GameSpite: Doin’ dishes samurai style

Wes — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:43:54 +0000

It’s something most of us have to deal with, sooner or later. We all reach the age when parents begin to hand off household responsibilities, exposing us to one of life’s bitter truths: washing dishes sucks. That must be why The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai feels so right — the seeming absurdity of an undead dishwasher exacting bloody vengeance on legions of cyborgs makes a little sense, if you think about it. The torturous existence of a career dishwasher must surely fill a reservoir of repressed, unhealthy rage…and when that reservoir overflows, well…. Or at least, that’s my justification. Paper thin or not, it makes about as much sense as the vague, blurry comic book narration jammed between each level of The Dishwasher’s story mode, which somehow manages to be more nonsensical than I’d expected.

Thankfully, story isn’t really a major concern when it comes to the beat ‘em up genre. Weapons, combos, enemies, and levels are what matter, and Dishwasher delivers those in spades. Each of the five weapons can be upgraded to unlock new attacks, as can the health and dish magic capacities. Castle Crashers is arguably the premier brawler on XBLA, but Dishwasher provides some surprisingly fierce competition. While I miss the four-player co-op, comprehensive leveling system, and wonderful aesthetics of The Behemoth’s $15 title, The Dishwasher may have just stolen my heart; it’s the 2D equivalent of Itakgaki’s Ninja Gaiden, right down to the medium and heavy attacks, brutal finishing moves and blood-spurting, eviscerated torsos. But as much as I love all of those things, there was one final element that pushed it over the edge: the chainsaw.

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Wesley Fenlon | Not with a bang but a whimper. » dishwasher-dead-samurai

GameSpite: Doin’ dishes samurai style