GUILTY GEAR Xrd -SIGN- Review

Guilty Gear is a series that has a huge following since it started in 1998. I have played many fighting games over the years and was excited to give this latest installment a go. Guilty Gear doesn’t seem to get as much recognition as say Mortal Kombat or Tekken, but it’s certainly got its own unique style and flair that’s worth checking out.

I got to play this game on PC and was instantly impressed with the presentation and look of the game. The game is developed by Arc System and published by Aksys. The game is full on, with vibrant colours, unique characters and fast paced action. The series has certainly come along way over the years. The game runs on the Unreal Engine and I loved how fluid the game felt. Characters have a 2D style, that look great. The gameplay is great with fast paced action and a huge variety of characters to choose from. There are various game modes to choose from: Arcade, Story, M.O.M, which unlocks items for various characters, Training Mode and challenge Mode. There’s also local and network versus play.

I have to say it took me a while to get used to a learn the controls and movement in the game. GUILTY GEAR Xrd -SIGN- is very complex and is extremely deep. You have an ability called Yellow Roman Cancels (YRC) which slows down time slightly. This basically slows down time and allows you to create combos. I haven’t played any fighting games in a while, but found that this was fairly accessible with some practice. I had to experiment a bit with the various characters and their unique abilities. The single player mode helps to teach you how to play the game. You have to learn how to use jumping, blocking and performing combos against various enemies.

Story mode, is fairly short, and is not what I expected at all. It’s basically a visual graphic novel with an awesome Anime style. The characters and plot of the story are extremely bizarre, but I have to say that I loved it. There’s no fighting involved in this mode, but I enjoyed sitting back and watching the awesome animations and unique style.

The challenge modes help to introduce the character’s special moves and their combos. These modes are very helpful as they help introduce the mechanics of the game. This is great and is why I think the game will appeal to lots of people, as its challenging but also helps to guide new players to the genre. GUILTY GEAR Xrd -SIGN- does get very hard though and you need a lot of practice and patience to master the game. GUILTY GEAR Xrd -SIGN- will really push your reflexes and timing against enemies. You have to learn basic combos before moving onto longer strings of combos as you improve. Timing the combos can be extremely hard, but when you do, its extremely satisfying.

A system called the ‘Roman Cancel System’ returns, meaning that players can exit out of attack animations. There are Dust Attacks, which is where you throw your enemy into the air, and then attack. There’s an interesting blocking tool called Blitz shield, that I found myself using quite often. Guilty Gear Xrd’s multi-player modes are basic for fighting games. You can take on your friends locally, or you can take your skills online to challenge players from around the world in Player Matches or Ranked Matches.

As I said before the presentation of the game is visually outstanding. It has a uniquely animated style that’s fluid, vibrant and utterly gorgeous. There’s a wide variety of unique characters. The story mode is where it shows off its awesome style and is certainly worth checking out. The sound design is also fantastic, with fast paced relentless music that ramps you up during gameplay. The sound effects work very well and suits the gameplay very well.

Overall GUILTY GEAR Xrd -SIGN- has made me want to play fighting games more often. I was surprised by the depth of the gameplay mechanics and steep learning curve. I like a game with a challenge, as it allows for a more rewarding and satisfying experience when you finally master that tricky combo. The presentation of the game is what impressed me the most. GUILTY GEAR Xrd -SIGN- is simply stunning with awesome animations, vibrant colours and fluid movement. If you’re a fan of fighting games this is certainly worth playing and if your new to the genre its worth giving a go, as it does a good job of introducing the mechanics.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.