Asura's Wrath - PlayStation 3

Asura's Wrath Review: Anger Management Isn’t In This Hero’s Vocabulary

Jeff Cork — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:01:00 GMT

Asura isn’t happy. The demigod has been cast out of the heavens after being framed for a treasonous murder. To make this betrayal even more personal, his wife has been slain and their daughter kidnapped and exploited for her own unique powers. Rather than simply brood about it, Asura taps into his feral nature and punishes his former comrades in an epically scaled tale of revenge.

Asura’s former friends comprise a unique vision of a godly pantheon, marrying elements of extreme technology and Eastern mythology into something fresh. Each of the seven demigods fills an archetype – mentor, mastermind, beauty-obsessed sadist, etc. – with Asura’s primary attribute being his short fuse. Seeing how mortals are being exploited by the demigods only serves as another motivator for him to pound them into oblivion.

The combat may not be as deep as other hack and slash offerings, but it does a great job of making Asura feel (and play) like the unhinged demigod that he is at the expense of a degree of finesse. It sells the concept of Asura as a powerhouse who uses his strength like a maul rather than a scalpel, but players who like methodically dismantling enemies with juggles, cancels, and other technical flourishes may be left cold by the mash-heavy engagements.

Whether it was a conscious decision on CyberConnect2’s part or not, the bulk of enemies simply don’t put up much of a fight, either. Instead, combat sequences are framed around building Asura’s burst gauge. Once it’s filled through pummeling enemies and performing well in QTEs, players can unleash Asura’s full fury with a quick press of the right trigger. That’s basically the “end combat sequence” trigger; until you activate that burst mode, the majority of battles will continue indefinitely, with enemies respawning on a loop or simply refusing to die. When it’s activated, you’re treated to a reliably impressive sequence of Asura giving someone the business in a comically over-the-top beatdown.

Over the top is as mundane as it gets in Asura’s Wrath. This is a game where your character sprouts (and loses) additional pairs of arms without anyone giving it a second thought. You will get impaled with a weapon that is longer than the diameter of Earth. Heck, before the credits roll, you will literally punch a planet right in its face. While I was expecting these kinds of ridiculous moments from the game, I was surprised to see that it wasn’t just a revolving freakshow-like series of big moments. Instead, Asura’s Wrath is grounded by one of the more interesting stories I’ve seen in a game, focusing on human suffering and how even the noblest of intentions can be corrupted.

Asura’s Wrath isn’t as brainless as it may want you to believe. The ridiculous moments and likable characters kept me smiling, which was odd, considering it’s essentially a story about misery. It’s a nice change of pace from other hack-and-slash games, featuring an interesting story that’s not blocked off by insurmountable difficulty.

Asura's Wrath Pre-Orders And Box Art Revealed

Bryan Vore — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:34:00 GMT

Thinking about picking up Capcom's Asura's Wrath when it releases on February 21st? See how some retailers are sweetening the pot with pre-order bonuses.

If you'd like a combination art book and comic, GameStop is the way to go. The comic side is written and produced by the guys at Penny Arcade, and imagines Asura in wacky everyday situations.

Best Buy offers the Infinity Pack which features Extinguisher Mode and Zealot Mode. These help you recover faster from overheating using more powerful attacks and will also lengthen the time you'll spend in Unlimited Rage Mode.

Amazon customers get the Devastator Pack. This includes damage reduction and faster filling of the Unlimited Rage Gauge.

If you'd like a look at the box art, check out the media gallery below.

[Disclaimer: GameStop is the parent company of Game Informer.]

New Video Contains Treachery, Resident Evil Reference

Tim Turi — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:47:00 GMT

Am I wrong, or is the above screenshot of Asura inspecting blood on his hands a nod to the classic Barry Burton line from the original Resident Evil? One thing that's for certain is that it's Chris' blood on Asura's hands, but rather the spilled life force of the assassinated emperor.

Check out the following trailer to learn why Asura has so much rage and check out our hero while he still had pupils. After that, behold the over-the-top screens in the gallery below.

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Asura Travels To The Moon And Back

Tim Turi — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:01:00 GMT

We are gamers in an age when the video games as art debate is raging and with good examples to support it. However, it’s still refreshing to play a title that reinforces that video games can just be video games -- pure, simple, silly, unadulterated fun. Asura’s Wrath captures the essence of ridiculously unrealistic scenarios and engaging gameplay. You may think that you’ve done almost everything games have to offer, but you’ve never been stabbed into the earth by a guy standing on the moon.

The TGS 2011 preview of Asura’s Wrath begins with Asura facing off against Augus on the moon. The muscled, white-haired, battle-scarred antagonist tries to deliver some grand speech about my pugilistic inadequacies, but a simple button press cuts off his monologue with a flying missile punch to the face. After a perfectly-timed button press, Augus counters with a blow of his own and sends Asura tumbling into the distance. This was going to be a tough fight.

