Additional challenges
Even after the credits roll in Black Rock Shooter, there lies a number of extra challenges and fights to go through to fully expand Black Rock Shooter‘s arsenal. The achievements mentioned earlier in this review constitute a majority of the content to the game. Many of the enemies and bosses faced earlier on in the story rear their ugly (well, only some of them. Most of the characters are excessively cute) heads with much harder variants that take a lot more effort to finish off. Once they’re down for the count, either Black Rock Shooter can typically gain new costumes and skills or new content will be added to the gallery depending on each individual challenge.
NOT
A short joyride
Even with the story to run through and the additional challenges to complete, much of Black Rock Shooter is finished in under fifteen hours. She rides the line between an action game that lasts just long enough to feel fresh and a game that feels like so many of the ideas just aren’t filled out in a way that leaves me feeling satisfied. Sadly, Black Rock Shooter veers her way into the oncoming lane of un-satisfaction far too often. Why introduce a motorcycle driving mini-game if it’s only used for five minutes? Why give Black Rock Shooter such a vast arsenal of weapons and skills if most feel like they handicap her more than her standard laser cannon? With each moment that I felt like the game was close to being great, I’d hit a moment that brings me back to the usual gameplay and grind.
Confusing without watching the anime first
Black Rock Shooter may be based off an anime but unlike many anime-based games, it doesn’t offer much of a coherent story for the first time fan. The story starts off in the midst of a skirmish in San Francisco. 99.999% of the world’s population has died off, leaving less than a dozen human soldiers left alive to defend the world. Major story characters are thrown into the mix with barely any introduction, leaving the player to feel a bit disconnected with how everything falls together. If it weren’t for the basic knowledge that Black Rock Shooter is the main heroine and everything else stands in her way, one might confuse the intentions of the antagonists for something more heroic. That is, if each colored cast member weren’t as certifiably insane as the next. Fans familiar with the source material can easily identify each character and their motivations, but the casual player may be left questioning just what exactly is going on in this desolate planet. An unusual note to mention is that each representation (anime, manga, and this game) of Black Rock Shooter all center around the same heroine but each have original stories.
VERDICT
Black Rock Shooter is easily one of the more enjoyable rides I’ve played in quite some time, despite its occasional dip into cruise control and sameness. For a game based upon an anime heroine, this one definitely stepped away from the simpler conventions and went to try for a new style of role playing game. Sadly, many of those new ideas just aren’t expressed nearly as well as they could be and much of Black Rock Shooter tends to feel all too simple and basic once the credits roll. For those with an extra $20 to spend on the PlayStation Network, Black Rock Shooter can be an enjoyable ride that doesn’t last any longer than it needs to.
[Editor’s Note: Black Rock Shooter was reviewed on the PSP platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
Alex
April 30, 2013 at 10:05 PMI liked the game. The story could’ve been a lot better and the combat system can be repetettive especially since they reused enemies since spStage 1, but overall it’s an okay game. More character development would’ve been nice.
Also you don’t need to watch the anime or read the Black Rock Shooter ~Innocent Souls~ manga, to understand the game. For one, each Black Rock Shooter has different names in each series. The game’s was Stella, the anime/OVA Black Rock Shooter was the “other self” of Mato, and the manga’s was Rock. All had different plots, all had completely different enemies. Dead Master other than an arnament named after her, Chariot, Black Gold Saw, and Strength aren’t in this game at all.
Fans aren’t going to know anymore of the antagonist’s backstory than someone who is new to BRS because they are original characters made for this game. Even BRS’s backstory in the game differs from other carnations. The only way someone would know more personality of the game’s characters is by reading the game’s manga version which is essentially the same story with minor differences but more dialouge from the characters.