(I played this on a PS2 emulator)
God Hand is an underrated fighting game from the PS2. It features one of the best fighting systems I’ve seen, and on top of that it has some great humour. The game gives off a feeling of a director who just wanted to make something fun without thinking about whether it will appeal to the majority. Reviews from critics support my view. I would recommend it if you want a fighting game that will give you a challenge, because you will get it no matter the difficulty you pick.
Story
Unless you have read the synopsis, you will have no idea what is happening. You play as Gene, who got his arm chopped off by demons, but got a special new one from Olivia. Now she wants you to beat up all the demons and save the world, otherwise she will chop it back off.
The setting of the game is described as the wild west, and it might look like that in the beginning, but you end up going thought of castles, a robot lab and what looks like Venice. All the enemies seem to have taken their fashion advice from JoJo. The variety in enemies is just as big – gorillas, midgets, rock stars and more. The story is also nothing profound.
If this gives off the appearance of a game that shouldn’t be taken seriously, that’s the point. The game is absolutely hilarious, it constantly throws gags at you, and the tonal whiplash is also meant to make you laugh.
Mechanics and gameplay
This is at its core a beat ‘em up. Gene has 6 attacks, his combo and 5 other that can interrupt the combo when the time is right. The special part is that all of these attacks can be change and there are 100+ options. This means that your combo can be entirely kicks, or you could have a powerful attack to use for when a foe is stunned. Some of these attacks also have special attributes, like guard breaker or launching an enemy in the air.
Landing hits fills your tension meter, which, when filled, means you can unleash the god hand. This gives you a massive boost in damage and makes you invulnerable.
Another powerful part of your arsenal is the roulette wheel. It can be used after collecting a card from levels and is a devastating attack, that you can choose to be anything from a ballbuster (doesn’t work on women), 100 punch combo or many others.
Where can you get them? At the store, of course. There you can also gamble, get upgrades or test your skills at the arena.
There are two difficulties in God Hand. First you have your standard easy, normal, hard, and then you have a dynamic difficulty while you play. Every time you deal damage or dodge an attack, a meter fills up. At a certain point, you go up to the next level. This means that enemies get more aggressive, change their attacks and get new ones. This serves to constantly keep you on your toes.
All of this and the snappy controls make the fighting incredibly fun. The only other game that comes close is maybe MGR:R.
Graphics and artstyle
This is God Hand's big downside. The characters models are acceptable, but everything else, it feels like I’m back in the dawn of 3D graphics.
Atmosphere
It’s silly.
Soundtrack
This is a very memorable soundtrack. I have so many of the songs stuck in my head. I cannot for the life of me describe the genre. My favourite is “Smoking Roll”.
Final Thoughts
"I am not that kind of guy!" - day ruined.
God Hand is an underrated fighting game from the PS2. It features one of the best fighting systems I’ve seen, and on top of that it has some great humour. The game gives off a feeling of a director who just wanted to make something fun without thinking about whether it will appeal to the majority. Reviews from critics support my view. I would recommend it if you want a fighting game that will give you a challenge, because you will get it no matter the difficulty you pick.
Story
Unless you have read the synopsis, you will have no idea what is happening. You play as Gene, who got his arm chopped off by demons, but got a special new one from Olivia. Now she wants you to beat up all the demons and save the world, otherwise she will chop it back off.
The setting of the game is described as the wild west, and it might look like that in the beginning, but you end up going thought of castles, a robot lab and what looks like Venice. All the enemies seem to have taken their fashion advice from JoJo. The variety in enemies is just as big – gorillas, midgets, rock stars and more. The story is also nothing profound.
If this gives off the appearance of a game that shouldn’t be taken seriously, that’s the point. The game is absolutely hilarious, it constantly throws gags at you, and the tonal whiplash is also meant to make you laugh.
Mechanics and gameplay
This is at its core a beat ‘em up. Gene has 6 attacks, his combo and 5 other that can interrupt the combo when the time is right. The special part is that all of these attacks can be change and there are 100+ options. This means that your combo can be entirely kicks, or you could have a powerful attack to use for when a foe is stunned. Some of these attacks also have special attributes, like guard breaker or launching an enemy in the air.
Landing hits fills your tension meter, which, when filled, means you can unleash the god hand. This gives you a massive boost in damage and makes you invulnerable.
Another powerful part of your arsenal is the roulette wheel. It can be used after collecting a card from levels and is a devastating attack, that you can choose to be anything from a ballbuster (doesn’t work on women), 100 punch combo or many others.
Where can you get them? At the store, of course. There you can also gamble, get upgrades or test your skills at the arena.
There are two difficulties in God Hand. First you have your standard easy, normal, hard, and then you have a dynamic difficulty while you play. Every time you deal damage or dodge an attack, a meter fills up. At a certain point, you go up to the next level. This means that enemies get more aggressive, change their attacks and get new ones. This serves to constantly keep you on your toes.
All of this and the snappy controls make the fighting incredibly fun. The only other game that comes close is maybe MGR:R.
Graphics and artstyle
This is God Hand's big downside. The characters models are acceptable, but everything else, it feels like I’m back in the dawn of 3D graphics.
Atmosphere
It’s silly.
Soundtrack
This is a very memorable soundtrack. I have so many of the songs stuck in my head. I cannot for the life of me describe the genre. My favourite is “Smoking Roll”.
Final Thoughts
"I am not that kind of guy!" - day ruined.