Ninja Blade Review - Xbox 360

4

Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 6
Audio: 5
Innovation: 3

Introduction

“Outside the government, beyond the police; tracking down alien life on Earth, and arming the human race against the future. The 21st century is when it all changes – and you’ve gotta be ready.”

Wait, that’s Torchwood. Oh well. Just replace ‘secret organisation’ with ‘secret ninja organisation’ and Wales with Tokyo, and that’s pretty much Ninja Blade. It’s just as schlocky too.

Gameplay

So you’re some sort of invincible super spy ninja in a group of special agent ninjas that the Japanese government calls in to deal with… well, I’m not sure what they do on a day to day basis, but in this game there’s a viral outbreak turning everyone into zombies and taking over Japan. Obviously, as with nine out of ten things in life, ninjas are the answer. From Software’s game is predominantly a hack and slash adventure game with some levelling elements and a slew of quick time events (QTEs). Over the course of several missions you work your way towards to source and heart of the infection, battling gigantic bosses and fighting against your corrupt(ish) father and former teammate.

Speaking of QTEs, one of the notable innovations that Ninja Blade brings to the table is an instant rewind that gives you another chance at a missed prompt within seconds, which is far preferable to dying and having to restarting at another checkpoint. It's a pity it dwells so long on the rewind – perhaps masking a load time? – because eventually it drags on too long, especially if you messed up early. From Software also like to throw these moments into regular platforming, but to give you a second to react, they do a big zoom in onto the eyes of Ken, the protagonist. It's effective at letting you prepare to hit buttons while not detracting from the cinematic feel of what is about to unfold (though the flashing grades that tell you how well you timed each button press are another matter).

The draw here is the boss fights. As every kid has at one point or another excitedly exclaimed to their friends, a game where you only fight bosses would be the greatest thing ever. Shadow of the Colossus proved that it can be done, but I have doubts it will ever happen again. The problem is that (with one aforementioned exception) you can’t just have boss fights. In an open world game you can add length by including necessary travel, but in a linear mission-based world that transports you by cutscene to each new place? No. You need to work through minions first, or navigate through an environment, or upgrade your weapons, or, as in the case of Ninja Blade, all of the above. This means mindlessly working through hordes of enemies to gather crystals to upgrade your weapons to get new attacks to add variety to mindlessly working through hordes of enemies.

Eventually, though, you’ll reach the boss of each mission. Here, at least, Ninja Blade goes all out in making some of the biggest and most ...