Not really sure how you pronounce ‘Xrd’ or even what that means, but this is the newest in the Guilty Gear 2-D one-on-one fighter series.  It’s available for PS3 and PS4, but reviewed on PS3 here.  Just like other brawlers, pick your favorite anime-styled fighter and go against the computer or other players as you use fancy joystick movements and button combinations to perform outlandish moves to knock out your opponents.

The new Guilty Gear game has several modes for single players and online.  In Arcade Mode, you can go through the story of each character as you battle a progression of fighters.  Vs. Mode is for two players to battle it out locally.  M.O.M. Mode is a unique single player mode where you collect medals after knocking out your opponent, and then use those medals to upgrade your character.  It just adds some complexity and difficulty for those who want that.

There is also a Story Mode, but it’s not what you might think.  It’s just reading a bunch of text about the aftermath of the characters and settings in Arcade Mode, so you’ll want to play that first beforehand.  But Story Mode does have a lot of full animation and voice acting, so if you like anime cartoons with lots of convoluted storylines, you’ll enjoy this part of the game, too.  Especially if you like the Guilty Gear characters.

You can also practice moves in the Training Modes, and take on challenges and missions to sharpen your skills, too.  And of course there is a plethora of online modes as well.  You can also view your saved replays, read up on the history of the characters and settings of Guilty Gear, and buy pictures, sounds, and even characters in the Gallery with points you earn while playing.

One of the things that impressed me the most is the graphics.  The characters look like hand-drawn cartoons, but for certain special moves, the game’s camera will rotate around even though it’s a 2-D game.  This coupled with fully animated intros and win poses makes it hard to distinguish where the cartoon ends and the game begins.  It’s very impressive.

However, the game has a few minor problems.  There aren’t as many characters to select from, which is something that other Guilty Gear games have in common, too.  While it’s good they didn’t let adding too many characters bog the game down, I was surprised that some favorites didn’t make the cut, and I’m afraid they might end up being DLC later on.  Plus the game is pretty difficult, even on Easy Mode.  But if you’re a seasoned pro and enjoyed the other Guilty Gear games, you’ll probably want to get this one, too.

Kid Factor:

Guilty Gear Xrd –SIGN– is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco, and Violence.  I really didn’t notice too much blood, as the game is pretty cartoony.  Of course there is violence since it’s a fighting game, but again, everything is pretty cartoonish.  Some of the female characters wear revealing outfits and say suggestive things, and other characters smoke, too.  There is cursing in the text and while playing, and some of the fighters are real potty mouths.  All this plus the high difficulty level make this game best suited for teens and older gamers.

Tags: Game Reviews