Onimusha: Warlords

At last, a game that proves you don’t need zombies or semiautomatic weapons to craft a killer action-adventure title. As the Asian heir to Resident Evil’s bloody throne, Onimusha is the most satisfying slaughterhouse this side of a Tokyo morgue. Revenge has never been sweeter as you help samurai Samanosuke and his ninja gal pal Kaede maneuver through booby traps and carve demons into sashimi. Though there’s some puzzle-solving, most of the game is spent burning, beheading, and disintegrating adversaries, or just sucking out their souls with your magic gauntlet. If you can overlook minor perspective problems, Onimusha’s intense combat, stunning graphics, and involving story make this a masterpiece hotter than a mouthful of wasabi.