FORMAT: SEGA DS (REVIEWED)

I approached this game with a certain amount of excitement. The previous two games in the series had been enjoyable and well thought-out fighting games and I was looking forward to a similar quality.

I was quickly disappointed as I scrolled through page after page of plot outline and detail before the playing even began.

The game is simple and easy to pick up but after about 15 minutes of walking up to enemies and attacking them I began to wonder where the strategy element was supposed to come in.

Although there is a team-attack option and each character has special abilities that can be employed and a varying degree of speed, power and skill, there is no real thinking required.

In my mind, strategy involves placing units in certain grid options, timing attacks and sneaking through woodland.

All of this is missing and, I have to confess, I was quickly bored.

On the plus side, you have about 20 characters to customise over the course of the game.

Also there are infrequent moments of brilliance when a break from the 'walk forward, kill enemy' level produces some incredibly interesting challenges such as rescuing people that are about to transform into monsters.

This is not, however, enough to save the game and I think anyone but a Bleach-lover would fail to find this diverting enough to pass up the tonnes of strategy games available in its favour.

MARKS: 5/10