Bloodroots

Players had best not mind dying, because they're bound to do a lot of it in this frenetic action game. Bloodroots' main shtick is that just about any object can be picked up and used as a weapon, from chains and fence posts to pots and animal skins. They break almost as quickly as Mr. Wolf finds them, but new weapons are plentiful and can be equipped with a button tap. Since most enemies are killed with a single hit, the action tends to be extremely fast-paced, with players encouraged to grab weapons without even stopping as they rush between foes. With such a powerful hero, the only way to keep players from easily rampaging through enemies is to give him a weakness, which, in Mr. Wolf's case, is the fact that he, too, can be killed with a single blow. That means he tends to die. A lot. Thankfully, the game reloads previous save points almost instantly. But checkpoints can feel few and far between, which means players may end up killing the same enemies over and over before dying at the same tricky spot and being forced to begin again.

Stick with it, though, and you're likely to achieve a weird sort of Zen state as you begin to master different types of weapons (each one has its own effects, area of attack, and, in some cases, secondary traversal abilities) and become intimately familiar with the layout of each level. You'll begin putting together spectacular combos that are equal parts silly and ultraviolent. It's the sort of game that becomes more enjoyable the more you play, with satisfaction mounting not from completing scenes, advancing the story, or even defeating bosses, but instead from honing your skills and stringing together seemingly impossible physical feats. It won't be for everyone, but players who enjoy skill-based games with challenging combat and imaginative visuals are bound to have a blast with Bloodroots.