Who's here to greet us in the new millennium to kick digital ass and chew cyber bubblegum? Not Duke Nukem, he comes 10 years later...

This is Oni boys and girls, it is THE game my sister got when she bought a PS2 and HOLY CRAP is it an awesome game for a brand new system (at the time). This game was developed by Bungie, as in THE company behind Halo. What is Oni's gameplay like exactly? Well, it's a 3rd person brawler/shooter in which you play Konoko, a new to the force cop fighting the ever dangerous cyber punk that do illegal stuff and wanna destroy the world in their crime wave and be the only ones that could save people if the survivors can afford to. There's a little more to it with Konoko's story but I really don't wanna blow it all.

"Devil Spin Kick... Very similar to Double Dragon's
cyclone kick... But with majestic purple aura!
Ooooooo... Aaaaaaaah..." - Mad Wolf

So yeah, the game has good action and a pretty deep storyline once you beat the first couple of levels. As for other stuff? Well, you can see there's still some major pointy polygons going on though graphic detail is WAY better than anything on the original PlayStation. Characters can seem a little lifeless and doll-like in cutscenes which can't be skipped, the tutorial level gets annoying after playing it a couple times but there's a LOT of stuff to control in this game (namely different martial art moves) so drilling it into your head is crucial. Some of the level areas feel empty and you gotta run across all these hallways and courtyards (Which Bungie continues to do in the latest Halo games) but in this case it helps add to the idea you're in a mega city with these giant industrial facilities... It'd be nice to see more detail as to what needs that much space though. Static objects are your friends, game developers! They add to the atmosphere and overall decor...

"An empty courtyard to fight in and no explosive barrels or nothing... And only 2 dead guys! Seriously, shouldn't there be more? Did this super mutant guy eat the others?"
-Konoko

"Yay... An empty hallway to fight in... No obstacles, cliffs, or anything to smash this guy through..."
-Konoko

"Where are all the cars?!?!"
-Konoko

These things said, I think this is one of the greatest 3rd person action games around and did a really great job with the design for the late 90s/dawn of the 2000s. Oni is definitely one game to buy a PS2 for and gets 5 out of 5 cyber punk baddies to beat up! And that leaves me to ask what the Hell, Bungie? You have like 7-8 Halo games released but Oni NEVER got a sequel? Get on that! We'd love to see an Oni 2 with Konoko fighting new bad guys, maybe a conspiracy going on, maybe with online multiplayer support but don't let this game series with it's incredible characters and world just die out, Oni deserves WAY better than that.