| Bleach Heat The Soul 2 review |
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The original Bleach: Heat the Soul was the first 3D fighter on Sony’s PSP and served as a clear indication of the graphical muscle of the machine. The sumptuous cel-shaded visuals were on par with the standard of those seen on home consoles like the Dreamcast and the PS2. The fact that there was a competent (if rather unspectacular) fighting game underneath the lush graphics helped make the title a worthy purchase for new PSP importers after a portable fighting fix.
Fast forward a few months and Sony, possibly keen to exploit the lucrative licence as much as possible, have released Bleach: Heat the Soul 2 (B:HTS2 from this point onwards). Bleach, for those who don’t know, is an animated series from Japan that features the usual dose of swords, demons and cute schoolgirls. The main character is ginger-haired school kid Kurosaki Ichigo. He’s blessed/cursed with the ability to see ‘ghosts’. B:HTS2 focuses on the ‘Soul Society’ story arc of the anime, and anyone who has followed the series up to this point will notice many references within the game.
Considering the short space of time that has elapsed since the release of the first game, it would be unrealistic to expect sweeping alterations. The battle engine remains largely unchanged from that of the original. It offers full 3D control – so pushing up on the pad will make the character sidestep around their opponent. Jumping is performed via a separate button, and another press (plus a direction on the pad) allows the player’s character to execute an impressive ‘anime-style’ dash in midair. B:HTS2 plays very much like Namco’s Soul Calibur, with similar reliance on progressively complex button combination sequences. Some of the resultant combos are extremely impressive, but the game never pushes itself into the levels of inventiveness of Namco’s title in this regard.
In terms of game modes there are few surprises here. Story Mode is essentially a series of standard fights linked by static screens and plenty of speech (provided by the original anime cast, no less). Not every character has a ‘story’ mode and to be perfectly honest this feature is going to be lost on non-Japanese-speaking gamers, who will no doubt simply skip the chit-chat and get straight into the actual combat. On the plus side, each story route is different and when working through the available characters, the player will experience the same events and battles but from a slightly different viewpoint as the plot threads are intertwined. This at least lends the game a sense of cohesion that is often absent from story modes found in other fighting titles.
Success in battle is rewarded with points, which can be used to purchase cards – these in turn unlock bonus content such as other modes, characters, artwork and music. One notable feature that eventually becomes available is the ‘Gotai 13’ mode - a series of fights which increase the player's ‘rank’ when completed - the eventual aim being to attain the rank of ‘Captain’. Fans of the anime will no doubt enjoy this feature, but in the cold light of day it’s just another extension of the already-present survival mode. Looking past the usual sound test and art gallery features, the only really noteworthy unlockable bonus is the puzzle game ‘Blockon’ – and even that is merely an update of the same game that was included with the original B:HTS.
Graphically the game retains the robust look of the first game. The fighters are well-rendered and excellently animated, and do a commendable job of transferring the feel of their animated counterparts to the 3D fighting arena. The only negative aspects are their ‘jaggy’ appearance (the PSP’s pin-sharp screen shows this up – on a standard television set it would be less of a problem) and the clipping effect that manifests itself when clothing passes through solid objects like weapons or limbs. The backgrounds are also 3D and have an impressive sense of depth and scale. Unfortunately they remain unpopulated and dull, especially when you consider the excellent examples shown in other recent 3D fighters. Fans of the series will notice many familiar locations (such as the rooftop of the Soul Society) and this will no doubt go some way in making up for their unfortunate blandness.
Thankfully the overall presentation of the game is excellent – the anime introduction is crisp and clear (and seems to go on forever, which is no bad thing). The menu screens feature plenty of animation and character, and even the loading screens are stylish and eye-catching, which is advantageous as loading between each bout can take a while, although it is by no means the worst yet seen on Sony’s handheld. Much of the menu system is in Japanese, but thankfully a small amount of English text is present and this allows non-fluent gamers to navigate their path through the game modes successfully.
Another area which Sony has failed to improve on is the sound. Many of the tunes heard here are simply lifted from the original release. Although the music isn’t terrible by any means, some of the tracks are a little too sedate for a fighting game. The Soul Calibur series has shown that powerful and epic scores can improve the impact of such a game immeasurably. Having said that, SNK’s Samurai Shodown/Spirits range of games has often relied on more laid-back musical accompaniment to much success, but B:HTS2 also fails to achieve this level of grace and sophistication with its tunes.
As such, B:HTS2 is a difficult game to recommend unreservedly. The problem doesn’t stem from the quality of the title – which is perfectly acceptable – it’s finding the kind of gamer that this product will appeal to. Fans of the anime will no doubt have already splashed their hard-earned cash on the first B:HTS, and therefore it’s rather hard to wholeheartedly endorse a game which only updates the original very slightly. On the other hand, PSP owners who have not experienced the anime are likely to be put off by the subject matter, although ironically it is these gamers who will probably gain the most enjoyment as they will most likely have let the original pass under their radar.
Under the anime façade is a solid 3D brawler that easily ranks as the best of its genre on the PSP (although this is damning with faint praise as there is a pitiful lack of competition at the present moment in time). It’s just a shame that Sony has been so lazy with the update, as so much more could have been included in terms of characters, modes, music and unlockable content.
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System: Sony PlayStation Portable
Genre: Fighter
Developer: Sony
Publisher: Sony
Players: 1-2
Version: Japan
Reviewed: Feb 2006
Writer: Damien McFerran
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Pros:
- Impressive Graphic Engine
- Good fighting system
- Unlockable content will keep players busy
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Cons:
- Largely recycled from the previous release
- Not as impressive as it could be
- Bland backgrounds
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