Gameplanet has been looking forward for a while to the release of the final installment of the Onimusha trilogy, and to a great extent our expectations have certainly been met. The familiar mix of elements returns, updated with better graphics and gameplay and some surprising new twists. The major twist turns out to be the partial departure from ancient Japan to settings in modern-day France, complete with an exciting new character based on French actor Jean Reno (Nikita, Ronin, Godzilla). Players will switch between a few playable characters in different settings, each offering differing fighting styles and weapons. The story begins with the hero of the original Onimusha, Samanosuke Akechi, and a confrontation with old foe Oda Nobunaga. Suddenly Samanosuke is transported away from the fight, only to end up in Paris. Meanwhile Jean Reno's character Jacques Blanc is fighting off a sudden attack by the genma, who have mysteriously appeared in France. In the middle of the confrontation Jacques also finds himself suddenly transported, finding himself in Feudal Japan. Throughout the course of the game both must explore and fight through each other's worlds, both with a common purpose against the same enemy.

As ludicrous as it may appear the story is actually one of the main strengths of Demon Siege. The dual storyline is well done, and linked together by a fairy-like character called Ako, who can travel through time and pass information and items between the two settings. It is well told in some excellent cut-scenes, including a stunning CG movie at the start of the game that unfortunately sets a standard the rest of the game cannot hope to reach. Even so the graphics in the other cinemas and even in-game are very well done. The characters and enemies look and move great, with Jean Reno looking extremely realistic and true to his actual self thanks to the extensive use of motion capture.

Samanosuke begins Demon Siege with just a normal sword and a bow and arrow. As the game progresses a few different swords, axes and arrows can be picked up, providing differing attacks and uses. The swords and axe are also upgradeable, giving them even more power. With a lack of ammo in Feudal Japan Jacques finds he needs to turn to other weapons to fight the genma, and he starts out with a whip, and soon finds a sword, spear and hammer to complement that. As with Samanosuke these are also upgradeable.

The weapons Jacques has provide him with extra abilities, and this opens up more variety in both general movement and combat than Samanosuke does. For instance, with the whip Jacques is able to swing to faraway ledges. This increases the amount of exploration available, enabling players to find more bonus items. There are also some puzzles built around this ability. In combat Jacques is able to use this to grab onto the ceiling and quickly evade an attack, as well as being able to lasso some opponents and squeeze the life out of them. These extra abilities mean that Jacques is by far the more enjoyable character to play with.

Due to the strong narrative Demon Siege is necessarily quite linear. While there is often quite a bit of exploration or discovery players are steered down quite a narrow path as they play through the game. The levels in the game are all quite detailed, from the dark recreation of ancient Japanese villages and countryside to the modern, concrete jungle of modern-day France. Unfortunately the camera is fixed, viewing each location from a set angle and while on the whole it operates very well there are occasions where a user-controlled camera would have been preferable. Instead of more of a free-form game the focus is on the telling of the story, and on combat and puzzle solving. The puzzle solving is similar to that seen in the previous two games, with paths blocked by a logical challenge or puzzle boxes hiding bonus items. Some of these require quite a bit of thinking and they're a refreshing change from the standard riddle. Even better are the time-based problems the characters often face. Without giving too much away, there are some instances where Samanosuke and Jacques are in the same location, only 500 years apart, and progressing through the area requires them to do different things in there own time-zones.

The combat is of a similarly high standard, with a good range of enemies to face. Most of the enemies are well designed and have a couple of different types of attack, leaving players to alter slightly how they face each opponent. Often multiple opponents will need to be fought at once, and this is where a lot of the difficulty arises, especially when different types of enemy appear. The boss battles are just as rewarding, if not more so. Each of the bosses provides different challenges and requires differing tactics. Some of the bosses are reused, so that both Samanosuke and Jacques have an opportunity to defeat them. These battles tend to be quite interesting, and highlight the different aspects of each character.

Control of the characters can initially seem quite simple, with just one-button attacks. However just relying on this attack will not work, especially later in the game where more advanced techniques are required. These techniques include timed blocks, counter attacks, ranged attacks and special attacks specific to each weapon, and each are neatly explained in various training challenges, adding a challenging set of mini-games to the main story. While still not as complex as a lot of other action games the range of moves is still quite effective, making good use of a small number of buttons and a lot of skill is still required to master them. It would have been good though to see the characters extend their movement occasionally, for instance allowing Samanosuke to jump or have the range of acrobatic moves seen in the opening movie.

Players who have played the previous Onimusha games will be relieved to learn that Capcom has finally figured out there is an analogue stick on the controller and movement of the characters can now be used with that, as opposed to the digital pad control used for the first two games. This means that control is a lot more natural and in line with most other third-person action games, rather than the dated Resident Evil-style control of yore. Players will mow be able to concentrate on combat and exploration, rather than constantly fighting against the controls. For players used to that style of movement though there is still the option to use that rather than the updated controls.

While Onimusha 3 is not the longest game around there is still quite a bit to do outside the main story, and its multiple difficulties. Within the game there are secret dungeons that play like a challenging survival mode mini-game, as well as the various training contests. In addition a few mini-games and even a side-story with another playable character open up, further extending the life of the Onimusha 3. Accompanying the story and the action of Demon Siege is a stirring orchestral soundtrack that fits the cinematic style of the game well. Voice acting is also quite good, although Jean Reno does not feature as much as we would have liked. Apart from a few minutes at the start of the game when he speaks in French his voice isn't included, instead being replaced by a native English speaker who, while doing an adequate job, could not hope to live up to the power and gravity of Jean Reno's voice.