaaaaa!,” and other appropriate cat cries.
Every tried and true gamer has at least one or two fighting games in their collection, and while fighting games are fun, the evolution of the genre has sometimes been bogged down by overused themes, fighting systems, or lack of innovation. If first impressions are any indication of what kind of game God Hand is, it is unique, if anything. The comic elements, fast fighting action and offbeat plot may lure the die-hard fighting fan into its fold. At this stage, the question is whether this fighter will appeal to casual gamers and non-fighting fans. Only time will tell.