I quickly settle into the attack patterns I learned from the E3 2011 demo of the game. I circle-strafe around Augus while firing projectiles and waiting for him to come in close before I unleash some quadruple-fisted punches. Not after long my special meter fills and I unleash Unlimited Mode. The super powered version of Asura pummels Augus into submission, triggering an unforgettable quicktime event. The two stoic fighters engage in a frenzied, Tasmanian Devil-style fisticuffs match while the player mashes a button. Then you must move the analog stick in a specific direction and press a prompted button. You must execute this series of events several times in a row, and if you fail, Augus sends you flying into space for a game over.

After you successfully smack Augus in the face, he finally gets really angry. He draws his samuarai sword and begins delivering ranged attacks on both the horizontal and vertical axis. Dodging these long-ranged attacks is imperative to gaining enough ground so you can hit the boss in the face.

Eventually Augus swings the massive sword overhead towards Asura. After pressing both analog sticks inward, Asura catches the speeding blade between his four hands. Augus isn’t deterred, and begins shoving the point of the blade towards the hero’s chest while Asura backpedals. Augus’ strength and the fact that his sword is magically growing pushes Asura off the surface of the moon towards Earth. The next series of events is among the most ridiculous I've ever experienced in a video game. Augus taunts Asura while shoving him with his sword into the Earth’s atmosphere. As Asura reenters the atmosphere, his arms begin to burn up. The camera pans out to show a comically long sword projecting from the moon towards Earth – something that could be mistaken for bizarre NASA footage if you didn’t know it was a video game.

Like any good ride, Asura’s return to Earth eventually comes to an end. His back finally hits the planet’s surface in a dramatic explosion that can be seen from outer space. Augus’ blade then penetrates Asura’s chest, along with about 100 miles of the Earth’s crust beneath him. As the wielder of the sword hurtles towards Asura from space, the player must rotate the analog stick to struggle against the blade and prepare a final attack. The demo ends just as Asura’s last attached fist connects in a furious punch with Augus.

Needless to say, I’m anxious to find out what happens after Asura lands this blow. Does Augus deflect the hit and continue his stabbing? Will he fall to the earth and continue the boss fight with another phase? Or even better, maybe Asura’s punch will send Augus hurtling towards the moon and burst it into a million lunar rocks. The fact that I’m so curious is testament to the potential Asura’s Wrath has for action fans, and you should be sure to keep it on your radar leading up to its release.

Asura Isn't The Only One Who's Angry

Jeff Cork — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:46:19 GMT

We already know a bit about Asura, the scorned ex god who is taking on his former allies on a revenge-fueled mission. Today, Capcom revealed that even though he's in the game's title, he's not the only star of this show.

According to Capcom, Yasha is Asura's brother-in-law, who's angry at Asura for his sister's untimely death. Yasha is faster than Asura, but there's no word on if he's able to sprout extra limbs. We do, however, know that he has a completely excellent mask.

We'll know more about Yasha at TGS next week. In the meantime, look at the screens in the gallery below.

Asura's Wrath is due out on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in early 2012.

New Asura's Wrath Screens Are Epic, Confusing

Jeff Marchiafava — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:55:00 GMT

Capcom's upcoming Asura's Wrath is an unapologetically over-the-top take on the action genre, as these new screens demonstrate with explosions, overpowered attacks, and glowing-eyed muscly dudes.

Most of the screens in the gallery below feature Asura, the six-armed protagonist who looks unreasonably mad about something. Then again, the game is called Asura's Wrath, not Asura's Summertime Picnic, or Asura's Afternoon Nap, so I guess his anger is justified. Beyond that, I have no idea what's going on in these screens, but our previous hands-on time with the game proved entertaining to say the least, so stay tuned for more coverage of Asura's Wrath from this year's Gamescom. In the meantime, take a gander at the new pics below.

[UPDATE]: You can now watch the Gamescom trailer for the game. It's even more confusing than the screens alone.

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I Survived The Ludicrous Action Of Capcom's New Action Title

Tim Turi — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:36:00 GMT

I’ve played my fair share of Devil May Cry and Bayonetta-style games, but neither of those over the top experiences prepared me for the absurdity of Asura’s Wrath. Capcom’s latest action game is an unapologetic caricature of the genre. The main character, Asura, battles droves of enemies and faces off with a boss that continues growing until he dwarfs the earth. I’ve seen few games deliver large scale, dynamic fights with such flair.

The demo I played begins with Asura engaging in a shouting match with a pot-bellied giant with a big mustache. Asura looks similar to Street Fighter IV’s Akuma or Dark Ryu, except with white hair (the game’s overall heavily shaded and exaggerated art style is reminiscent of the fighter’s look). The big bad guy, Wyzen, yells at Asura about being a traitor and tells him he’s no longer a deity. Wyzen also reveals that Asura has been asleep for 12,000 years, and during that time the titular character’s daughter, Priestess Mithra, has provided the fat foe with power in some way.

