The whole game is obviously inspired heavily by anime. Especially those of the sci-fi sort. Konoko, who reminds me of Major Kusinagi from 'Ghost in the Shell', learns more about herself and her past as the game progresses. The story isn't bad, though a few plot twists aren't so surprising. Oni plays more like a first person shooter, as opposed to 'Tomb Raider' games. Something like Rune, crossed with Tekken. While Oni sports a good number of guns, they're easily disarmed from the user, and aiming them is made just a little more difficult to encourage hand-to-hand combat.

Throughout the game, you learn new super moves and combos. Some of the later super moves, like the Devil Spin Kick, which knocks down any enemies close by, come in very handy, as you're usually fighting off a crowd of enemies. This is where some of Oni's problems comes in however. Fighting off 3 or 4 enemies by hand is no easy task. One of those enemies will usually carry a weapon of some sort, making the fight increasingly more difficult. That shouldn't be too big a deal, but...

...You can't save the game when you want to. The game saves only at certain points on the level, and while alot of these are at conveniently placed, they're usually after real tough fights, or (urk!) a jumping puzzle. Letting go of a move button doesn't bring you to a complete stop instantly, making it just a little bit harder. I've had to redo tough fights over and over just because I slipped into a vat of acid near the end of a level. It was really frustrating...to say the least. Falling to your death can also happen when throwing enemies. You roll backwards, tossing the poor guy off a roof, but accidentally fall down in the process.

Oni also lacks a multiplayer feature...very dissapointing considering how well done combat is handled. You can't rebind the keys, but for me, the default setup was perfect. Left click on the mouse causes Konoko to throw a punch, and right has her do a kick. Clicking a combination of buttons three times consecutively gives you a three-hit combo. You can preform throws by running up to opponents from different directions and pressing an attack button. The deadliest of which is probably the backbreaker. Konoko grabs her enemy from behind, and snaps his spine like a twig, killing all but the strongest of enemies instantly. The aforementioned super moves can be done at any time, but can be a little tricky to pull off. The Rising Fury Punch for example has to be timed while releasing the crouch button, and pressing punch. Konoko also flips, rolls, and cartwheels around to dodge attacks. In the hands of an experienced player, Oni can look extremely cool. You're also given a visual indicator to see how much energy your foe has left.

Along the way, you'll find your normal set of pistols, submachine guns, along with some real unique weapons. One of my favorites was the 'Screamer Cannon', which fires a strange green ball of energy which slowly tracks a living object and drains the energy from it, killing it very quickly. As long as you have the cannon and you stay away, you're safe. There's also Oni's version of a grenade launcher. It shoots a shell which breaks into four peices on impact, then creates a larger explosion, doing lots of damage to whatever's near. There are only a few power-up items though. The Forcefield protects you from projectiles until it's depleted. The Cloak Generator renders you invisible for 30 seconds, and the precious Med Hypos, which restore health. If you happen to exceed your normal health capacity, you glow purple and become stronger for awhile. These power-ups are hidden around levels, and if you talk to civilians, they'll usually give em to ya.

Oni's graphics are good overall, but usually recieves criticism for it's bland levels and level design, and I agree. You're always looking for computer consoles, and the levels themselves have this shade of grey to them. While alot are populated by innocent bystanders, the world just doesn't have a very convincing feel to it. Also while the enemies look cool (especially the ones wearing helmets), you'll not notice a hint of emotion in any of the characters, nor do their lips move when they talk. Instead, you get a picture of the character, and text to go along with the voices. Oni does has a few nice visual effects though. The way glass shatters when hit by projectiles is cool, as is the way you can see electric currents running through the power stations. Oni's gameplay is always smooth, and I experienced no slowdowns whatsoever.

The sound in Oni is well done. Explosions and shattering glass all sound believable. They also hired professional voice actors, making the voice acting pretty convincing as far as the main characters go. Unfortunately, the bad guys, especially some of the Syndicate thugs just sound plain annoying. The big buff 'Tankers' and their apathetic sounding lines, such as "Come...on..." go right up there with some of the worst anime dubs I've seen. The death sounds for some of the later enemies were even enough to get a good laugh out of me...they're just that bad! The music has that Matrix-stye techno feel to it. I've never really been fond of that kind of stuff, but it does it's job. There are times when the music will pick up though, like when you've stumbled into a trap or reach certain points.