The Mark Of Kri

Whoa, talk about slipping in under the radar. I went into The Mark ofKri expecting nothing and came out completely blown away by the overall quality of this strange but engrossing action/adventure game. First of all, don't judge this game by its goofy graphics. Kri fuses Disney's naive sense of adventure with the darker and more mature edge of classic laserdisc games like Dragon's Lair and Space Ace for a hyper-violent experience. Mark my words: This game is not for kids. It makes Conan the Barbarian look like The Jungle Book by comparison. But if you're in the mood to spill some blood, Kri is the game for you. Much of the combat involves rotating the right analog stick to lock onto individual or group targets, as you're constantly taking on a bunch of enemies at once. Think of it like some sort of sweeping melee sonar. Once you've picked your victims, they're assigned to different buttons on the Dual Shock, giving you the ability to attack multiple enemies simultaneously. The ingenuity of this system is in how it alters your combat effectiveness based on the number of bad guys you pursue; the more you target, the less complex your combos. Combine this deep fighting system with four distinct weapon styles, innovative stealth action, a ton of over-the-top death animations, sublime use of feedback vibration and beautiful hand-drawn cutscenes, and you've got the sleeper hit of the year.

Between Krfs> storybook style, intense voice acting and epic storyline, I would have sworn it was based on an animated film. But after my burly hero rammed an enemy head-first into a stone wall, I knew this was no Bambi. Krfs gameplay blends solid slasher action with keen stealth elements--I especially dug the intuitive combat model that had me ably fending off three attackers at once. The game affords you several options for tricking foes into becoming easier kills, but you can always just dive in for an all-out melee. With all the new attack features it kept introducing, Kri felt a little like one big training mission, but I was blown away by its depth.

What the...where did this game come from? It's like someone took the best parts of a Disney film--the memorable characters and smooth animation--and replaced all the song-and-dance numbers with necksnapping, torso-gutting, throat-slitting carnage. Combat is an adrenaline rush of offense, defense and combos that lets you kick multiple butts at once, and, most importantly, with style. And the way your bird can scout ahead, grab items and fool guards? Genius. Not to mention all the stealth, sniping and puzzle elements worked into the various levels. It's right up there with Metal Gear Solid 2 as the best action the PS2 has to offer. Play it.