Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Another great game from Bungie
I knew I had to preorder Oni the second I could after reading about it and even seeing it in action at MWSF. I was disappointed when I heard there was not going to be multiplayer, but that didn't stop me from wanting it.Anyway, to the review: This game is fun. No matter what people say about it's grraphics, controls, or lack of multiplayer, this game has some of the best gameplay out of any game I've played since Myth II. The controls are hard to get used to, but overall I think the DualShock 2 beats a mouse+keyboard combo. The graphics are nice and sharp, everythings easy to see. There are a few cases where my PS2 slowed down, but I guess that's to be expected. I can't comment on the story too much because I haven't gotten too far into the game, but from what I know, the plot's fairly interesting. And for those of you who've seen Ghost In The Shell, the similarities are fairly obvious. I'd reccomend this game to anyone who enjoys some good hand-to-hand combat, or if you don't, there's some pretty cool guns too. Layin' the smack down with Konoko is fun for all! The reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of lack of multiplayer and replay options.
Rating: - Oni is a Good Fun Game for the Action Gamer
It takes a 3rd person perspective similar to Tomb Raider with the camera always following behind you and over your head. The controls start off as complicated for the average PS2 player, but a person used to computer games shouldn't find it too strange with the left analog mapping to the arrow keys and right analog mapping to the mouse for the average computer 1st person shooter.The combat system is simple with your standard punching and kicking techniques. You'll gain new moves as the game progresses but beyond the basic combos they tend to be difficult to pull off in real combat situations and not worth the effort. The game does an excellent job representing the realism of guns. Fighting two or more armed opponents when you are not armed will inevitably result in death. The computer AI is even smart enough to know that if there's a gun on the ground it's to its advantage to go and pick it up rather than continue fighting hand to hand. Unfortunately, the computer AI has no problem doing suicide attacks with rocket launchers inside of rooms taking away from games realism and making certain fights frustrating. The levels, while being well designed and sometimes vast, have no eye candy in them. Backgrounds are plain and unexciting. The people move fluidly enough when fighting but no special attention was given to rendering when they are talking with each other during story scenes. The game also shows some pretty amateur problems. You'll see enemy's arms sticking through walls and you sometimes are even able to hurt the enemies through the wall. Turning properly when close to a wall will often let you see on the other side of it. The story line is entertaining in the anime cyberpunk motif with some very well done voice acting. I was drawn into it at certain points being angry at characters and wanting to seek revenge. There's even a split point in the story line that will affect the final ending of the game. Unfortunately, Rockstar took out the multiplayer combat mode of the game in order to get it out on time. This reduces the replay value immensely and there's little incentive to play again after you've beaten both endings to the game. Overall, it's a fun game to play through and enjoy. It's worth the money if you enjoy the 3rd person beat-up style game. It won't win any awards for pushing the hardware that it's on.
Rating:  - Interesting Concept and Non-Stop Action
All the 7/10 reviews that I've seen made me more surprised with this game. I would give more like a 9/10 for the PS2 edition. It brings an interesting concept with many new features, merging Tomb Raider with a fighting game while keeping the anime style. Graphics are nice, not overwhelming, but appropriate. The game serves it's purpose, it's fun!Imagine being able to do some kick-... kickboxing while desarming your opponent, taking his gun, and using it to finish the rest. She even have a few insults in bank for them! You learn moves as you go further in the game, as well as obviously finding new guns. Ah, the so called weird controls... Yes, it's definitely different since they even found a good use for BOTH analog stick (pretty uncommon). Then again, you don't have a keyboard with ALT and CTRL either so they had to find something. All in all, I do not find that an issue but rather a challenge that can be overcomed quickly by practicing. The difficulty of the game (easy, medium, hard) is well-balanced and should appease everybody. This game is definitely something worth looking into on the PS2 at the moment.
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