Post by: Barnolde on March 09, 2004, 03:09:00 PM
Introduction:
One of the most hotly anticipated games of this year, this game should be a mystery to no one. After a well received demo, Team Ninjas new game is finally released. Team Ninja and Tecmo have always catered well to Xbox, by giving them exclusive games, which looked beautiful, but always lacked the overall polish in the gameplay department. Ninja Gaiden was heralded as the action game to end all action games, and supposed to be a crowning achievement. There were a lot of promises made involving Ninja Gaiden, but how do they stack up in the final product?
Ninja Gaiden starts off with you, a young ninja named Ryu Hayabusa. After your training, you find out that your village has been torched and that the other members of the Hayabusa clan have been slain. As you go to investigate who has done this, only to meet a Greater Fiend named Doku who is responsible. He was after the Dark Dragon Blade, a legendary sword, which possesses immense power. You have its sister sword, the Dragon Sword, another powerful weapon held by the Hayabusa clan. Doku severely wounds you and leaves you for dead. You go through a fairly lengthy recovery and then set out on your quest for vengeance. The story is a pretty cookie-cutter affair of a young ninja hellbent on revenge, it is poorly told and easily forgettable.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is a mixed bag of good and bad for the most part. The action in the game is very fast and frenzied, and you have many weapons at your disposal. You start off with only the Dragon Sword and shurikens, but as your progress, you gain more and more powerful weapons from explosive shurikens, bows and arrows, a boomerang/shuriken hybrid, nunchukas, and many more. You can buy more weapons from shops throughout levels, by collecting yellow essence (money) from dead enemies, there are also blue (health) and red (Ninpo) raising essences. In addition to weapons, you also have Ninpo at your disposal to rid the world of enemies. Ninpo is your special power, which when used will cause something to the effect of you shooting lightning from you or being surrounded by flames. Ninpo is sometimes a necessity when surrounded by enemies who are relentlessly attacking you. This game requires quick fingers, as the enemies are relentless. Im not sure why, but <b>everything</b> in this game absolutely hates you, not regular hatred, but unmatched, incessant hatred. From other ninjas, to animals, to exotic creatures, to soldiers, they all have a life goal of ending yours. The enemy and level design is well done and extremely varied. You traverse through many locations, from your village, Asian cities, caves, streets, military bases, sewers, canals, and more. The bosses are very unique, as well as menacing and they consist of giant creatures like worms or human-type ones possessed by the Dark Dragon Blade and turned into Great Fiends. The level design is pretty good, although sometimes you will be wandering around aimlessly, unsure of where to go.
Despite ninjas being masters of stealth, there is no stealth found anywhere in this game, its more of kill everything you see. There really isnt a problem with the way that the action is presented, but more of how its executed. For a lot of the game you use wall running in order to traverse other areas of the game, and for the most part, this is done pretty well, although it is too sensitive. Sometimes you wall run when you dont want to, which is pretty annoying, considering the fair amount of poorly done platforming elements implemented. Tomonubu Itagaki (lead developer) touted this game as having a superb camera in order to match the action, but if you spend even five minutes with this game, you can tell hes a blatant liar. The camera is absolutely horrendous, it spends more time looking at you, than behind you, where it should be. Normally, bad cameras can be overcome, just ask anyone who plays platform games, however, in such a fast paced and camera reliant game, such as this one, a good camera is imperative to a quality gameplay experience, unfortunately, there isnt a good one anywhere in here. This game even has some platforming elements which are ruined, because of the deplorable camera, and poor collision detection. The enemies, while intelligent and relentless, sometimes use cheap tactics to take advantage of you, which becomes more than annoying. Probably one of the most annoying parts of the game is that the enemies respawn, which means that an area you just cleared out will contain more enemies who hate you next time you go back there. The game has a fairly big emphasis on backtracking, which makes the respawning enemies that much more annoying. In a terrible decision, there are some save points which have enemies around them, so as you fight them to save your game, you have to fight them again if you load. The save points are sometimes infrequent, and it can be annoying to die near the end of level, only have to return to the beginning, because you did not reach the save point. For the most part, there are save points close to bosses, but not all the time, which can be pretty annoying. Probably the most commonly addressed complaint about the game is that its needlessly difficult. Conquering the normal mode is a feat in itself, and Im afraid to see what hard mode has to offer. The game is certainly very hard, but nothing impossible, although you will spend many tries conquering the levels due to unrelenting and sometimes cheap enemies, as well as hard, annoying bosses. Sometimes, the game even makes you fight multiple bosses in succession without a shop (to buy health) or save point in between, which makes it a necessity to stock up on health, as it is depleted fast. The game would be much easier, had the camera been something not spawned from the depths of Hell. Its enough of a task to work against the countless enemies who all desperately want you dead, but to have to fight the camera as well is just inexcusable.
