Samurais versus cowboys - Way Of The Samurai is westwards

If SPOnG hears the words cowboy and samurai in the same sentence, first thing on a Monday morning, then we know it’s going to be a good week. Given a creative freedom over what games developers should be thinking about, samurai cowboys would be amongst the most highly prioritised of our suggestions. Hence the announcement from Japanese developer, Acquire, that Samurai Western: Katsugei Samurai-Do is hitting Japanese PS2s this winter makes us grin in a manner most unbefitting of the time of morning, and indeed, the early stage of the week.

The only limits to our excitement come from the fact that Acquire’s previous Samurai games, under the banner of Way Of The Samurai, have been slightly lacklustre. Mind you, they didn’t enable the samurai to deflect bullets with a sword, pinging them back at the stetsoned heads of the rootin’, tootin varmin that done gone fire shot at you; so we shall suppress any cynical urges until we get to see the finished article. Acquire says this defines the “sword versus gun action” genre, and for the meantime, we believe them whole-heartedly.

If this comes anywhere close to being a cross between Ninja Gaiden and Red Dead Revolver, it will be an amazing thing. We’ll certainly let you know if that’s the case.