PS3 Review – Bayonetta
That catch is called “witch time,” which is Bayonetta’s version of the Matrix’s ‘Bullet time.’ Dodging an attack the moment before it hits you, slows everything down for about 15 seconds. Not only is the ability sweet, but it becomes necessary for survival later in the game. The game can be very unbalanced in its difficulty at times. You’ll go from fighting some low-life angels to suddenly fighting two gigantic angels that were bosses just two levels ago. Additionally, there are certain enemies that can chain moves back-to-back, quickly bringing about a game over screen. Too many game over screens and it will effect your overall ranking for the stage.
Like many of Hideki Kamiya’s games, Bayonetta features a ranking system. You enter an area, a seal pops up (reminiscent of God of War, Darksiders, Devil May Cry, and every other action/adventure game out there) and as you kick angel ass, you’re graded on your performance. You’ll earn a rating and a medal, and they all add up at the end of the stage for your overall score. Pretty basic, but seeing as how the game’s difficulty can serve you your ass on a platter, don’t be surprised if you receive a few stone awards during the course of the game. The games currency is the angels’ ‘halos,’ which look very similar to the golden rings that you collect in the Sonic the Hedgehog series (Sega did publish the game after all). The only problem with the rings? Well it also happens to be the major problem that plagues the game: the load times.
Thanks for the excellent load times! NOT!
It’s no secret that Sega, not developer Platinum Games, handled Bayonetta’s port to the PS3, and in the process screwed the game over with ridiculously long load times. To help Bayonetta through her journey, you will frequently enter the ‘Gates of Hell’ bar to trade your halos in for new weapons, items, accessories, etc. Sadly, it takes close to 30 seconds before the area loads up, followed by 30 more seconds of loading when you exit. It gets worse though. When you pick up an item there is a 3 second load time, and when you cycle through your inventory, there’s a two second delay between selecting items. Worse still, at some points, the in-game action will stop completely and load for 15 seconds.
The major reason I didn’t give Bayonetta a 5 out of 5 is the because of the load times. Some sites have compared the PS3 version to the 360 version and have said the PS3 version has problems with the frame rate and that it isn’t as ‘colorful,’ though I never came across those problems while playing the game–only the terrible load times. They were bad enough that I had to dock the game a whole point. Sorry Sega..but you screwed the pooch on this one.
18 Responses to “PS3 Review – Bayonetta”
Hopefully this will make a big enough stir to stop developers from even considering porting. Just shows how a great game can be ruined by porting. I wont even consider buying it because of the PS3 problems.
the game looks interesting.. will be giving it a rental
great review i agree..
except on the part that the 360 and PS3 version, you didn’t see the color difference. its like night and day .. ive seen them both on 1 TV and sadly, the PS3 version looks likes it has a dark filter added to it. because of this, is why im skipping Bayoneta on PS3.
I don’t know about the color, I’ve seen the same thing, and it wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be. It’s just my opinion, but there were only certain scenes where it really made a difference.
I played the demo and loved it. I sat on the tutorial screen and learned every combo….
I highly recommend at least renting this to anyone who loves fighting games, the variation is intense and incredibly well done.
nice work once again
good review dude, youre right the load times are really annoying and the frame rate can really suck at times
Shame for the issues. Great review. I’m personally looking forward to God of War 3 in replacement.
It is a great game, lots of great action and fun weapons. Theres a good amount of stuff to do but the story can seem a tad short. Great game tho.
good review…looking forward
this game is indeed good although the load times are horrible specially when going into your inventory
My question is why the hell hasn’t Sega released a patch or update yet??
Sega wonders why people look down upon them now-a-days. This is one reason why. My how the mighty have fallen…
a great review man. ive played the demo and wasnt all that impressed but i might actually just give this game a second chance.
lol I just saw my pic in there, haha I must have missed this because it was my birthday that night…LOL @ the caption. Anyway I definitely gotta put this game on my GameFly queue at the very least.
Took you long enough, Paulmichael!! Sorry..when I was browsing through the gallery, I just couldn’t resist. Just a little PSLS fun!
[...] team behind one of the best action titles of this generation, Bayonetta, recently announced the upcoming sci-fi action title named Vanquish. Platinum Games’ upcoming [...]
I bought this game from Amazon for $20 a few months back, haven’t beaten it but will try to beat it. I really loved the DMC games from Capcom and this pretty much fills the void.
[...] our UK and Europe fans. If you’ve never played Bayonetta, give the demo a go off the PSN or read my review for it! Bayonetta is a good game and all..but for free? It’s an awesome [...]
You blame SEGA… I blame Platinum Games for not caring enough to do the PS3 port themselves.