Customer Reviews

Ninja Blade

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ninja Blade is a ridiculously Over The Top action game that's about 7 or 8 hours of fun. While games like Ninja Gaiden are smooth, difficult, and epic, Ninja Blade feels more like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Godzilla.

Story: 4/10
Alpha Worms infest the human population, turning them into violent and deadly mutants. The Worms can also create giant Godzilla sized monsters for epic boss battles. You play an American Ninja who's father was Japanese, but was created in a lab, and there's some mention of your mother... Umm... you're basically a video game character designed to kill monsters! That's pretty much all you need to know. The story doesn't make much sense and the dialogue is more befitting of a surfer movie than an epic action film.

Gameplay: 8/10
There are 3 types of gameplay in Ninja Blade and all are fun.
1. Hack and Slash Sword Fighting and Ninja Magic vs. Zombies and Bosses
This is the core of the game. There are 3 weapon types (katana, massive heavy sword, and fast twin blades) and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. There are a fair amount of combos for each weapon and the combat is fluid and complete with finishing moves. You also get elemental Ninja Magic for fighting enemies and using the environment to your advantage. All of your weapons and magic can be upgraded by collecting orbs found in the environments or by killing enemies.

2. Quicktime Events
Reminiscent of Dragon's Lair, a crazy action scene plays and you press the right button at the right time to keep the sequence going. If you mess up, it's ok, the scene rewinds a few seconds and you can keep trying until you get it right. These action scenes are so over the top... It's like watching a Popeye cartoon if Popeye had 10 cans of Spinach... It's like a Jason Statham Movie x 100... We're talking Superman on meth! They're so ridiculous, you can't take them seriously; but they still manage to be fun. (Mostly because the game doesn't overpunish you by killing you if you make a mistake.) Also, if you have having trouble with these, you can adust the Quicktime Difficulty on the Options Menu!

3. Rail Shooter
There are some scenes in the game where you're on a helicopter or vehicle, firing a .50 cal machine gun or rocket launcher. These scenes are very exciting and pretty easy. Simply put... FUN.

The game mixes all 3 types of gameplay fairly often and it keeps the game from feeling stale. If you die, Checkpoints are fairly generous and you can continue at the last one. At the end of each of the 9 Missions, you get a score based on how well that you did. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THE GAME SAVES. Unfortunately, you can't save during a Mission. (Each Mission is about 60-30 minutes.)

Sound/Music: 6/10
The explosions and roars of the giant mosters are LOUD, and the sound contributes to the action, but the soundtrack is pretty weak. It's almost as if the team was finishing the game and somebody said, "Hey, we should put some music in here." The background music is just there. Some tracks are exciting and others are bad. One of them sounds like a guy with a saxophone is in an electric chair. (If you played the game, you know what I'm talking about.)

Art: 8/10
The art is pretty good overall. From the visual effects, to the character designs, to the Tokyo Skyline, the graphics and animations are all very good.

Overall: 7/10
The game is fun and it doesn't try to be anything else.

Ninja Blade is Rated M for Violence and Gore.

If you're looking for a fun action game that's not too hard, this is it. With a Shadow of the Colossus Soundtrack, a Real Story, and Less Silly Action Scenes, this could have been in the same league as God of War. Unfortunately, the game is more 'action cartoon comedy' than epic masterpiece. Because the game is fairly short, the hero is completely forgettable, and replay value is limited, this makes a great rental.

Avoid this one if you hate Quicktime Events, Ridiculously Unrealistic Fight Scenes, or Bad Dialogue.

In the day and age of action games being overly exaggerated, many titles come to mind when recalling over the top action/adventure games. Titles such as Devil May Cry and God of War are two of the best action adventure titles that truly take the action and adrenaline rush to an extremely exaggerated level. Scenes where Kratos rips apart mythical creatures with his bare hands, and scenes where Dante jumps atop a moving missile and navigates it with his feet, are prime examples of why these games are non-stop action. Never did I think I would encounter a game with just as much gameplay exaggeration as these, but then I bought Ninja Blade.

Ninja Blade looks beautiful. Its crisp and sharp graphics are stunning to look at, and its in game animations are top notch. The scale of the levels and boss battles also take full advantage of the graphical powers the game is boasting. The action is fast paced and even though it resembles Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, and God of War, Ninja Blade has an identity of its own.

The story focuses around a group of soldiers/ninja who are codenamed G.U.I.D.E. They are responsible for the elimination of threats that normal weapons and humans are not capable of defeating on their own. The player takes control of an American born ninja named Ken Ogawa, who happens to be the son of the leader of G.U.I.D.E. The team has been called to Japan to assist in containing a sudden outbreak that has occurred as a result of parasites referred to as "Alpha Worms". These worms are causing the citizens of Japan to mutate into horrible creatures who are under full control of the parasites. After being betrayed by both his father and his friend, Ken Ogawa is left to contain the outbreak on his own.