Graphics:
Easily the best part about Ninja Gaiden is the absolutely gorgeous graphics. Everything is incredibly good looking and extravagantly detailed. The graphics are phenomenal and up to par with previous Team Ninja games. The water ripples as you walk through it and it looks very realistic. The enemies are very well done, and all look incredibly intimidating. The level of detail that went into this game is remarkable, as everything looks polished. The only problem with the graphics is a very minor one at that. The graphics seem to lack a unique or artistic flair, they just seem somewhat plain and boring, especially when compared to other more incredibly artistic games, such as Otogi. The CG cutscenes however, make up for this, as they are incredible to look at, and just jaw droppingly beautiful.
Audio:
The audio is pretty good, albeit exaggerated in some parts. You hear all the sounds from your footsteps, to water splashes, and it all sounds pretty realistic and well done. Somewhat oddly though, every enemy you kill seems to be made out of a blood filled water balloon, as when you kill them, their blood pours out and it makes a splashing noise. The music varies by level, but its mostly sped up techno mixed with guitar riffs when there is action going on. While the music is nothing special, it does a pretty good job of reflecting the current atmosphere of the game. There are English and Japanese voices, which are not too frequent, only found in cutscenes. The English voices are pretty mediocre, while the Japanese ones are better and more fitting.
Controls:
For the most part, the controls are pretty good, except in some parts, which seem just like stupid decisions on the developers part. Most of the game has solid, responsive controls, although sometimes they just arent responsive, which can be frustrating. Right before, or when an enemy may grab you, you may try to pause the game, and it wont let you pause, which can be very frustrating. The pause button isnt as quick to respond as I wouldve liked. The right joystick, which looks around in first person wouldve been better suited to turn the camera left and right, and go into first person by clicking it, but alas, thats not an option. The default controls are as follows:
Left joystick - Move
Right joystick - Look around in first person
A - Jump
B - Projectile weapon
X - Regular attack/action
Y - Strong attack
A & X - Wind run (jump towards enemy)
B & Y - Ninpo
White -Not used
Black - Show map
L - Block
R - Position camera behind you
Start - Pause
Back - Not used
Replay:
The replay of this game is something that seems like it was desperately tried to be extended, while falling short. The difficulty of the game is one of the main factors why I wont be playing this again. Some points just got hard to the point of being tedious and annoying, which detracts from the overall amount of fun to be had and appeal factor of the game. The original three NES Ninja Gaiden games are included and are unlockable, which does add to the games length, provided you can unlock them, which is very difficult. There is also the Master Ninja Tournament, which is just fancy talk for Scoreboards, plain and simple, and you cant even use it until E3, which is in the third week of May.
Summary:
Ninja Gaiden is a game that couldve been so much more. While not monumentally disappointing like Brute Force or Enter the Matrix, it certainly is an incredibly disappointing game. The game just feels incredibly average and boring in many parts, as well as being needlessly tedious and annoying. Some moments I find myself questioning, for example, when I missed a weapon, I tried to go back and get it, only to find the path blocked, and no way to get the weapon. The camera is absolutely deplorable, and one of the worst Ive ever had the displeasure of encountering. With a poorly told story, coupled with immense difficulty, sometimes its hard finding the motivation to continue the game. It looks great, sounds decent, and plays okay, but the gameplay is severely lacking, despite having very intelligent, unrelenting, and sometimes annoying enemies. The game is not terrible, but its far from being great, and its just another average Team Ninja game that has style, but lacks substance. Aside from the pretty graphics, there isnt all that much here. The very difficult gameplay, coupled with one of the worst and most unresponsive cameras ever make this a game that youll either beat out of spite or give up on, and that you should only rent, and nothing more.
Scores:
Gameplay - 7.3
Graphics - 9.6
Audio - 8.7
Controls - 8.2
Replay - 7.8
Overall - 7.6
This post has been edited by Barnolde: Mar 9 2004, 11:14 PM <
Post by: Mega_mil on March 09, 2004, 04:11:00 PM
Post by: floyd on March 09, 2004, 05:16:00 PM
NG does have a terrible camera, and some of the design choices are needlessly annoying (such as respawning enemies near saves), but its a testament to how awesome the good parts of this game really are that none of the negatives matter that much when the game is viewed as a whole.
To me NG is a flawed game but at the same time a brilliant game.
