In desperate need of a wise-cracking, white-haired demon slayer in order to get rid of that awful taste in your mouth after checking out the latest look of our much-beloved Dante? Look no further.

First announced in the May 20th issue of Weekly Famitsu Magazine, Knights Contracts is an action adventure game developed by Tokyo-based Game Republic and published by Namco Bandai.

Slated for release in Spring 2011 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Knights Contract combines the the action element of Capcom's Devil May Cry (talked about wise-cracking, white-haired demon slayer), Sega's Bayonetta (incidentally created by Hideki Kamiya, the creator of the original DMC), Ninja Gaiden. and, guess what, the behemoth God of War series. Coupled that with some bloody gore melee combat and magic spells, and there you got the combination, but one got to ask, is that a winning one, given the gradually crowded market over-saturated with God of War-esque action games?

Thankfully, from the looks of its trailer, it looks suitably chaotic and is certainly promising indeed. Check out the Tokyo Game Show trailer after the jump.



Set in a stylized Middle Ages in Europe complete with the kind of otherworldly dark fantasy elements such as a gallery of monstrosities, sorcerers and witchcraft, the plot of the title, according to the game's producer, Ryo Mito, is inspired by the tales of Dr. Faust and centers on tales of witch hunts and executions.

With the setting of the game out of the way, let's meet the players.

First, we have the aforementioned wise-cracking, white-haired demon slayer. The burly-looking, scythe-slinging protagonist, Heinrich Hofmann, is a battle-hardened veteran in witch-hunting and execution. Because of that, he is plagued by a curse that ensures his immortality. Let's meet the curse personified.

Quite some wholesome-looking curse, eh? Gretchen is the reincarnation of a witch that Heinrich formerly executed. As a relatively unrealistic but commonly used plot device, in an revenge, she curses Heinrich with immortality (So that's how paybacks are like for witches?).

Meanwhile, the world fell rampant by hordes of monstrosities. Gretchen nobly step forward to protect those who feared and executed her by taking on the big bad. Hoping to be freed of the "curse" of immortality, Heinrich joined forces with Gretchen in a bid to undo his curse (so maybe this is really the one game when you die, you win). While he's immortal (and thus can't die), she isn't (and thus can die). Both protagonists thus face off against Faust and his evil hordes in the German countryside.

With a story like that, it's a sure-bet expecting some co-op gameplay. The game uniquely provides one life-bar for two characters. As Heinrich is basically immortal, only Gretchen has a life-bar while Heinrich slash away and continue to keep a close eye on the magic-wielding Gretchen in case her life-bar falls.

Interesting twist on the usual gameplay. Will the game be as good as as it looks? We'll see. For now, settle down with the gorgeous screenshots.