Ninja Gaiden

Richard Pomfret relives the Ninja heyday of his youth...

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The learning curve is well balanced and it is not difficult to grasp the increasingly complex technique combinations (such as the 'gleaming cross' and 'fiends bane kick'), which are presented in each new chapter. However, this does not stop it from being one hell of a tricky game to complete. While you begin with a standard sword, you have the option of switching weapons depending upon what you find lying around in each level. For some bosses you have to use a specific weapon and this adds to the surprising depth of what is more than just a frantic arcade experience. However, upon ransacking the corpse of a deceased ninja and discovering a set of nunchukas, I rather stupidly tended to use them for everything!

You can alter or upgrade your armoury at the blacksmiths shop, as well as investing in other vital power-up items such as the life-restoring Elixir of Spiritual Life or Art Of The Fire Wheels. In fact, I'd better mention that the power-ups and Ninpo magic items are absolutely essential when trying to get through this game. Without them, chances are you will encounter the frustrating habit of continually dying and having to restart the level from scratch!

With the constant threat of battle in the air and the detailed visuals to distract you, chances are you will not pay undue attention to the music in the game. The sound effects are decent enough and befitting of a ninja game, the music being satisfactory; if nothing special. The main function is to alert the player to any newly appeared enemy, which is pretty essential when considering the occasional inadequacy of the camera system. Aha.. of course, an otherwise excellent game has to have some drawbacks right? Well, when considering other titles out there in the shops, there is really very little wrong with Ninja Gaiden. However, as I am obliged to complain about something in this game then the camera system is the most obvious target. To start things off, the player has a choice of hitting the second stick to switch to first-person mode or hitting the shoulder button in order to switch to a view immediately behind the player. Really, this is a bit fiddly at times and none more so than when the player is inside a building. Here the view usually switches to a fixed camera, reminiscent of the Resident Evil series. It means you will find yourself anxiously adjusting the camera while in the heat of battle.

There are other areas of potential improvement in this game, too, which may bode well for a sequel. Many of the levels are pretty large and the player will often find him/herself wandering through rooms and streets that are empty and seemingly underused (thank heavens you get a map with each chapter). Some of the indoor battles could have benefited from destructible scenery here and there, as well, which is always a nice and complimentary addition to any fighting game.

Indeed, the plot could have been much, much better and they could have used any number of seminal ninja films from the 1980's for inspiration. I expect them to at least sit down and watch Ninja Vs Terminator (starring Jaguar Wong) before they start work on the sequel. Check your inbox Mr Tomonobu Itagaki..

For a ninja game, it is also quite devoid of any stealth based game play mechanics. Maybe this is a good thing, seeing as any stealth game these days just doesn't seem to be able to match either Splinter Cell or the Metal Gear Solid series. However, this also means the graphics engine doesn't really bother with any sophisticated or dynamic shadow/lighting effects. No doubt sacrificed in favour of a fast frame-rate and the avoidance of slowdown, on this occasion.

There is also a slightly "bolted-on" online play aspect to this game. Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to try it out but I gather it allows for downloadable content, including new items and weapons. An online multiplayer element sure would be interesting.

Overall, I must rearticulate that Team Ninja have done a good job here. As is fast becoming a characteristic of their development studio, Ninja Gaiden is a very polished and accomplished title. Aside from the clichéd plot, dodgy camera, the strangely unresponsive swimming sections and the occasional bug (such as when hitting X opens a dialogue box instead of wielding an attack), it is a game that comes highly recommended.

Sure, it won't suit everyone and some people will walk away because the difficulty is set so high. It also takes over 20 hours to finish! However, if you consider yourself a true gamer (as well as a closet ninja) and enjoy a challenge then you will do well to track down a copy with Godspeed.

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Sam's take on Ninja Gaiden:

Ninja's never really seemed to recover from their over exposure in the eighties cultural zeitgeist, but in Ninja Gaiden we have a perfect example of why they should be forgiven and welcomed back with eager arms to the gaming fraternity. To use a term common in our times: NG is rather good. The merging of a beat-em-up with a 3D adventure game is inspired and handled with great skill by the developers. And while the myriad of special combos may be too bewildering in their number and scope, you only need to learn a few to leap and slash your way through to the end.

And that's a journey that will take some time. My biggest criticism of NG is the placement of the save points, especially before bosses. If you take 10-15 attempts to kill a boss, and the trip from the last save to the encounter takes at least a minute of wandering, loading and cut-scene then you can literally waste hours of your life by the time the end credits role. There are one or two other minor issues with the game, but if this saving situation was rectified then NG would rank as one of the most compete and well thought out games ever to grace the Xbox. The fights are spectacular, varied and immensely fun. The cut-scenes are tremendous and rival those of Blizzard, the inventory is a breeze to work and the controls are as responsive as a wino to free booze. It looks better then this year's Glastonbury line-up and sounds pretty damn tasty too. And it is amazing value for money, with the first run through guaranteed to last at least twenty hours, with two more difficulty levels to work through after that, and the lure of finding all the scarabs to unlock each of the original three ninja Gaiden games.

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By Richard Pomfret