God Hand for PS2
© Capcom

Mania Grade: C+
Platform: PS2
ESRB: Mature
Genre: Action
Players: 1
Online: No
Developer: Clover
Publisher: Capcom
Suggested Retail: $29.99
Graphics: C+
Sound: C+
Gameplay: B
Replay: C
Fun Factor: B-

Buy it now!

Related Links

2

God Hand

The story is a little cookie cutter, with a syndicate of evil trying to help out a fallen angel. There are three main people that head this group, with a seemingly infinite amount of flunkies. One of them is a vampire demon creature that hates everything to do with humans. One is a cheap fat cannibal, whom is so cheap that he reuses his burned out cigars. Finally there is a succubus, whom delights in stealing life essence. It almost seems like humanity is doomed, since this group causes many despicable acts, like the massacring of humanity. Such acts involve the removal of arms, which is the reason that brought forth the God Hand. You play as Gene, a rambler stuck with a God Hand, whom wants to put an end to this problem.

The game rests its entire experience on humor to push the game through. From the over the top battle system, which we will soon get to, to the storylines, there is always something to snicker at. There is a lot of sexual humour, which is fairly stimulating. There are childish antics, like a girl putting a “kick me” sign on the back of the main character, before he goes out into battle. The humor is quite nice to see, and a riot for the first time watching it. As much as I would like to say otherwise, it you will slowly become immune to it, especially if you play through the game multiple times.

For graphics, the game is fairly poor. There is nothing delights the eyes, other than the cinematics, and even then it is stretching it. What is even worse though is the camera control, which positions itself just behind the character’s back. You will also find that the camera will peek through walls if you are close enough, which is helpful, yet a little annoying. There is also no lock-on feature, so you will need to scout out where the enemies are, which can end up being extremely annoying. Combining this with the combat system, it makes the game a little painful at time, but more on that later. Defeating enemies may have them drop power-ups, which will fuel God Hand abilities. Likewise there are also barrels or creates to destroy that will drop the occasional power-up or even gold.

Moving back to the combat system, you will choose the attacks that you want to use by assigning them in the main menu. There is a combo system set up for the main attack button, which runs through several while you are pummelling on enemies. You must be careful on which attacks you add to this list, as one may knock them away, and end your combo. Beyond that you have buttons you can assign for single attacks like kicks, and they can be the most lethal of all.

Part of the “over the top system” has enemies being drilled across the screen until they hit a wall, and later on can have them fly off into the sky. Uppercuts can send them into the heavens as well, so pleasure can be had in every battle. The right analog stick will be used to dodge enemy attacks, as there is no block button, and it can be used at pretty much any time. If you stick with the battle long enough to daze your opponent, you may lock them into a special attack, like stomping on them, until they get up, by rapidly hitting the circle button. This addition is a lot of fun to play with, since it varies nicely depending on the enemy.

Since you are a character with the God Hand, you will have special abilities. After fighting with enemies for a while, a bar that fuels the God Hand fills up. Using the ability has your character go into a fighting zone, being able to inflict a world of hurt on all enemies attacked. The best part about the mode is that it makes your character invincible to attacks, fires, or even bombs. The second ability given to you is the roulette, which gives you several special attacks to use against your enemies. One of them happens to be the Ball Breaker, and like the name suggests, it gives an enemy a shot to the pills. The roulette differs from the God Hand, as to recharge it you will need to pick up power-ups, rather than re-fueling it through fighting.

Moving forward to the main boss battles, a lot of them are quite challenging. They range in difficulty, and it can take several lives before you figure out the best way to defeat them. I find this a shining point in the game, since most of the regular battles are easily dismissible. There are multiple mini-bosses in the game, which occur randomly after an enemy death. The enemy is reborn with a shadow monster body, which can be very challenging to defeat. If you do succeed in defeating them, you will unlock another technique for your arsenal.

Outside of each of the levels, there is the option to visit either the store or the casino. The store allows you to buy additional techniques, or purchase upgrades to your character. It also allows you to purchase things for the roulette, further increasing your God Hand abilities. Moving onto the casino, the games that are available will depend on how far along in the story you are. Since this is a casino, you will be wagering your money in hopes of getting more. Some of the games are video poker, blackjack, dog racing, and slots. I personally found that blackjack was fun, but you were fairly limited on what you could wager, until you got to the high rollers club. Most of the games are also toned down, so you do not have all of the features you would use normally. In blackjack as well, if you got two of the same cards, you could not choose to split them.

In the end, God Hand came out of the gates running, but slowed down as the race went on. While the battle system did have some substance, I wish it were a bit deeper. Battle heavily revolves around dodging, which weakens the gameplay from a fun battle system, into a cautious fight with each enemy. The graphics are sub-standard, and you may have more trouble fighting the camera angle than you will fighting enemies. The humor is great to see, but it slowly wears you down. This game is pretty good, but I recommend it more so as a rent, rather than a buy. All and all, Captain Gordon gives God Hand a C+.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? CaptainGordonEdward@Gmail.com