Review NaN of 6
Price Paid:
$50.00
from Best Buy Summary:
I have a bone to pick with a man named Tomonobu Itakagi.
Not because I hate the guy or because he put a flaming bag of dog poo on my doorstep, but because he’s created a game that has shown me just how refined my videogame “skills” are. Speaking of said “skills,” Ninja Gaiden has dropped trou and let loose a big steamer on them. This game, literally speaking, is a casual gamer’s nightmare. Those who are looking for a quick action experience without a requirement for commitment need not read any further. Turn away. This game will kick you in the junk, slap you in the face, then laugh at you as you suck on your thumb in a corner, curled up in the fetal position and whimpering.
Having said that, Tecmo and Team Ninja (developer of the Dead or Alive games) have a gem on their hands. Guiding the ninja Ryu Hyabusa through Gaiden is one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences on the XBox. Not many games can kick my ass this badly and still receive my praise. The lightning fast gameplay, insanely gorgeous and detailed graphics, deep combat system, and adrenaline-pumping soundtrack all come together to form one of the most satisfying action games ever made. Period.
Essentially, Gaiden plays like the crack-high lovechild of Devil May Cry and Prince of Persia. The twitch-reflex battles and fairly clever puzzles remind me of both games, and it shares several other similarities with those two games beyond just the fighting and puzzles. Like DMC, Gaiden lets you attain new weapons, power them up with “essence” points that you gain from fighting, and also lets you buy healing potions and potions to fill up your “Ki” (special) meter for powerful elemental attacks (which you can also power up with special orbs). There are three types of Essence in Gaiden. The yellow essence is used for currency, the blue recharges a small amount of health, and the red fills a portion of your Ki meter. You can also purchase special scrolls that let you learn new attacks, upgrades for weapons, and other essential ninja accessories within the game at special shrines. In terms of the lightning-quick fighting and upgrades for weapons, the similarities between DMC and Gaiden end there. Dante, the devil-hunter from DMC, only wishes he had a moves list as deep as Ryu’s; there are fighting games that don’t even begin to approach the deepness and diversity of the combat found in Gaiden. Like the Prince from Prince of Persia, Ryu can run on walls, perform gymnastics on bars or branches that stick out, and other similar moves. In addition to these acrobatics, Ryu can also perform a huge number of different melee attacks. Luckily, each weapon has a moves list that you can access during gameplay, if the need arises.
The weapons you can equip in this game each have a plethora of combos to tear enemies to shreds with, and each time you power your weapon up you get a few new ones. The higher-level combos are insanely damaging, and for certain weapons (ahem, the Vigoorian Flail), 100+ hit combos can be achieved if you’re surrounded by enough enemies. Each weapon in the game is effective against certain types of enemies; using your Flail on one type of enemy might work, but using it against another may not work and require a heavy-hitting weapon, such as the Warhammer.
There are four distinct types of weapons in Gaiden, starting with the Melee Weapons. Each one has its own combo list and unique speed and style. Your melee weapons are composed of the sleek Dragon Sword (your main weapon), the massive Warhammer and Dahilabro, the Nunchakus, and a bladed version of the Nunchakus, the Vigoorian Flail. Of all the melee weapons, your Dragon Sword is the most functional; it’s effective on pretty much any enemy you encounter. However, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Vigoorian Flail. Massive combos can be attained through the use of this nasty little tool (my highest was a whopping 217), and it’s by far the most fun weapon to fight with. The Warhammer and Dahilabro can usually be used against the more stubborn enemies and a few of the slower-moving bosses. Since they’re much larger, they take much more time to swing around, so be careful to choose what weapons to use with each enemy type. The Nanchakus are not upgradeable, so outside of looking cool, they don’t do a whole lot of good. There is one more sword that can be attained during the game, but I won’t spoil it for you. The next type of weapon, the Projectiles, consists of the bow and arrow and the shurikens (throwing stars for the ninja-illiterate). The bow can be shot from a third or first-person perspective; toggling the left thumbstick will allow you to use the first-person view, and zooming in and out is possible for sniping. The basic shurikens can be thrown in different numbers, depending on if you’re running or jumping; jumping and then throwing the shurikens by pressing B while in midair will let you throw more than, say, if you’re just running on the ground. The Windmill Shuriken makes a useful return to the series; throwing this four-bladed weapon will cause it to come right back, so don’t worry about ammunition. The Exploding Shurikens are quite useful as well; after they hit a surface, they explode after a short moment. Just be sure that you’re not on the receiving end of these, as they’re quite devastating to your health. I encountered a certain type of enemy who really gets a kick out of throwing these at you, so learning how to evade them is crucial. The third type of weapon, which is more of an item that you equip, is the Armlets. Different Armlets can be found and bought throughout the game, such as ones that allow you to up your defense or offense. Others enable you to absorb greater amounts of essence than normal, and so on. Depending on the situation, each Armlet has a specific purpose. The fourth and most powerful weapons at your disposal are the Ninpo. These special elemental attacks can be performed at any time during battle (provided you have enough Ki) and can do massive amounts of damage if used properly. Each of the four “Arts” can be upgraded to do more damage. Using the fully-upgraded Art of the Inazuma in a group of enemies will result in death for anyone within a close proximity of Ryu.