The tubby antagonist’s words naturally upset Asura. A quicktime event prompt allows the player to interrupt Wyzen’s rant by flying through the air and punching him in the gut. After he finishes his speech Wyzen calls in his cronies. Combat in Asura’s Wrath is what you’d expect from an action game: linking together light attacks to set up enemies for bone-shattering heavy hits. Asura can also take aim and pepper bad guys with energy shots. Swapping between close quarters combat and shooting reminded me of Devil May Cry. Laying into baddies builds up Asura’s wrath meter, which triggers an elaborate series of quicktime events. Via these cinematic moments I suplexed Wyzen, became a human bullet , and even morphed into a six-armed berserker. Quicktime events have become a bit of a dirty word in gaming, but Asura’s Wrath gets a pass thanks to action-packed events that make Dragon Ball Z look like a nursing home.

As the demo progresses, Wyzen grows larger and larger. After the first fight the boss swells to the size of a skyscraper and tosses Asura into the distance. The player must then control Asura as he runs towards the giant boss. Wyzen launches missiles which players can redirect back at him with well-timed button presses. After taking enough damage Wyzen grows to the size of the moon, running across huge open fields as Asura pursues him. Wyzen’s backup arrives in the form of a huge gunship, launching even more missiles which Asura tosses back. After catching up to the tremendous enemy, Asura launches him into space. The interstellar boss wastes no time morphing to a size greater than earth. He then thrusts his finger towards Asura to finally squash the pest. His gargantuan digit burns through the atmosphere like a meteorite. Through a series of quicktime events the players activate Asura’s wrath mode, dig their heels into the dirt, grow four extra arms, and brace for impact. In a stunning visual display Asura stops Wyzen’s finger, then delivers a six-fisted barrage. The impact ripples through the huge foe. Glowing orange fissures spread up Wyzen’s arm into space, eventually reaching his screaming face just before the enemy explodes Death Star-style.

The flashiness, style, and scale seen in this first hands-on with the game puts many games’ final boss battles to shame. And Wyzen is only one of the seven gods we predict Asura must defeat in his journey. I get a feeling that this early look at the game is a fraction of the craziness that’s in store for gamers with Asura’s Wrath. I can’t wait to see more of Capcom’s newest action title.

Over-The-Top Action Rules In Asura's Wrath

Jeff Cork — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:01:24 GMT

Asura is not happy. Once a demigod himself, he has been betrayed by his former associates, who have kidnapped his daughter. His mission is simple: Get her back while slaughtering anyone who stands in his way. Judging from the boss encounter we saw, he might have his work cut out for him.

The hack-and-slash action game Asura’s Wrath was first announced at last Tokyo Game Show with a trailer that culminated in a planet-sized behemoth attacking Asura with a single jab from his index finger. During a presentation at this year’s Captivate 2011 event, developer CyberConnect 2 provided some welcomed context to the encounter.

The battle begins in a large, open area, with the lumbering demigod Wysen far in the distance. As Asura approaches, he attacks with a targeting reticle. The boss fires back, and Asura grabs and throws back some of those projectiles. Once he gets a bit closer, the giant begins pounding the ground, causing boulders to fly into the ground. Asura hops from rock to rock, in a series of QTEs. When he’s in position, Asura leaps onto the titan’s fist and slides down his arm, delivering a haymaker to his jaw.

Wysen counters by commanding a warship to attack, and eventually ends up flinging Asura to the ground. In an especially inspired move, Wysen performs a spinning midair somersault, crashing his ample posterior into Asura’s lifeless form. Wysen then taunts Asura, saying “Can you feel it? She suffers to atone for your sins. Oh it is such a tragedy,” as he pounds Asura over and over again. Asura’s eyes flash open, and before you know it, Wysen is launched out of the planet’s atmosphere, into space.

Wysen then activates something he calls the Mantra Reactor. As the game’s director says, Asura’s Wrath will combine elements of both Asian mythology and science fiction.
“The powers these gods have in the game, we wanted to make sure that it’s not just a mysterious godlike power without any rationale behind it,” says CyberConnect 2’s Seiji Shimoda “We wanted to blend it to the technology, to the science fiction aspects in the game.”

The reactor makes Wysen grow until he dwarfs the planet. Asura then squares off as he faces a sky-filling finger. Apparently, when Asura gets particularly steamed, strange things happen to his body. Here, he sprouts an additional four arms, which he uses to pummel the massive digit with a flurry that eventually causes Wysen to explode in a fiery supernova.

We weren’t able to play the game during the demo, but UI elements made it clear that the game mixes traditional hack and slash combat with QTE moments. According to Capcom, however, that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.

“I think that even though we’re calling it an action game, you need to forget what you know about action games when it comes to this game,” says Capcom producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya. “Most action games are built around the concept that at certain intervals things happen that players expect; the bosses, the way they fight and things like that. We’re trying to make a level of variation in this game so that players don’t get bored, they’re not too expectant of certain elements, and we can keep them guessing about what’s coming.”

During the presentation, the Asura’s Wrath team kept hammering home the point that the game would also be melding a dramatic story and action in a way that other games haven’t been able to do. They wouldn’t elaborate beyond that, so it still remains to be seen not only if they’ll be able to pull off that goal, but what that goal actually translates to. One thing’s for sure, however: the character of Asura definitely seems as though he has enough rage inside him for everyone.

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