Faithfully designed to re-create the atmosphere of medieval Japan and the actual movements of ninja and samurai, Soul of the Samurai is graphically beautiful and lots of fun. By combining blocking moves with strikes and utilizing various special moves, your character is able to move through the 3-D environment with realistic speed and skill. Students of sword fighting will especially enjoy some of the moves. At the start of the game you have the choice of playing either the male ronin (a samurai without a master) Kotaro or the female ninja Lin. Lin is very fast and does moderate damage, while Kotaro sometimes kills with one hit but is rather slow. The plot is enjoyable if predictable: your standard evil Japanese warlord raises an army of undead samurai to overthrow the shogun and bring himself wealth and power. The plot could use some work, and the strange combination of Evil Dead and Seven Samurai does not really work. Instead, the joy of the game is found in the amazing fight sequences and the ease with which one can master control of either character within these sequences. As you advance though levels, you can save games by writing haiku poetry, and you can acquire healing herbs and better weapons. The coolest parts of this game are found in the details. --Allen Stewart Pros: Super-realistic character movements Enemies don't just charge to their deaths: they respect your sword Excellent backgrounds and atmosphere Easy interface makes the game very playable Cons: Repetitive: every new area of the game has a fight sequence Enemies don't stay dead