Fusing elements from the three games quite nicely, Ninja Blade is truly a lot fun to play. The game contains a wide range of weapons, from small and fast, to large and slow, Ken's arsenal is greatly diverse. Ken has access to various forms of Ninjutsu, each with different element properties such as fire, or wind. Portions of the game require the player to protect a vehicle while fighting off enemy hordes in "on rail shooter" type moments. These moments do not last very long, but are still quite interesting and unique to the overall feel of the game. Many of Ken's combos resemble Kratos' fighting style from God of War, utilizing lengthy combos chained together in various ways with sudden "kill commands" that require fast reflexes to initiate more in depth and over the top kills on each opponent. This brings up the next subject for Ninja Blade, the boss battles. The boss battles are epic, placing Ken at the top of buildings, forcing him to fight off enemies twice the size of the entire building. The fights always finish with "quick time events" that take the kills to even higher levels than what the game already depicts. Moments such as flinging motorcycles at oncoming bosses, or riding missiles (ala Devil May Cry) utilize the "quick time events" greatly. Using the quick time events, the player must control every aspect of Ken's decisions, even things such as landing and jumping are based on these, and all boss battles boil down to this formula as well.

Despite the fact that the game looks like Ninja Gaiden, plays like God of War, and acts like Devil May Cry, it still has enough of its identity to make it worthwhile. With over-the-top action scenes, quick time events, epic boss battles, and great combat systems, the game is a lot of fun to play and is definitely worth checking out if you own an Xbox 360

I would say 99.9% of reviewers in this column don't have the slightest clue what they are talking about. Ninja Blade is probably the best ninja game yet. This is a hack and slash game, simply as that, so going into it...what kinda game are you expecting? The cutscenes are bothersome I hear? Is two seconds not enough for you to press a button on your controller? I must have screwed up the cutscenes only once and thats because I needed to change batteries! The cutscenes really show the games graphical capabilities and really added to the variety of the gameplay experience. If your complaining about not being able to save in the middle of a mission then you shouldn't be playing video games anyway because you are so worried about your electrical bill. Maybe you should stick Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on the recruit setting, at least that way you will be able to save after every checkpoint. If your a fan of the hack & slash genre ala DMC or Ninja Gaiden, then you will jump right into this game. Having played all these games, I found Ninja Blade the best. Sure the plot may not be nominated for an academy award but who downright cares?! It is quite simply a blast to play!

This is no ordinary game like those racing and adventure games. This is an extraordinary life experience. Grafics? off the chart. Is like you're the ninja. Simply fantastic. This is a must play for all you game freeks out there.

If you are a Ninja Gaiden 2 fan... Then you are going to like this one. What I really love about this game (besides the game play) is that you can customize your character's costume. If you are into Ninja martial arts and other related subjects then I totally recommend this game.

The game is without any doubt a very good game, period. It is pure adrenaline, it takes some aspects borrowed from other games (Resident Evil, God of War, Ninja Gaiden), but the game itself shines on it's own. It is a fast paced,challenging with some of the best epic boss fights that you have ever seen in any game. Easier than Ninja Gaiden 2 (which is almost impossible to beat), but challenging though. Epic ending

Good/Pros

Fast action paced
Great graphics
Fun gameplay
Awesome bosses
Easy to learn controls
Great combos
Length of the game is OK


Cons

Save system needs to get checkpoints in the middle of a mission (there are checkpoints), but if you turn off the console, you need to start that mission again. Need to finish the mission to get a real save game. Missions take a little bit more than an hour the first time you play (average)

No multiplayer, only uploads to Xbox Live to compare your stats to with others on the leaderboards

Even though these cons, this particular game is superb and awesome. For me it's a 5 star game and worths the money

Many people are harsh to this game because they are expecting a Ninja Gaiden clone.

Well, sort of, but not really, its like a game made up of blending a few other games together.

Well to sum it up, this game is Ninja violence + Quick Time Events + some jumping/platforming.

Story : 6/10
The story appears to be a ripoff of a few themes: zombifie infection of a city, but not really (parasites!), ninjas wielding various weapons and powers but speak with an American accent, saving the city with over the top action and defeating giant bosses. And a really cheesy sensei.

Graphics : 7/10
Admittedly, not bad for an xbox 360 game. I liked the bird's eye views of Tokyo. Not fantastic but credible. Somewhere between an old xbox game and Gears of War 3, to put things in perspective.

Sound : 7/10
Not too bad, surround sound effects are okay. Lots of explosions.

Gameplay : 7/10
Lots of slashing, combos, violence like God of War and Ninja Gaiden. Quick Time Events play a large part and break up the game. If you hate QTEs then forget about this game. If you like them, they actually make the game a pretty exciting experience. The platforming and wallrunning will remind you of Ninja Gaiden. Collecting yellow orbs refill your health and red orbs allow for upgrades (reminds you of God of War or Dante's Inferno much??)

Overall : 7/10

For its price, its good exciting fun. Pick it up if you do not have other major titles to play. I would recommend it, UNLESS you hate QTE, or are bad at it (which I suspect is the reason why many gamers dislike this game).

not a bad game. i had fun. its like ninja gaiden 2. ninja gaiden was WAY better but this one still as fun as gaiden.

"Easy" apparently means different things to different people, and the creators of Ninja Blade are either illiterate or just wanted to fool folks into buying their game. I'm a casual gamer, not looking for a eject-and-throw-the-disc-at-the-wall experience, and when a game has an easy setting I expect it to be just that. Perhaps the God of War series has spoiled me? I lost around $12 after buying this waste-of-money, then quickly trading it in so as to not end up tossing my controller through the TV. And, creators of Ninja Blade, if Bioshock lets you save whenever you want, why not give that same functionality to your game? Maybe I would've kept it longer than a couple of days.

Very Fun Game, Kinda repetitive, but its still very fun to play. I feel that if they make a part two and take their time they probably can be the exclusive ninja game.