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  • The moment the prologue begins in Bayonetta, it's clear that you're in for a different

  • and very wild ride. As your character battles the armies of heaven on the face of an exploding

  • clock tower as it falls from a mountaintop, you realize that you've entered a world of

  • pure spectacle, where one witch's magic makes almost anything possible. Such is the world

  • of Bayonetta, and this is merely the first step on a long road of delightful insanity

  • that pushes the limits of ridiculosity to their breaking point. It's easy to dismiss

  • this high-octane hack-and-slash action game as all style with no substance because, well,

  • just look at it, but to do so would be a grave mistake. Beneath all its madness, Bayonetta

  • is a deep and intricately nuanced action game that allows everyone from an untrained button-masher

  • to a god of war to unleash impressive combo attacks and elegantly eliminate their enemies.

  • With expert pacing and a number of subtle but brilliant tweaks to the formula, Bayonetta

  • is a bewitching adventure that simply must be seen to be believed.

  • After 500 years of being sealed in a tomb at the bottom of a lake, the woman known as

  • Bayonetta remembers not much more than that she's a powerful witch and she's looking for

  • something called The Eyes of the World. On a tip from her informant, she heads to the

  • isolated city of Vigrid where she begins to piece together her missing memories and learn

  • about the downfall of the Umbran Witches and their opposites, the Lumen Sages. In and around

  • the ancient city, a series of hilariously over-the-top moments ensue--each of which

  • somehow surpasses the previous--that loosely form a coherent narrative amidst a plethora

  • of sight gags, sexual innuendos, and gratuitously violent angelic deaths. Amidst all the absurdity is a perfectly understandable

  • plot with some surprisingly sweet moments, but the main attraction is the combat, not

  • the storytelling.

  • Bayonetta is mortal enemies with the angels of Paradiso who seem to emerge at every corner

  • in Vigrid spoiling for a fight. Armed with a unique set of four guns (two of which are

  • attached to her high heels), Bayonetta punches, kicks, and shoots her way through the heavenly

  • aggressors that hound her every step. Besides the basics, she can also perform a number

  • of stylish special attacks to punish her enemies in often mind-boggling ways. It's hard not

  • to be hooked after performing your first outrageous combo, which may or may not involve break

  • dancing, conjured guillotines, and dozens of bullets to bridge together the myriad punches

  • and kicks.

  • However, the most important power at your disposal in Bayonetta is your instantaneous

  • ability to dodge any enemy attack at the pull of a trigger, which rewards you in more ways

  • than one. By dodging an attack at the last possible moment, Bayonetta temporarily slows

  • time down to a crawl for everyone else, allowing her to thoroughly thrash her foes and circumvent

  • their sometimes considerable defenses. Battle is a fluid and continuous dance, and your

  • performance is graded and compared against other players via online leaderboards. Obtaining

  • a coveted "pure platinum" grade is both challenging and rewarding, and going for one is a great

  • reason to replay to drive your scores higher and higher.

  • When not actively killing the agents of heaven, your time is spent solving simple environmental

  • puzzles, searching for hidden challenge rooms, and watching as the fun and preposterous story

  • unfolds one cutscene at a time. When the moon is full and visible--which happens much more

  • often than you would think--Bayonetta is able to walk on walls and ceilings to move about

  • or fight in some of the most memorable moments in the game. Action peaks when the most powerful

  • of angels appear to try and stop Bayonetta, and you'll need every one of the powers at

  • your disposal to defeat these titans of heaven.

  • Unfortunately, there is a great performance divide between the two versions of Bayonetta,

  • with the Xbox 360 platform coming out on top. Whereas the PS3 version is plagued by grainier

  • and more washed out visuals, noticeable frame-rate dips, and frequent and excessively long load

  • times, none of these issues are to be found in its Xbox 360 counterpart. All together,

  • these problems can notably affect your enjoyment, and in a game where high energy combat is

  • king, they are pretty significant.

  • Regardless of which version you play, Bayonetta's flexible fighting engine and competitive online

  • scoring system make it less a sister to other similar games as it is a next evolution of

  • them. Its battle controls feel natural and responsive from the very first moment you

  • experience them, and the magic remains there throughout the journey, whether you're throwing

  • a bus or fighting an enormous boss in the sky. Chock full of often silly but always

  • memorable moments, Bayonetta stays with you long after you've stopped playing.

The moment the prologue begins in Bayonetta, it's clear that you're in for a different

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