Now, with all of these weapons, many would assume that you’re playing offense for most of the game. This is not the case. Going balls-out and trying to eliminate every enemy in one swift stroke will only result in death, as many enemies love to jump around and block your attacks. Learning when to block (just hold the L trigger), when to jump, when to duck and roll, and just when to run like mad to get out of a group of enemies is extremely important for survival. With Ryu’s expansive moves list, Gaiden allows you to move quite freely if you’re trapped or outnumbered. Remember, you can run up and along walls if you need to, so if you’re thinking about using sheer brute force to bully your way through enemies, keep in mind that there are other ways to subvert their defenses and pick them off. During battle, you can press and hold Y to absorb any essence from fallen enemies. If you absorb enough, release Y and you’ll unleash a devastating combo on an unsuspecting victim. The combo you perform depends on the weapon you’re using, and they are quite powerful, but remember that it’s not always wise to let your guard down while fighting to absorb essence. This is a part of the strategy you must use in Gaiden’s many battles; waiting for a break in enemy attacks to act is part of every fight. Speaking of enemies, Gaiden throws demons, undead, ninjas (of course), and even machinegun-wielding military personnel at you. While some of the enemy designs are pretty cheesy (the floating scythe-wielding specters are like something off an 80’s death metal CD cover), they are diverse and well-modeled. Of course, of all the enemies in the game, the bosses are the most impressive. Some of them are, simply put, colossal. One battle in particular has you taking on the giant reanimated skeleton of a reptilian beast, and it gives you a good idea of how small Ryu is compared to it. All of the bosses look great and fighting them gets your adrenaline pumping (the battle against the tanks was one of my favorites), but a few of them were so nail-bitingly, hair-pullingly difficult that they made my blood boil. A cathedral battle with a certain pink and scantily-clad demon had me shouting more explicitives than a drunken sailor with Tourette syndrome. However, I learned that finding her pattern led to her defeat, so if you’re finding that you just can’t beat a boss, watch its actions. It may take a dozen tries, but perseverance pays off. The gameplay is deep and fun enough that you will want to keep playing, no matter what.
Sure, the gameplay kicks ass, but what about the aesthetics? Gaiden spares no expense here either. As many of you have probably seen from screenshots, Gaiden is beautiful. If it were a woman, it would be a supermodel, without a doubt. Besides running at a constant 60 fps (with very few hiccups), the graphics are incredibly detailed (polygons? what polygons?), the textures are smooth, and the animation is incredibly fast (and, at the same time, believable). The audio is phenomenal as well, ranging from sweeping orchestral scores to fast-paced synth-beats for fighting situations. The sound effects are also very well-done. Gaiden is truly a shining example of how good games can look and sound on the Xbox. It is simply one of the best-looking and sounding games on the market at this time, on any system, hands-down.
However, for everything that Gaiden does so well, there are a few little things I would have liked to have been fixed. The story here is what you’d expect from just about what you’d expect from an action game, so I won’t bother to elaborate on any details. The voice acting and dialogue, while serviceable to the plot, can be pretty cheesy. You can turn the English voices off and the Japanese voices on for a more authentic experience, but some of the dialogue will still have you rolling your eyes. The camera can also be a problem sometimes; there were a few battles (boss battles, in particular) where it just would not stay where I wanted it to stay. Tapping the R trigger will whip the camera around behind Ryu, and it is very responsive in that regard, but it can still be disorienting, especially if you don’t know where a boss or enemy is in relation to your position. However, I have to give the developers credit; with gameplay this fast, it has to be difficult to create the perfect camera when your character is jumping and running around so fast. Finally, I’ll make the complaint that I’m sure every casual gamer will when he or she finally plays this game: it’s too freakin’ hard. The difficulty will scare off casual gamers, and the sheer speed of the gameplay will probably intimidate those with slower reflexes. However, this game was created for the hardcore crowd, so if you’re just a weekend warrior, don’t be surprised when this game hands your ass to you on a bloodied silver platter.
Ninja Gaiden, for the gamer that appreciates a challenge, is a must-own. It will impress you with its graphics, its gameplay, and unlockables abound. The sheer size of the game (20+ hours if you want to find all of the Golden Scarabs that are used to attain unlockables) will keep you playing for quite some time, and the online component, which I have yet to try, will no doubt offer more ways to get the most out of this game. To the inexperienced gamer, rent before you purchase. To the hardcore gamer, buy it and love it. Report this review >>
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