Samurai Western coming to America @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on February 23, 2005

News: Go west young samurai as Atlus plans to bring Spike's newest Samurai game to America.

Spike continues their Samurai ways as they announced that they've partnered with Atlus to bring Samurai Western to the U.S.

Recently released in Japan (and recently previewed on EGM's "International" page), Samurai Western is the most recent game from the Way of the Samurai developer and takes their Samurai skills to a different level. Gone are the time limits of Way of the Samurai. Your samurai no longer has to restart the game after death in search of a different path. Your samurai is also no longer nameless as "Gojiro Kiryu is bringing justice back to the Old West."

Slash your way through 16 different missions!

"Bushido Sense" allows you to dodge and deflect bullets with superhuman skill!

Customize your hero by choosing between 10 different stances each with their own special attacks and powers!

Over 100 unlockables including over 25 playable characters, 70 accessories and 20 weapons!

Be a Samurai or a Gunman! Unique 2 player mode allows you to play as both!

Unleash the power of the samurai in Master Mode and chain hundred-hit combos!

"We're thrilled to be adding Samurai Western to the Atlus' line-up, said Gail Salamanca, Marketing Manager, Atlus U.S.A., Inc. "There's nothing quite like deflecting a rain of gun fire while running up on a group of gunmen, only to eviscerate them in one fell swoop. Whoever said 'never bring a knife to a gunfight' obviously hadn't played Samurai Western."

A few improvements are also being lined up for the game's North American release. Enhanced graphics, a first person mode, an "Insane" difficulty level and the aforementioned Bushido Sense are now being crammed into the game.

Samurai Western is being prepped for a June release with a retail price of $39.99.

On a completely personal note. If Spike can fit Way of the Samurai 2's fantastic swordfighting engine into a non-repetitive game, I'd be absolutely thrilled.