Review by: Brian Rowe

Bayonetta is a sensual ballet of hyper-kinetic violence that makes no pretense to be wholesome entertainment. Discontent with simply shooting her angelic adversaries, the self-titled protagonist whips into a frenzy of pin-up poses amid a vortex of brass casings. She pauses on all fours, her butt poised in the air, as a finger innocently caresses her cheek. Sex sells, but these curves are too dangerous for Playboy. In a one-on-one fight, she would have Kratos impaled dirty-end-first on a barbed pike in two seconds flat.

With two pistols in her hands, two strapped to her feet, and a skin-tight cat-suit of magical hair, Bayonetta is as preposterous as she is lethal. A bullet to the head is only the precursor to an acrobatic barrage of high-heeled blasts and aerial combos. She cartwheels over the edge of a massive sword with effortless grace and launches into a back flipping cyclone of gunfire. Revealing the smooth flesh beneath, her hair unwinds from her body before curling into a massive fist that squashes its prey with unmerciful brutality. Battle is a striptease and the better you do, the more you’re likely to see. In less capable hands, one might mistake Bayonetta for digital smut.

Bayonetta is an insidiously difficult game that demands tactical perfection. The sultry protagonist commands a vast array of gymnastic combos and special attacks. Button-mashing works to a mediocre degree, but ultimately robs you of aesthetic gratification and halos; in-game currency for purchasing new guns, restorative items, and new attacks. Timing is the fulcrum of combat. Bayonetta slips into the slow-motion realm of Witch Time after a perfectly executed dodge. Chaining Witch Time’s is the key to maximizing combos for the best rewards and provides the perfect motivation for players to leap into danger.

The new year has barely begun and the bar for boss-fights has been raised to extravagant heights. Bayonetta’s opponents are angels in name only. Like the recollection of a dream, the hulking amalgamations of deformed limbs, dragon heads, cherub-faced tentacles, and divine machinery defy sane descriptions. They are frighteningly massive, equally resilient, and will not be felled with flashing sequences of buttons alone. You will have to find a way to get up close and personal, even if that means battling your way up the skyscraper-sized arm of a behemoth or leaping through a mid-air cascade of swirling debris.

This is a rare game in which the flamboyancy of gameplay can not be outclassed by the cutscenes. Kicking an enemy into an iron maiden, crushing him in the teeth of a giant vice, and rupturing every artery with a gargantuan chainsaw (ala MadWorld) happens in visually orgasmic real-time. Unfortunately, the frenzied action and the camera’s eagerness to capture every scintillating detail clash with chaotic results. You may find yourself reduced to a pin-point at the foot of a boss or disoriented and vulnerable as the lens zooms in for a perfect butt-shot. It is rarely a problem due to the superb mechanics of combat, but distracting nonetheless.