The first Afro Samurai game, though it didn’t release on PC, was fun enough. It was a cell-shaded, third-person hack ‘n’ slash with an attitude and it did Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s “cut where you want” system before that game was a twinkle in Platinum’s eye. You could trace lines over your enemies for tactical arm choppage, scalp people and aim at exposed bits of flesh on armoured enemies.
Afro Samurai 2: Episode One is coming to PC, however, and it’s coming on September 22. There will be two more episodes to follow, with their release dates yet to be announced.
This spin-off of the popular manga follows cybernetic, teddybear mask-wearing samurai Kuma. He was once Afro’s friend, but now believes he was responsible for the death of his family, so he wants to chop him into tiny pieces.
The animation’s creatorTakashi Okazaki is onboard to handle the storyboard cutscenes between missions, supplying the first new Afro Samurai artwork in years, so fans should be pleased. RZA is also still involved in the soundtrack, but seems to have stepped back into more of a producer role, letting new talent perform the tracks.
It doesn’t look likely that Samuel L Jackson will be reprising his role as Afro, though, as this little detail would likely be being shouted through megaphones if he were. There’s nothing about who voices Afro on the game’s site. Perhaps this is why this game has instead shifted to the perspective of the Yuri Lowenthal voiced Kuma.
Samuel L Jackson or not, it looks to retain the same signature attitude. Here’s a daft music video to prove it: