Asura's Wrath

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.