Really liked this game. Picked it up on the outlet store for €5 more on it being a bargain rather than anything else.
While I would obviously have a hard time recommending people to pay full price for this game, it still stands as a somewhat hidden gem and a good video game adaptation example.
The graphic style, while not extremely faithful to the original, uses cel-shaded to somewhat make the style its own.
The gameplay is perhaps its best feature (as it should be). Although initially you can do little more than button mash some combos, pretty soon you'll come to realize a lot of possibilities attacking and defensive possibilities, including deflecting bullets, one-hit counter-kills and chopping up enemies pretty much any way you want.
The menu presentation is actually quite barebones, as you're rushed from stage to stage, passing through the mandatory (and challenging) bosses [spoiler](including fighting a flying robot through the skies)[/spoiler], without extra save slots or anything. The game is pretty much plug and play, and it's excellent for it.
The ingame presentation is excellent though, making the most of presenting a clean display with no huds. Health is represented by the amount of blood you and your enemies have on your body/shirt, there's a guide if you get lost that appears in-game telling you where you want to go... and of course the lovely cell-shaded visuals, coupled with the heavy red of the blood you shed and the black and white sequences of your "focus attacks". And then of course, there's Mr Sam L. Jackson.
The game also features some platforming that is never really challenging (except for the last stage), but very forgiving, restarting you right before you missed the last jump (and not the entire sequence).
The biggest gripes would be the camera, that sometimes gets in the way, and is never quite right. When you get ganged up by a lot of opponents or by fast moving oponents it gets hard to position it properly so you can follow what you're (and they're) doing. The lack of enemy variety would be another valid point.
Overall, the game has a very old-school vibe to it that I found very appealing. The cutscenes are short (though they can't be skipped, should you have to repeat segments (and you will)), the game is challenging, but reasonable, the gameplay is addictive, the story is very heavily separated in stages (YES, there's a snow level!), and there's boss fights.
I would dare say the PS3 version would even be superior for the lack of trophies. This is just a straight-up, old-school, chop-up party like one I hadn't played in a good while.
If it had come out in the previous generation, I'm sure it would have been a much bigger hit.
