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Jan 19, 2010 Web Exclusive By Nick Hyman

Bayonetta is the most talked about game of the season. It's not hard to see why, after being slapped back and forth by the titular sexy female demon (with dark hair that covers her body and sexy librarian glasses), who sucks on lollipops and spreads her legs every which way while kicking angelic ass. I'm convinced that a team of horny 13-year old boys made this game. How else to account for the furious button-mashing, combo-laden action, and rampant misogyny and cultural stereotypes found throughout? It's hard to be too offended, though, since the whole thing is over-the-top silly and mostly fun to play.

Creator Hideki Kamiya uses his experience on the stylistically similar Devil May Cry (fast character movement and rapid-fire action) to make a game that not only pushes the visual palette with beautifully lush graphics but also controls like a dream. It's too bad that the game includes so many head-scratching moments where the player is confused over what they should be doing next, not to mention several areas where they get lost in combat due to an unforgiving camera angle. The overall presentation could have also used some extra polish, with cheesy grainy filmstrip cinematics telling the batshit-crazy narrative. Did I mention that the game is hard and unforgiving? It is, but it's rarely boring, and with a wide variety of combos that invite replayability; this might be the perfect game to keep you busy until the arrival of God of War III. (www.sega.com/platinumgames/bayonetta)

Author rating: 7/10