BlazBlue Calamity Trigger Review PS3

I have always enjoyed the Guilty Gear games for the Playstation 2, and when I heard that BlazBlue was the spiritual successor to the Guilty Gears, I was eagerly anticipating the release date. I was also quite pleased to know that BlazBlue would have online battles available. For those familiar with the Guilty Gear series, BlazBlue is very similar in quirky characters, combo system, and special moves. To be honest, I feel as if I’m playing Guilty Gear with just a new character set. For those not familiar with the Guilty Gear series, BlazBlue Calamity Trigger is a fighting game that stresses combos and strategy to win. Button mashing alone will not provide a victory as most characters can easily counter anything thrown at them with the exception of the boss character, which is mildly unbalanced. The game is very enjoyable online or offline.

Graphic and sound:

The graphics in BlazBlue are 2D characters with a 3D rendered background. On a high definition television, the game looks great. The characters are animated well and the combos were fluid. I did not notice any clipping when characters engaged one another or while launching projectiles. This is one of the best looking 2D fighting games ever for the current generation consoles.

The sound in the game is reminiscent of the background music in Guilty Gear with some heavy guitar riffs and violins mixing it up in the tracks. The limited edition package even comes with a two-disc soundtrack of all the background music in the game. The sound effects for the character moves are clear, but sometimes annoying depending on the character such as Taokaka (Looks like some sort of feline creature). If they would tone down the high-pitched voices that some characters have, it would be perfect.

Gameplay and controls:

The game has several game modes; Arcade, Story, Score Attack, Versus, Training, and Network. Arcade mode allows the player to take on the 10 CPU controlled characters one by one. Story mode allows the player to follow their character of choice through his/her story with numerous arcs in the ending, which add to replay value. Score Attack mode allows the player to try to attain the highest score possible against the CPU, which then gets uploaded to the world rankings for comparison. Versus mode allows the player to take on a buddy locally or play against the CPU one on one. Training allows fledgling players to practice their moves, develop strategy, and get used to the control scheme. Network mode allows the player to play against other players from around the world in ranked, unranked, or friend invite only games. When one selects online play, one can choose whether to accept or not play against the player that the network has chosen for them and can decide whether to play against someone of similar or higher level ranking than oneself. Points are given for executing certain moves, not using their barrier move, etc., and a minimal point increase is given to the loser.

One of my favorite features of the game is the replay theater. The replay theater allows players to save the data from the games they play online for viewing later. It takes up a minimal amount of hard drive space and allows a player to view the whole fight to see where they succeeded or failed in a match. I find it a very useful tool for improving my fighting skills, which are average in this game. Other players can also view the replay theater as well.

Overall thoughts:

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this game both online and offline and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the Guilty Gear series or just looking for a refreshing 2D fighting game. The limited edition comes with a two-disc soundtrack and a behind the scenes Blu-ray disc that provides tips on playing each character to its full potential. I also received a small art book for ordering through GameStop, but it is sorely lacking at only 14 pages. The story mode is fun, but the different endings are lackluster at best and annoying to keep repeating for a 100% completion. The game really shines in its online portion where I rarely had any lag unless playing someone from across the Atlantic. I highly recommend this game and look forward to the next iteration of BlazBlue.