With an epic title for a game such as Kengo: Legend of the 9, one would think that it would in some way, shape or form herald back to great Samurai cinema; Akira Kurosawa and 'Seven Samurai.' One couldn't be more mistaken. Nothing about this game is exceptional in any way. Regardless of the different characters, the stories are invariably the same. Character A sets out on a personal battle, fights like 25 guys, wins, fights big boss guy, wins and presto! Five minutes later we reach a new level.

One of the more mind boggling and frustrating parts of main mode is the payoff. For whatever reason, the game lets you go on Xbox Live and watch your chosen character battle other opponents, except you don't actually do the fighting. It's just an artificially controlled fighter that battles other AI controlled characters. It makes no sense.

Combat mode is equally dull and mission mode is no exception. The horrifically slow and clunky controls make combat a chore rather than a gorgeous dance of death a samurai showdown should be. That said, the only reason to play combat unless a buddy's over at your house is to hone your skills. For un-experienced players that's nearly impossible, as every CPU character was set to ultra-kill, rapidly discouraging any use for practice.

As far as mission mode, hunting around a level for certain people to kill with a time limit might be fun at first, but gamers will find that it quickly grows into one big chore. Mission mode's only saving grace is the fact that a player can automatically upload their best scores to live to compete nationally, but really – how many other people are actually playing this online? Not many.

Kengo: Legend of the 9 falls tragically below the line of a decent game. The gameplay is stale, the skill needed for combat nonexistent and the challenges laughable. It might have been playable 4 years ago, but pretty much the only thing this game has going for it now is the love people have for samurai. Do yourself and your bank account a favor and skip this game.