Anime fighter set for 2008
The action fighting game Bleach: Shattered Blade will be available on the Wii in early 2008 and will be based on the forthcoming animated anime series, Bleach.
The Bleach storyline follows fifteen-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki who has the power to see spirits from the afterlife, including warriors known as Soul Reapers. The Soul Reapers are tasked with defending humans from otherworldly beings called Hollows. One fateful day, Ichigo meets Rukia, a Soul Reaper who lends him her powers after she’s injured by a Hollow. In the game, players will progress through an exciting storyline facing increasingly difficult opponents in their quest to uncover the truth.
"The content of the Bleach story lends itself perfectly to an action packed arcade fighting game with a heavy dose of mighty sword battles", said Gary Knight, European Marketing Director SEGA Europe. "Both the flexibility of the Wii and the portability of the DS have allowed us to bring the intense action of Bleach to a wide variety of gamers and make a great companion to the awesome forthcoming TV series".
Players will use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as their weapons – slashing, jabbing, and lunging in furious battles like a real Soul Reaper. Bleach: Shattered Blade offers an exclusive storyline created specifically for the Wii with 32 characters to choose from. Once a new character is unlocked, players can replay the story episodes utilising the characters special moves and weapons adding a whole new perspective to the storyline.
On the Wii, players will be able to inflict enormous damage on opponents with powerful weapons and super power attacks taken straight from the TV series. Characters can summon supernatural allies such as a giant serpent, a samurai titan, or a tidal wave, for battle support. Players can also square-off against their friends in high-speed multiplayer combat in 3D arenas and environments based on settings from the series.
There will also a Nintendo DS version entitled Bleach: The Blade of Fate. Players will face a variety of opponents as one of 28 highly-stylised characters in intense action-packed battles based on the animated series. Bleach: The Blade of Fate on the Nintendo DS brings a twist to the traditional 2D fighting game with a new kind of battle system that enables players to move between upper and lower split-plane battle arenas to chase after or escape from opponents.
Bleach: The Blade of Fate for the DS also allows gamers to build Spirit Card Decks to strategically access power-ups and power-downs to perform special attacks, cast healing spells on themselves, displace opponents, or prohibit them from using their own Spirit Cards. Additionally, gamers can take to the streets battling against enemies in fast-paced combat via the Nintendo DS' Wi-Fi capabilities.
More screenshots overleaf
