The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai | Review

Synopsis: The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is an Xbox LIVE Arcade release that is available to download now for 800 MS Points. The XBLA game is a 2D platformer that shows us the capabilities of what a guy with no developer experience can do with XNA over the course of a year and a half. Ska Software brings us what we have been waiting for, an undead samurai out for the blood of an evil cyborg army, using blades, machinery, and of course dish magic. Dishwasher offers us the ability to put our guitar peripherals to use in arcade co-op, drop-in solo campaign co-op, and drop-in solo phantom guitar co-op. Players using the guitar are able to kill by performing solos, basic movement, and cut through baddies with the guitars movement. So how does this game fare, and was it worth all the hype and wait?

Praise: The gameplay is extremely fast and fluid, making combos fun to rack up before going onto the “messy kill”, which makes me smile every time I pull it off. After the player has just about beaten a baddy to death, a button prompt shows up on the screen which leads into one of many finishing moves. The visuals are a lot more that I expected as this is a 2D platform with a 3D background that is in color, while your character and your enemies are all black and white. Gameplay also has a hint of RPG, whereas you are able to level up weapons, raise your health bar, and purchase other power ups and life enhancing items while hacking and slashing you way through each level. The difficulty is on the more challenging side, which I personally enjoy in a game, but is sometimes frowned on by the more casual players.

Gripes: The only issue I had with The Dishwasher was the difficulty to identify my player among other enemies on screen as they sometimes look similar with all that is going on during the action. Playing this game on a smaller or non high def television would make this more difficult.

Overall, The Dishwasher is an extremely creative game amidst the massive amount of mediocrity available. It is easy to just pick up and play, the learning curve to get comfortable with the gameplay takes just a level or two, and with a number of game modes it has more than enough content to prevent any sort of buyers’ remorse.

Mashbuttons gives the Dishwasher 9 out of 10