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Oni takes place in the near future of 2032. The world has been reduced to “Wilderness Preserves” (actually contaminated land) and huge cities. Life in the city can be bearable- as long as you have a connection to the WorldNet. Nation states are gone- the result of economic collapse and a single government- The World Coalition Government- oversees the entire planet.

The Coalition has succeeded in turning the economy around and has put down all the infighting…but what they have not managed to do is fix the status quo. The poor have stayed poor and their number grows.

In order to stop the growing use of biochemical weapons (and other technologies) the World Coalition created the “Technology Crimes Task Force” (or TCTF for short) whose job it is to investigate when ever and however they see fit.

Hidden beneath all of this is the TCTF’s main enemy, the Syndicate…an organized cartel of thugs who provide the world’s downtrodden with drugs and weapons. The Syndicate’s power has been growing lately as a new boss has taken over.

You play as Konoko- a specially trained member of the TCTF and it is your job to help shut down the Syndicate.

Two things boded well for Oni. The first was there were no errors while installing One, the second (and more importantly) it didn’t take an hour for the game to load.

Oni includes the usual tutorial and since the game is rather straightforward, most of us will skip this feature. I took a moment to walk through it and found that at least it wasn’t boring…

I was immediately drawn into the game because of the graphics and the fact that combat is pretty fun. I was impressed with the solid plot behind the action which makes the game all that more fun to play.

If there was one area that I think the game could use some work, it is the controls. I would think this game would be easier to play if you controlled Konoko through a gamepad rather than the keyboard. I really HATE games that use the keyboard only. Oh well that’s my personal demon.

If you like playing martial arts games, spy games, or are looking for something just a little different than the usual shoot ‘em up, you’ll want to take a look at Oni.