[Review] BlazBlue : Calamity Trigger

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is the newest 2D fighting game from Arc System Works, creators of the Guilty Gear series, the developer is noted for creative character designs , fast- paced action and anime themes. BlazBlue has been heating up the arcades, now BlazBlue is released on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Anime-style!
As I popped in the disc for Calamity Trigger, the anime themes were immediately sensed. The music, the art design of the backgrounds and characters all have the unique anime feel that fans of the Guilty Gear series will feel right at home with. The character design in BlazBlue should be applauded as every character looks, feels and plays differently from one another in comparison to other fighters with archetypes for characters with cookie cutter controls and fighting strategies. Jin Kisaragi freezes people with his close attacks while has projectiles and close attacks while Carl Clover uses a life size doll as his weapon creating for two characters on screen to use against your opponents. Needless to say, characters in BlazBlue are distinct and offer variant strategies that are needed for success in this break neck speed fighter.

Easily the highlight of BlazBlue is not the fighting system but the gorgeous 2D visuals. The game is easily the best looking 2D game I have ever seen as you need a HDMI cable and HDTV to truly enjoy the visuals supplied by Arc System Works. The backdrops differ from gorgeous 2D drawings to fully rendered 3D backgrounds. The colors are vivid, lush and jawdropping. The graphics are so stunning that during battles I get distracted by the lush backgrounds of each level.

BlazBlue has pretty standard fighting game modes ; story, arcade, versus, online, training, and an art gallery to view cut scenes. During story mode, the story of BlazBlue unfolds during still cutscenes / text / voice acting, all of which is quite HORRIBLE. In fact the story and story telling medium is easily the worst part of the entire game. The voice acting is horrible and the stills look as if they should be in a SNES game. Story mode should be avoided unless you want every trophy/achievement the story mode should be skipped at all cost.
Freeze!
The stand out feature for the actual gameplay is easily the drive feature. The drive feature is an integral tool in dealing the pain to your opponent. The drive feature from my experience is inteded to be used as a chain in between to combos to turn an ordinary 5 hit combo to a 10+ combo. For example , Jin Kisaragi drive is to freeze opponents as soon as they are hit, it can be chained with his throw or any special moves to unleash huge combos. The drive feature adds enormous depth to a game with unique characters in which strategies differ for each, so execution of the drive feature will be different for EVERY character, so practice with different characters.

The game is Guilty Gear for next gen consoles... which is not a bad thing. The music fuels the intense action, the anime based characters are unique and over the top while the visuals, anyone will enjoy. However, due to the complexity of the drive feature and non-recognizable characters, new comers will shy away from trying BlazBlue. It is clearly not a fighter one can pick up and easily master, it takes time to understand how to use just 1 character , let alone the other 11 characters. 2D Fighting game enthusiasts owe it to themselves to pick up this title to add to their collection. It is by no chance a Street Fighter 4 killer but it is a solid game if you liked the Guilty Gear series.

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