I’ve been divided on Bayonetta for a while. On the one hand I am a fan of fast-paced action games such as Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden 2. On the other, the adolescent appeal of a sexy woman with a pair of gun-heels puts that rotten morning breath taste in my mouth. I understand the game is a sort of satire of itself. I just can’t get on board that train since there are so few games I can take seriously to begin with.

Yet I decided to cast those doubts from my mind as I grasped the controller for the Bayonetta demo at GameX. I was going to be unbiased about this game and see what enjoyment I could glean from it.

The bottom line of Bayonetta is simple. It’s Devil May Cry with a female protagonist and outrageous hair abilities. The game throws in a handful of differences such as wielding your foe’s weapons or making use of bullet time. Oh, and let’s not forget those guns on her shoes.

In addition to dealing some bonus damage and reach the weapons of your fallen enemies have a limited “lifespan”. Once depleted the heroin pulls off a powerful finishing maneuver and drops the weapon like a destructive relationship. While dodging is always a useful mechanic in action games, timing it right in Bayonetta results in everything slowing down temporarily while you deal extra damage at normal speed.

If an enemy is near death the player has the option of performing a sort of finishing move that results in some brutal deaths. In the case of bosses the fatality is a greatly over-the-top killing move that can boost a final score used to rank your performance at the end of the map.

The game is certainly going to be fun, but whether it is worth full price depends on your love of this style of action game. If you like the high-speed and massive bosses of Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden then you’ll certainly love Bayonetta. If you’ve never played either of those games then Bayonetta will make an excellent starting point. If you are only slightly partial or without opinion, then the game will be a nice distraction but not a must-have title.