The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai

James Silva, aka Ska Studios, can be proud of the job that he has done on The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. Starting out as an XNA Community games project, The Dishwasher went on to win Microsoft's Dream Build Play contest, finally ending up as a fully fledged Xbox Live Arcade title. Although it has been a long road for Silva, the biggest challenge lies ahead: Does The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai match up to the likes of Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Braid, Castle Crashers or the other great Arcade offerings out there.

The Dishwasher is a typical beat 'em up in which you play as a former dishwasher turned samurai, who just so happens to be dead. As you progress, you'll find The Dishwasher doesn't rely on basic button mashing, as the AI is quick to learn from your attacks, making you constantly adjust your attacks. There's a great selection of combos at your disposal, and you can grab and throw enemies, perform special attacks, aerial attacks and even climb walls, all while carrying two bad-ass weapons including a chainsaw. But don't expect it to be a walk in the park, as enemies have their own set of special abilites and weapons such as automatic weapons.

Adding longevity to The Dishwasher is the ability to collect amulets that allow friends to join in as a variety of odd entities, including a phantom spirit and a guitar (requires a guitar peripheral). Although this might sound like a great idea, it doesn't work as well as expected. In local co-op it's really just an arcade survival mode; cutting out the chance for a friend helping in the difficult sections of the story mode.

The story mode is long and difficult, even on normal mode, and starts to become repetitive after awhile. You'll find yourself taking frequent breaks to rest your fingers due to the continuous action.

Even though there are a couple of negative additions that impact on gameplay, your overall experience is that The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is a well thought out and entertaining title. From the dark characters to the moody graphics, this brutal and bloody 2D side scrolling beat 'em up is well worth your 800 MS Points.

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