Ah, the beat ‘em up. How can a game in which the player simply mows down hundreds of relatively mindless enemies be so entertaining? Games like Streets of Rage and Golden Axe have reached classic status, despite their relatively simple gameplay. Today, the beat ‘em up is all but dead, with only one or two titles in the genre released each year. Sadly, most of those aren’t even worth playing. The Bouncer and State of Emergency are two recent takes on the genre, but neither managed to capture that certain something that makes the mindless gameplay entertaining. Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage is a rare thing; it is a beat ‘em up based on a manga with a great storyline that was also fun to play.
Interestingly, gamers will spend almost as much time watching Berserk as actually playing it. The story, written by manga author Kentaro Miura, is told through over an hour of cinematics. It’s not a retelling of the manga, but actually an original chapter. Guts, our hero, and his friends arrive in a country afflicted with a plague. A type of parasitic plant, the Mandragora, have begun infecting nearby towns. These plants attach themselves to their victims, causing madness. There is no known cure, but the local ruler, Baron Balzac, is doing his best to resolve the matter. Guts himself is seeking a cure for insanity, as his beloved has lost her mind. Balzac offers the services of his best doctors, if Guts is willing to help with the Mandragora problem. As he’s willing to do anything to restore his lover’s sanity, he agrees to the task.
And so, Guts begins his quest and typical beat ‘em up action is what follows. The game definitely earns some points for sheer coolness, as Guts has quite an arsenal. He wields the Dragon Slayer, a 7-foot long slab of iron he calls a sword. As if that isn’t enough, he also has access to throwing knives and bombs, as well as a mechanical left arm. He can attach a rapid-
fire crossbow to that arm, which also contains a small cannon. Last but not least, Guts has his rage. After taking a significant amount of damage, he becomes enraged. In this state, he can cleave his enemies in two with a single swing. Guts likes to work alone, but has the weaponry to take on an entire army of foes.
Over the course of the adventure, Guts hacks and slashes his way through over two dozen different types of enemies. The Mandragora have infected people, of course, which results in numerous kinds of mutations. The nasty plants have also taken hold of many animals, resulting in some pissed off bears and even killer frogs. The variety of creatures and environments is good, especially for this type of game. Also scattered throughout the game are Quick Time Events, similar to those in Shenmue. They are few and far between, but serve as a nice bit of action within the long cut scenes.
With so much dialogue, it’s a good thing the voice acting is top-notch. It sounds as if the developers actually went and hired actual actors, instead of just whoever just happened to be standing around. Guts in particular is well cast. The sound effects, on the
other hand, just aren’t interesting enough. I’m not sure what a 7 foot blade cutting someone in half should like that, but it’s not this. The game is visually pleasing, with high-polygon character models and adequate texture work. All the cinematics use enhanced versions of the real-time models, which works out nicely.
So, despite classic old-school gameplay and a great plot, why didn’t anyone play this game? There are lots of reasons, actually. Being on the Dreamcast didn’t help, and at the time of its release, neither the Berserk manga or anime were available in America. However, anyone with an interest in beat ‘em up games or Berserk should try and get their hands on this one. It’s amazingly faithful to the manga, while at the same time still being an enjoyable gaming experience. It’s just too bad no one played it.