<
Post by: rgtaa on March 09, 2004, 05:50:00 PM
TeamXBOX 9.6 out of 10
IGN 9.4 out of 10
Gamespy 5 out of 5
Game Zone 9.5 out of 10
GamePro 5 out of 5
Gamer's Hell 9.3 out of 10
UGO A
1UP 9 out of 10
<
Post by: RideBurton164 on March 09, 2004, 08:53:00 PM
Post by: DuDeR MaN on March 09, 2004, 09:55:00 PM
| QUOTE |
| Probably one of the most annoying parts of the game is that the enemies respawn, which means that an area you just cleared out will contain more enemies who hate you next time you go back there. The game has a fairly big emphasis on backtracking, which makes the respawning enemies that much more annoying. In a terrible decision, there are some save points which have enemies around them, so as you fight them to save your game, you have to fight them again if you load. |
You say it's the most annoying but I only notice it maybe in one area in every other level. Take the third level for instance.. you can kill everyone up to that electric guy and run back through the entire level without having to run into anyone. I kill people and go back to the save all the time to save time if I'm on my way to a boss. So I can not say you are completely right on this point. <
Post by: X2Gamer on March 09, 2004, 10:09:00 PM
Post by: rgtaa on March 09, 2004, 11:40:00 PM
Boss Battle restarts with Ninja with Full Power ... on continue. Keep everything the way it is except for that ... and do camera fix as others suggested. <
Post by: DuDeR MaN on March 10, 2004, 12:59:00 AM
Post by: Dunny on March 10, 2004, 08:10:00 AM
Unlockable could have been better and the cutscenes, although visually nice didn't create an engossing plot and forget to explain things (whos grave was that at the end? why did my ninja appear to die and decompose at the beginning??)
oh and PAL owners may be better importing as the blood is apparently getting removed, which is rubbish because a title like Manhunt gets released uncut! :angry:
This post has been edited by Dunny: Mar 10 2004, 04:12 PM <
Post by: floyd on March 10, 2004, 10:02:00 AM
Post by: Dunny on March 10, 2004, 10:31:00 AM
| QUOTE (floyd @ Mar 10 2004, 08:02 PM) |
| Jesus dunny, keep the ending spoilers to yourself |
I didnt know myself in order to spoil anything ... you know theres a grave, hardly a spoiler
Post by: Foe-hammer on March 10, 2004, 12:09:00 PM
Anyway, I may be wrong, but I seriously doubt that the reviewer even finished the entire game (and if he did it was probably with some kind of cheats), because he complains endlessly how difficult it is. Usually after beating a difficult part all your anger dissipates towards the game, and a great amount of satisfaction and accomplishment sets in. But not him, he is still bitter about the games difficulty. While at first it is quite difficult, after you get used to it, and figure out how to use counters consistently, it really isn't all that difficult on the normal mode; no where near as difficult as NES ghost n goblins, or SNES super ghouls n ghosts.
This post has been edited by Foe-hammer: Mar 10 2004, 08:22 PM <
Post by: DuDeR MaN on March 10, 2004, 12:29:00 PM
| QUOTE |
| no where near as difficult as NES ghost n goblins, or SNES super ghouls n ghosts. |
it's funny that you mention that because whenever someone asks me how hard it is I always respond.. "well remember that old ghost and goblins game for nes?..." The furthest I ever got on that game without using an emulator or a game genie was I believe level 5. I average can get to the end of level 2 and then die. <
Post by: Foe-hammer on March 10, 2004, 12:45:00 PM
Post by: EgoX on March 10, 2004, 02:00:00 PM
| QUOTE (rgtaa @ Mar 10 2004, 02:39 AM) |
| GameSpot 9.4 out of 10 TeamXBOX 9.6 out of 10 IGN 9.4 out of 10 Gamespy 5 out of 5 Game Zone 9.5 out of 10 GamePro 5 out of 5 Gamer's Hell 9.3 out of 10 UGO A 1UP 9 out of 10 |
You forget one thing, all those are in it for the money this reviewer isn't. imo this makes his pov more valid than those.
I agree with many of the points in this review but at the same time I can't put this game down so....
Post by: Barnolde on March 11, 2004, 11:30:00 AM
| QUOTE (Foe-hammer @ Mar 10 2004, 08:58 PM) |
| Another good, well thought out review from Barnolde. While I acknowledge his concerns, and agree with him somewhat, these issues he has with NG didn't deter me from how great I thought it was/is. I rank NG as the second best xbox game to date (with halo being #1), followed by morrowind and KOTOR. And that says a lot. Anyway, I may be wrong, but I seriously doubt that the reviewer even finished the entire game (and if he did it was probably with some kind of cheats), because he complains endlessly how difficult it is. Usually after beating a difficult part all your anger dissipates towards the game, and a great amount of satisfaction and accomplishment sets in. But not him, he is still bitter about the games difficulty. While at first it is quite difficult, after you get used to it, and figure out how to use counters consistently, it really isn't all that difficult on the normal mode; no where near as difficult as NES ghost n goblins, or SNES super ghouls n ghosts. |
"Another good, well thought out review from Barnolde."
Thanks.
