Bayonetta

Wow. There are very few games that can leave you speechless and perhaps a little confused upon completion but Bayonetta is certainly one of them. Once you've hacked and slashed your way through the game you'll have massacred hundreds of angels, ridden missiles across the ocean, tortured cherubs, battled dragons while plummeting through mid-air and even have driven a motor bike up the side of a rocket on its way to outer space. Make no mistake; Bayonetta is excessive, gratuitous, exploitative and ludicrous, it also happens to be a whole load of fun.

The plot revolves around an age old conflict between witches and sages, where you play as one of the last members of the former. As the amply proportioned Bayonetta, you'll be faced with an army of heavenly spirits as you begin a quest to unravel a mystery and recover your memories of events long past. She's the same old bad-ass female character we've come across dozens of times but it's handled well enough to be forgiven. The plot is ridiculous and knows it, the best thing to do is simply sit back, suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride. Given the somewhat unintelligible plot, perhaps too much time is given over to cut scenes, even if they some of the best looking out there, that said though, the story is not the reasons you'll be playing.

Bayonetta has some of the most engaging, exciting and down right enjoyable combat we've come across in some time. It's exceptionally fast paced and focuses upon racking up insane combos from one of the most varied yet easy to learn move sets out there. The most important mechanism is the dodge feature (something which thankfully helps distance this from its sister series, Devil May Cry) which is your single greatest ally in staying alive. Dodge at the correct moment and you'll engage ‘Witch Time', a short period of slow motion which allows you to get the upper hand and decimate your lethargic foes. Combat is also enhanced by the variety of weapons on offer. After starting with four pistols, each attached to a different limb, you'll soon be able to wield swords, whips and flaming claws among others. Each requires a different style of play and help to diversify the action further. The combat in Bayonetta is simply furious fun.

The game also mixes things up with some light puzzle solving and some surprisingly well made vehicle sections which help break up the action and don't overstay their welcome. In fact Bayonetta has almost perfect pacing from beginning to end and while it's not particularly long, a long list of collectibles and hidden secrets encourage further playthroughs.

Bayonetta is also great to look at. From the classical architecture of the games setting to heavenly vistas and stormy mountainsides, every location is a sight to behold. Every single one of the diverse selection of enemies in the game is as exceptionally detailed as the main character and the bosses are colossal works of art. The designers themselves deserve an immense amount of credit for creating such a memorable and exotic world that is consistently striking and truly sets a bar for other games to aim for. The sound too excels, although some might find the mix of j-pop and choral music grating, despite the disturbingly catchy version of ‘fly me to the moon' which pops up now and again.

The game isn't perfect, there is the odd annoying fight and the skills expected of you to achieve high rewards at sometimes excessive, particularly on hard difficulty. The story is also a little frustrating, for as fun as some cutscenes are, a little bit more exposition and a little less posturing might have led to a more involving experience. That said though, Bayonetta remains endlessly fun and consistently rewarding, also how many games allow you to feel good about decapitating angels?