In D3P's latest Simple 2000 game, Tamsoft revisits the story of Mitsuhide where the shiny-pated warrior faces off against hordes of swordsman all by his lonesome. Think of it as D3 Publisher's interpretation of Sangoku Musou... without the Musou. At the outset of the game, Akechi is alone but two objects on the map may be visited and shattered to reveal the bonuses within. Soon afterwards, menacing samurai appear with swords drawn and everyone seems to have a yen for Akechi's blood. Our hero is armed with only a sword in the beginning but he may upgrade to dual blades, a spear, or a club by taking them from defeated enemies. Projectile weapons are also available to use including a rifle with a freakishly elongated barrel and a bow to hit foes lumbering in the distance.

The enemy AI in Ochimusya hearkens back to the later Sangoku Musou games in that the crowd is fairly aggressive and attack in concert whenever Akechi draws near their ranks. This makes for a challenging game.

Jan Code: 4527823994355

View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website.

» There's a warning message detailing explicit violence and gore at the outset of the boot process.

» Start a NEW GAME and three options are available:

Start Game: Begin a new slashing adventure
Color: Change the tint of Akechi's armor from four available choices
Options: Adjust sound volumes, toggle Dual Shock vibration, Save/Load Data, etc.

» After selecting START GAME, text scrolls from the left to the right as a voice-over sets up the background of the storyline and why there must be death and why gallons of blood should be spilled.

» The game starts amidst rain and dusk. A map on the upper right corner shows your current position and two white dots represent a basket and a boulder that may be hacked open to reveal the goodies within them.

» When the hero runs, a jingling jangling sound may be heard as if his armor was made of coins.

» The Dual Shock 2 CONTROLS are as follows

L-Analog / Movement
R-Analog / Camera
SQUARE / Hack
TRIANGLE / Energize
L1-TRIGGER / Switch weapon
R1-TRIGGER / Target enemy
R2-TRIGGER / Block or Guard

» The game's name is similar to Onimusha but it's more of a Sengoku Musou type game. The enemies are fairly active and attack as if their lives depended on it. If two enemies are at the forefront, they will press the offensive against Akechi but most enemies are easily slashed down with a couple of strokes.

» The blood runs thick and ruddy. Every sword slash that connects causes splatters of blood to splash onto the ground and jet into little circular pools.

» When the enemy ninja attacks, he'll jump a few feet into the air and throw a gaggle of stars at Akechi.

» Enemies with swords or bows will blunt your first blow but your second blow inevitably connects and does damage.

» Objects in the environment are interactive and can be slashed. For example, we splintered a bunch of trees during our bloodthirsty carnage run this morning.

» In addition to Akechi, a redheaded heroine in revealing attire may also be used to slash up foes. She sort of walks like Aya from the Oanechan games and sashays like a super model while wearing hosiery, red thigh high boots, and a very long ponytail that reaches down below the backs of her knees. One difference between her and Aya is that her clothing actually matches and is symmetrical

» Akechi is apparently superhuman. If you face off against archers and their arrows connect, you can see them pierce Akechi and stay inside his body. For example, in one mission, the pathway ahead was lousy with samurai, archers, and assorted ninja. Two arrows whizzed right through our hero's head and got stuck. It was there that the arrows stayed until the end of the level. Enemy swords may also be impaled on Akechi but he'll just run around like nothing happened. Now, that's a man.

This document is ©NCSX 2007. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.