''Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma'' is an

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

video game developed by

Redacted Studios Redaction or sanitization is the process of removing sensitive information from a document so that it may be distributed to a broader audience. It is intended to allow the selective disclosure of information. Typically, the result is a document t ...

and published by

Versus Evil Versus Evil LLC was an American video game publisher founded by former ZeniMax Online Studios marketing director Steve Escalante to focus on the independent video game market. Versus Evil was bought by another publisher, tinyBuild, in November 20 ...

. It was released for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

via

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

in September 2015, with an

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

version planned for October. The sequel to 2009's ''

Afro Samurai is a Japanese '' seinen'' ''dōjinshi'' manga series written and illustrated by manga artist Takashi Okazaki. It was originally serialized irregularly in the avant-garde ''dōjinshi'' manga magazine '' Nou Nou Hau'' from November 1998 to ...

'', originally a

manga series are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...

Takashi Okazaki (born March 18, 1974) is a Japanese manga artist, visual designer and graphic designer, most notable for writing and illustrating the manga series ''Afro Samurai''. Early life Okazaki was born in Kanagawa Prefecture and graduated from the Tam ...

, the player controls Kuma, a swordsman who seeks revenge on the

titular character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

. The game received widely negative reviews from critics. Originally planned to be released in three volumes, Versus Evil pulled ''Revenge of Kuma'' from all platforms, issued refunds, and canceled the other two volumes. The Xbox One version was also never released, while the PlayStation 4 version is one of the few titles from that platform to not be backward compatible with the

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Gameplay

Similar to the first installment, ''Afro Samurai 2'' is a third-person

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and ...

where the player must work through a series of areas taking down waves of enemies. Learning different moves and combos are key to getting through the game.

Plot

In ''Afro Samurai 2'', Afro once again fights Kuma who is challenging him for his Number One headband.

Development

''Afro Samurai 2'' was developed by Redacted Studios and published by

. After the release of the original ''Afro Samurai'' game in 2009, former

Namco Bandai (commonly known as and formerly Namco Bandai until 2015, also known as Bandai Namco Group,) is a Japanese mass media and entertainment conglomerate founded in 2005 by the merger of Namco and Bandai. The company specializes in toys, video ...

senior producer David Robinson left the company and founded Redacted Studios. Along with leaving

, he secured the rights to make other games in the series. ''Afro Samurai 2''s story was written by Jim DeFelice, co-writer of ''

American Sniper ''American Sniper'' is a 2014 American Biographical film, biographical War film, war drama film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood and written and executive-produced by Jason Hall (screenwriter), Jason Hall, based on the memoir American ...

''. The soundtrack to the game was done by rapper

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

, who also produced two soundtrack albums of the animated series. The game's still image cutscenes was done by series creator

. The game was released for the

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

on September 22, 2015. An

version was also planned to be released on October 9, but was canceled due to poor reception on the other platforms.

Reception

Upon release, ''Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma'' received widely negative reviews from critics.

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

called it one of the worst games of 2015.

Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time (maga ...

called it the worst game of the year. It was the second worst-reviewed game of 2015 according to aggregate review website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

Withdrawal and cancelled trilogy

In November 2015, ''Afro Samurai 2'' was pulled from the

PSN PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

and

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

. In an interview with CGMagazine on the game's withdrawal, Versus Evil's Steve Escalante called the game "a failure" and announced the cancellation of the other two volumes and refunds for customers. Escalante later expanded on the decision in an interview with

Gamasutra ''Game Developer'' (known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021) is a website created in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa TechTarget and acted as the online sister publication to the print maga ...

, saying, "Given the game quality was not what people were expecting, it didn't sell like hot cakes, let's just put it like that."

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2015 video games

Video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Cancelled Xbox One games PlayStation 4 games Single-player video games Versus Evil games Video games about bears Video games about samurai Video games based on anime and manga Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring black protagonists Windows games