I review for Talk Xbox, and they didn't like the score I gave it either, it was taken down, and replaced with another one: http://talkxbox.com/review67.html
I was told by a co-admin to finish up the review, even though I was not done, and to just get it up on the site quick, because other sites had it, and he admitted he was wrong in rushing me, but my review is not up, even though it's supposed to be our own opinion. Oh well...
I was on Ch. 10 when I wrote it, and now I'm on Ch. 12. I stand by my score, which is "above average", and I feel the game doesn't deserve more than that. I think the difficulty is complained about more, it's actually not that hard, NOWHERE near as hard as Steel Battalion is.
For reference, my top 3 games are Halo, Shenmue II, and Deathrow.
Post by: WaRnINg| on March 12, 2004, 08:29:00 AM
| QUOTE (rgtaa @ Mar 9 2004, 09:39 PM) |
| GameSpot 9.4 out of 10 TeamXBOX 9.6 out of 10 IGN 9.4 out of 10 Gamespy 5 out of 5 Game Zone 9.5 out of 10 GamePro 5 out of 5 Gamer's Hell 9.3 out of 10 UGO A 1UP 9 out of 10 |
Thats all i need to hear..
The game is off the hook
Post by: pakaveli on March 12, 2004, 09:14:00 PM
. I wish I could play the old soundtracks while playing this game. But overall, it's a pretty good game.
Post by: Barnolde on March 13, 2004, 11:33:00 AM
| QUOTE (Mega_mil @ Mar 13 2004, 05:55 AM) |
| Barnolde you like Deathrow.......I played that game and was like this game sucks....lol I think NG is a much better game that what you give it credit for but to each his own....I personally don't have any problems with the game. Not the way it controls nor the difficulty. I think most people think you can play this game mashing on the buttons.....but if you actually have to think and watch how the enemies attack you you will see that they all follow a pattern......... |
I like Deathrow, you like NG, could it be.. we have different opinions!?!?!
I tried playing it again last night (Ch. 12) and it's just so dull and boring, so I stopped. I don't think I'll ever beat this game
Button mashing is fine, I didn't look once at the moves list and I'm almost done with the game. The enemies have patterns and because of the camera, things are harder than they should be, especially with the Ch.2 & Ch. 11 bosses.
Oh well, I don't like it, so I won't play it, it's as simple as that.
Post by: GIR6K on March 13, 2004, 09:33:00 PM
damn you evil ninjas 
Post by: Shermanator on March 16, 2004, 12:47:00 AM
Post by: Helios on March 16, 2004, 03:04:00 AM
Post by: onge on March 16, 2004, 10:32:00 AM
Something that gets to be a bigger and bigger problem throughout the game, especially at the bosses.
The tanks and helicopter for example.
Post by: Barnolde on March 16, 2004, 03:17:00 PM
| QUOTE (donrogelio @ Mar 15 2004, 08:21 AM) |
| I call this the halo legendary effect. A beauty of a game thats hard enough to spank you like a lil punk and make u feel like a loser if you cant beat it. Its a shock to most gamers because they'll just pick up a game, down load a trainer or cheat or save, beat the game in an hour with no sweat fustration hard work or curse words and call them selves a l33t or whatever these annoying high schoolers with good computers are calling them selves now a days. Thats y people hate it, or love it cause they whiped it with old fashion skill and persistance. Its a good game and worth a buy.... end of it. |
Unfortunately, I'm not in the majority. I didn't complain about the difficulty. The cheapness (ie, attacking when you're down, like multiple incendiary shurikens thrown at you), the fact that it's a boring game, with a terrible story, and the atrocious camera are the worst parts. And Halo on legendary was pretty easy, compared to something like Steel Battalion, which is the hardest Xbox game I've played to date.
I don't know when I'll beat this game, I just find it so dull and lifeless, that's it's actually a chore to play, but probably like Dead To Rights, I will beat it out of spite. Although I have Breakdown pre-ordered (love the JAP version) and I'll probably get Mafia on Xbox tomorrow as well, so my gaming time will be far away from being concentrated on NG, which I can best describe as average.
Post by: Cuz3452 on March 18, 2004, 12:41:00 PM
Post by: addyb on April 02, 2004, 01:17:00 AM
All in all im very impressed and cant wait to continue tonight. Ive only had my xbox a few weeks but out of the 20 odd titles ive played so far this is by far the best. Whats HALO? should leave first person shooters for PC. Give me MOH: Allied Assault or UT any day. Joypads suck for control on them type of games. Always been better with mouse and Keyboard.
Ninja gaiden kicks ass, best game out so far in my opinion!
If your not a serious or experienced gamer then maybe its not for you. but if your a resi evil, syphon filter, metal gear kinda guy then this tops the lot!
Post by: drleephd on April 05, 2004, 01:06:00 AM
Post by: ovejon on April 07, 2004, 05:22:00 AM