As soon as the game loads it's blatantly obvious who developed this game; it absolutely oozes Capcom. The graphical style, the musical score, the control - it's like a genetic blueprint for recent Capcom efforts. Thankfully, as much effort and love has gone into this title as some of its more well known predecessors, and it really shines through. Most people will already have played Clover's previous games (Okami, Viewtiful Joe 2), but maybe not aware of which studio developed them. It's about time Clover were given the credit and recognition that they deserve.

The story goes that a drifter - Jean - tried to help a young woman out of some thug-related trouble and had his arm lopped off. When he came round, he found that he now had the titular "God Hand", and set about righting the world's wrongs. The world in this case being the common or garden post-apocolyptic neo-olde world. The locales and scenery for the game look "functional" at first, with sparsely furnished buildings and lots of wide open areas, but it soon becomes apparent that this is intentional, and necessary to keep the hectic pace of the game up. It's all but impossible to get lost or stuck, and the areas where things are a little more plush are well textured and colourful. The setting would probably be best described as something from the anime Trigun, with its skewed 'Wild West' ambience. The game could fall into the category of a 3D 3rd-person roaming brawler, and although that in itself could set alarm bells ringing, it really shouldn't prevent anyone from giving this a try.

The controls are vintage Capcom as already mentioned, borrowing heavily from Resident Evil 4 and P.N.03. The left analogue stick moves the character (left and right rotate, not strafe), the right stick is used to dodge and evade, and the buttons layeth the smack down upon the evil-doers. Speaking of whom, the enemies are for the most part standard beat-em-up fare. At first it's the 'grunt' drones who are little more than fist-fodder, but later the characters become a little more elaborate and clever, and each needs different tactics to effectively take apart. Fat guys don't lift as high with an uppercut as their lighter counterparts, but by way of payoff are much less likely to dodge attacks (some even have trouble standing!). When Jean is faced with a mix of types, there's some quick thinking and even quicker fingers required. The controls are light and responsive, and the game nips along at a decent speed. The bones of the game are built around creating outlandish combos and movement, again continuing Capcom's lineage in the vein of Devil May Cry. That said, the two shouldn't be compared too closely as there are some vast differences.

What sets God Hand apart from the rest of the bunch is the unique customisable combo system. At any one time, the player is in command of a reasonably small number of attacks to chain together, but these are chosen by the player from a list of over 100 standard attacks, each with its own properties. The skill in the game comes in choosing these attacks, and building effective combos that reflect individual playing styles. These standard moves are used in conjunction with the all-powerful "God Reel" techniques which can be unleashed a couple of times per level initially. These "God Reel" moves are often extreme in nature, and range from a swift kick to the family jewels to the "God Hand" projectile, and are chosen in "bullet-time" style slow-motion as the reel appears for a few seconds. All of these moves are tied together with a Tension Bar, which builds up as Jean knocks the baddies about. A quick stab of R2 sees the armour on the God Hand explode away, giving him room to deal damage at almost twice the normal rate, leading to some truly spectacular combos.

The leveling system is unusual, in so much as the player doesn't work at improving their character's level, but instead tries to make the game more difficult. As the player works up through the levels - consisting of 1, 2, 3 and DIE - the game's AI gets progressively more difficult. Increasing the gauge requires some skillful and effective play; building big combos charges it, as do dodging and using guard crush moves when the enemy turns 'turtle'. Initially, one would be forgiven for thinking that making the game more difficult is the last thing anyone would want to do, after all, it's not an easy game at the best of times. The reward, however comes in the form of cold, hard cash! They say money makes the world go round, and nowhere is this truer than in God Hand: the harder the enemy, the bigger the rewards.

At the end of each level, the player is given the opportunity to save their game, move to the next level or visit a safe haven where they can spend their moolah and train in safety. In this area there is a casino with the sort of games most would expect (video poker, blackjack, fruit machines) and some which many maybe wouldn't (chihuahua racing anyone?). These are a fun distraction and once the high roller areas are unlocked can lead to some serious cash for the determined gambler. Next to the casino is the obligatory shop, where the money burning a hole in Jean's pockets (no pun intended) can be traded in for newly unlocked moves, "God Reel" attacks, special items and health-restoring food. Nothing comes cheap, and at first it's hard to see how it'll ever be possible to amass the necessary cash, but encouraging perseverance and forcing the player to get stuck in and stylish, rather than blasting through the game as fast as possible, is a clever move on Clover's part.

On the surface God Hand can seem very shallow and repetitive, and the controls could annoy someone unfamiliar with the Capcom way of doing things, but the reward for perseverance is a truly original and brilliant game. The shallow facade is quickly removed and a deep set of game mechanics are revealed with plenty of advanced techniques, including a good cancelling system. The back-and-forth with harder enemies as they dodge and block is mesmerising and really works the player's reflexes and dexterity, and as previously mentioned this is anything but a simple game. The character design is great, as are the models representing them.

Once again we see what developers can get from a machine towards the end of its life. A big mention has to go to the sense of humour used throughout; the whole game is very tongue-in-cheek, and a lot of the jokes would go over the head of younger players. From the "fruity" tag team bosses in little more than skimpy trunks and their quotes ("You want to ride brokeback, cowboy?") and the hilarious 'Power Rangers' spoof (referred to by Jean as Douchebags), to the number of "low blow" attacks and taunts, it's enough to keep the player smiling to themself the whole time. There's depth in spades, with a number of challenges to be found throughout the levels, civilians to save, and tournaments - not to mention unlockable costumes and moves! There's also a desire to play through again and better ones continue count - the game cruelly reminds the player how many they used at completion. There's a reasonable amount of Kanji and Kana, most noticeably on the names of the moves, but it's not really a hindrance to understanding the game at all, as all voice acting is in English. Here's hoping for a censorship-free translation to the US and PAL territories. Bravo Clover!