I recently played the demo for Capcom’s latest epic, Asura’s Wrath. If DragonBall Z and God of War ever got drunk and stupid at a frat party, it would seem to be the logical assumption that the vengeful, six-armed demigod would be the byproduct.

Asura has been betrayed, framed and killed by his former companions. The Seven Deities are using his daughter’s life force to amplify their own powers, and after spending 12,000 years dead, Asura has come back to seek revenge. From the previews, it looks as though the game is based on three mechanics: on-rail fighting where you can attack and counter, quick-time events that hinder on pressing the correct button, and a basket-load of button mashing. Sometimes, my expectations of a game are way off, but they were spot-on for this demo

At the beginning of the demo, we see Asura face Wyzen. The statue of a God boasts about his power being strengthened by Mithra, Asura’s daughter. We see a few on-rail parts where you have to redirect missiles at the enemy and shoot at him until your Burst meter is full. Once that happens, the quick-time event starts! This happens throughout the entire demo, actually. Toward the end, we see Wyzen become a planet-sized Buddah, shoving his finger down to the planet’s surface to crush Asura.

The second chapter pits Asura against his former master, Augus. Admittedly, this fight was a bit more enjoyable than the last, but still more of the same. Basically, if you hit the buttons correctly, you go on to the next quick-time event. If not, you’ll have to repeat your actions to refill your Burst meter.

I was disappointed with the demo because of the lack of difficulty. All I did was stick to the formula outlined above, and there was little strategy to what needed to be done. The action and dialogue make for an outrageous action opera, but I was expecting a lot more control over the action aside from the press of a button. Perhaps the full game will give me something different, but so far, the demo has left a bad taste in my mouth. The demo for Asura’s Wrath is now available on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. Let us know what you think!