The graphics in Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style are decent, though nothing particularly outstanding. There is an interesting intro FMV at the beginning of the game - somehow I just don't picture the Wu-Tang Clan as being a spiritual, disciplined bunch, but that's just me. The Clan's faces were very blocky and not very well-defined at all, but they seem to resemble their real-life counterparts. Of course, where Wu-Tang shines is its soundtrack, by none other than the Clan themselves. I enjoyed it, although hearing 'Wu World Order' constantly gets a little irritating. Sound effects were good, but I thought some of the signature statements made by the individual fighters were more than a little non-PC, and some were downright offensive. Uh, Ole Dirty bastard says 'Don't mess with Big Baby Jesus!' after he kills his opponent. Ugh. The levels were nothing really special, and took you from Shaolin (Staten Island), New York, to China, and were pretty basic fare: alleyways, markets, airport hangers, temples and the like.

Well, here it is. The game that utilizes the much-awaited Thrill Kill engine. Let me first say that I think a fighter which allows four friends to battle it out is a great idea. I played an early version of Thrill Kill at E3 '98 and was personally sickened by it, although I am a big fan of horror genre games and blood 'n guts fighters. I was really looking forward to Wu-Tang because I had hoped that it would be a revolutionary fighter to take the place of the over-hyped and then axed Thrill Kill, and hopefully far exceed TK. Well, I was disappointed - in the multiplayer feature for sure. I brought this game over to a friend's house and four of us played. We played for a while, to get the feel of the game, but it just wasn't much fun. You couldn't tell who was who, as they are all dressed in similar gang wear, so it was basically just a 'beat the crap out of whoever is closest' type of a thing. Each player gets three lives, and when you die, you fall down, and then are regenerated in a different spot. Playing against one opponent or playing the CPU is more fun, as you can tell what you are doing, and the One Player game is more of a Quest mode. The interface is good as you begin in an alley and can see which levels will be available to you, although you cannot randomly pick a level. There is a particular order to do them.

The fighters in Wu-Tang are not very well balanced, which leads to very bad learning curves. Pretty much no matter what fighter you choose and what opponent you meet, you'll get you butt kicked until you find the one move that, when repeated mercilessly, makes short work of your opponent. Also, the more frantically you hit buttons, the more your 'rage' will build. This leads up to super powered moves that decimate an opponent in an explosion of body parts (when the parental lock is disabled, anyways). That's the part I don't get. Most die hard gamers will agree that there are two types of overly aggravating types of gamers: those that randomly mash buttons (and win), and those that find a 'juggling' move and repeat it over and over (and win). For some unknown reason, Wu-Tang seems to reward these types of players. In the Quest mode, the same is true, but there's a supposed 'progression' to be followed. However, the advancement seems almost random. It all boils down to, 'the more you fight, the more you progress.' Think not. Only act. Or whatever.

I have seen Thrill Kill. I know Thrill Kill. Wu-Tang is no Thrill Kill. There's a utopian concept in which a game can be shared by all those who care to play it. Imagine you and several of your friends enjoying a videogame together, be it a racing game, a fighting game, you name it. One of the problems with this idea is having everyone on the screen at once. Some games handle this by dividing the screen into 'panes.' This gives each person their own view, albeit a small one. Wu-Tang puts all the players in an 'arena' that's not much larger than the screen. This allows the view to be a full-sized one, but makes it almost impossible to keep track of who you’re fighting against. At least when the screen is divided into panes, the small views are optimized for each player. The multiplayer mode may have worked better if the characters were more unique, possibly with monochromatic color schemes. As it is, prepare to get lost in a wide range of 'off-grays.' In the Quest mode, it's obvious that there is some intended order to the progression. It makes sense to someone, presumably the programmers. Unfortunately, I fear it will be quite lost on most gamers - including myself.