Worse, we've all been trying to grab Oni for months. Long overdue, the game still feels like it needs three more months of round-the-clock scrubbing. There are two main drawbacks: no multiplayer features whatsoever, and a horrible saving algorithm.

Of the two, lack of multiplayer is probably the greater sin. We don’t know how long it will be until basements around the world can host LAN parties for Oni, but it’s too long. This is a game that would have been ready to attract a crowd right out of the box. It could take advantage of the whole anime scene, plus any refugees from DragonBall Z to boot. The violence is toned way down — it’s no Soldier of Fortune, with bloody crotch shots or arterial spurts of gore. But until multiplayer is connected, Oni has a limited appeal other than watching from behind as another chick runs around whuppin' ass.

Oni starts out with great promise. There’s a neat anime action scene up front, which combines a little Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and the character Trinity from The Matrix. More of these scenes would have been nice, because the anime portion is what had everyone leaning forward. Maybe production values on par with Westwood Studios are too much to ask, but from all the hype, it’s what we expected. Instead, the cut scenes between each level look amateurish. Characters talk but their mouths aren't even moving. That's just lame.

Conversely, the tutorial at the beginning is a good thing. It lets you practice in a safe environment, so that by the time you’re ready for action you know enough to stay alive for a few seconds. There are drones to beat up and other passive opponents or targets to perfect your aim. By the time you graduate, you're ready.

But once you get into the game, the level of detail in the help screens isn’t appropriate. There are way too many moves and actions missing. For example, the help doesn't mention how to grab objects on the run, or that while in a dodge, you automatically block.

In fairness, our copy of the game arrived without a manual. Hopefully, more of this is documented in a book you can curl up with and memorize.

The first mission is pretty simple. You start out with your gun, and you attack the first guy from above. This is where you find how sensitive the game is to big drops, as you lose your life over and over from a minor fall.

This mission is where we encountered our first major problem with the game. Around the very last part of the level, when we had a timed objective, the autosave fired up. We had low life, and had to reload from that point a number of times before we beat the level. Well, you ask, why didn't we just save our progress without using autosave? The answer is that the game has no save feature other than save points. No manual saves whatsoever!

This creates many problems, as later in the game the save points get more and more distant from each other. We played one save point for four straight hours just to get to the boss, at which point the game was saved one last time when we had no life and no ammo for the gun.

This makes the game too clever by half. It's frustrating to limp from save point to save point, and if you're interrupted at any time, you lose your progress. Really, that isn't even fair.

Another piece of the puzzle that seems to be missing is attachment to the character. Remember Duke Nukem? The first time he said "Damn, I’m good," or some other quip, you felt like he was a friend. You wanted to keep going, to hear what else he was going to say. But Oni is too quiet. She should be jabbering away in a cute voice and letting us get to know her, so we can like her a little. She’s too quiet and aloof.

Then there’s the lack of a good soundtrack. When you leave the game sitting at the menu, it has a driving, techno tune that really rocks. A little of that rockin’ energy during the game would sure be a nice feature. But again, it’s really quiet.

What we found out, however, is that when you stop playing this game, you soon come back for more, despite its quirks. It has great appeal, and it's fun to play. The AI is spectacular -- make too much noise, and they find you. Peek out from a wall or column, and a wide assortment of rifles might zero in on your position. Take a wrong turn, and you'll be double-teamed until your opponents beat you down. All good stuff. But too much of the high score we finally settled on (after more than a little argument) is based on promise.