Forget what Roger Ebert said a few months ago. He might be able to give some good insight into movies as art, but his take on gaming is a tad shortsighted. Capcom and Clover Studios' Okami sets out to prove that, yes, games can be art. If the concept of controlling a cel-shaded wolf deity with a paintbrush doesn't have a degree of artistic merit to it, then we should all just retire our controllers and start playing badminton. Not that there's anything wrong with badminton, but it's not quite the same experience as playing a video game. Tangent aside, GameSpy got a chance to get hands-on with a near-finished build of the Japanese version of Okami, and, frankly, it left us smiling and giggling like children.

If there's any doubt about the artistic cred of the production team working on this game, two words should settle that argument: Joe and Viewtiful, not necessarily in that order. Clover Studios is known for putting out some revolutionary-looking titles for Capcom, and Okami, while certainly not evoking the modern comic book/cinematic stylings of Viewtiful Joe, is undoubtedly one of the most amazing-looking games to ever come out for the PlayStation 2. Game producer Atsushi Inaba mentioned during Capcom's press conference that he wants gamers to feel an overwhelming sense of beauty when they play the game. Judging by our feelings during the fifteen minute demo, he and the Clover development team seem to have achieved just that.


The game combines both traditional Japanese art and folklore to tell the story of a sun god who takes it upon himself to restore order to a chaotic world that is being held in the clutches of evil. The world is held captive by the reawakened monster Orochi, who has turned everything into a wasteland. Players take on the role of the sun god, known as Ameratsu, who embodies himself in the form of a white wolf. Ameratsu battles a variety of monsters on the way to releasing Orochi's grip on the land. However, a wolf only has so many attacks at its disposal. That's where the Celestial Brush comes in.

Unseen at this level in any action game, and reminiscent of drawing-centric games such as Magic Pengel or Graffiti Kingdom, the Celestial Brush lets players play deus ex machina and paint their way out of a corner, so to speak. Almost a Swiss Army knife of sorts, the tool allows Ameratsu to do anything from create a sword slash to take on enemies or draw a bridge to cross a river. There are thirteen different unlockable Celestial Brush maneuvers at the player's disposal that must be unlocked throughout the course of the game.

So, with all of that out of the way, how does Okami feel hands-on? In a word, amazing. There are no smoke-blowing superlatives here. From the moment players pick up a controller, they are immersed into a completely different gaming experience. Not because Ameratsu controls differently than any other animal character in a game. Not because you can paint weird stuff. Not because it looks cool. Honestly, the magic of Okami manifests itself in how overstimulating it is to the senses. There's something powerfully overwhelming about seeing what resembles Japanese calligraphic art in motion and being able to manipulate it. And manipulate is the operative term here. With the Celestial Brush in tow, it's not tough to figure out how to get out of a jam. At least, not from the first three levels played at Capcom's press event.