Review | Bayonetta
Format: Xbox360/PS3 | Genre: Action | Publisher: Sega | Developer: Platinum Games | Release date: 08/01/10 | RRP: £49.99
Witch Time occurs when you dodge an enemy attack just before it connects, offering up a few seconds of slow-motion for you to really punish your enemies. It’s critical to defeating many of your opponents later on in the game, so figuring it out early is strongly advised, as the huge amount of combos are no substitute for a well-executed Witch Time sequence.
The huge range of combos is thanks to the many different attacks Bayonetta can perform. Her whole body is a weapon, with pistols and ice skates attached to her feet, ordinary fist and 
kick attacks, weapon-based attacks with swords and more pistols, torture attacks which become available after stringing a set amount of combos together, and finally the Wicked Weave attacks performed with Bayonetta’s hair and clothing. These attacks are tremendously powerful and look amazing, calling forth the forms of Demons to finish off the many bosses, which also look amazing, brought to life by exceptional visual design.
Indeed, Bayonetta never looks anything short of gorgeous. The character animations and models are brilliant, and the huge variety of environments demonstrates real character and the highest level of detail. Moreover, it’s all truly imaginative – exceptionally so with the boss models, which are all colossal entities that absolutely take your breath away. They range from a huge cherub’s face with two dragon heads either side, to even more absurd forms beyond description. The designs are magnificent: even the more common foes look great, and the variety is impressive.
I’M TOO SEXY FOR MY SHIRT
There’s a delightful score accompanying it all, as well. Jazz numbers and Japanese pop lead the way, and mostly fit the game’s tempo. The occasional song may sound a little odd in context, but you’ll soon come to appreciate the choice. The voice acting is less impressive, but the tongue-in-cheek argument prevails, making it all fit together in a harmonic way, and certainly contributing to Bayonetta’s notable sense of sexuality.
Everything, from the animations to the lollypop items available for use, is provocative. Many of the combat moves such as certain torture attacks and all Wicked Weave attacks, which 
strips most of Bayonetta’s clothes away, follow a sexual trend, opening the door of innuendo and allowing you to slip straight in. But once again, it’s too outlandish not to be read with a smile, and it works so successfully in Bayoneeta’s favour. She’s as close to sexy as a videogame character can, and should, get, while quietly mocking the whole idea. The result is a sexual tone realised in a way seldom seen in other games.
With Hideki Kamiya behind Bayonetta, the comparison to Devil May Cry was inevitable, but in fact the two feel very different, despite the obvious similarities. While elements such as the combat look identical, they play out very differently, and the variety involved in all aspects of the game set Bayonetta apart from other action titles. There are many references to other games embedded in the experience – elements from Resident Evil and Space Harrier, to name just two – but despite all this Bayonetta remains an impressively original title. Few competitors show such imagination and flare.
Bayonetta sets a new benchmark for the genre, and lives up to the hype with absolute success. If this is a taste of what’s to come in 2010, then it’s going to stand out as a terrific year for games. By Greg Giddens
9/10
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Not played a huge amount of Bayonetta, but enough to know it is absolutely bonkers. In a good way, though. I think.
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