Ninja Gaiden Black

I am ashamed to say this, but I never really got to play Ninja Gaiden, other than the demo that came in the Official Xbox Magazine last year. When I heard that Team Ninja was re-releasing the game, including the two Hurricane Packs, plus a few extra’s I knew that I had to get my hands on it, and let me tell you that I am not disappointed in the least. This has to be one of the best action games that I have ever played. Read on to find out why you should purchase this game immediately if you do not already own it.

In case you were like me and never played Ninja Gaiden, let me briefly introduce you to the story. There was a legendary sword called the Dark Dragon Blade, which is said to be carved out to the bones of a malicious Black Dragon who wreaked havoc upon the world in ancient times. It was sealed long ago by the people in the Dragon Lineage. If the seal was to be broken an unknown evil would be brought unto the world. The Dragon Sword is another weapon protected by the Dragon Lineage that the Ancients used to slay the Black Dragon. The swords have been entrusted to the decedents of the Dragon Lineage: the Hayabusa Ninja Clan. The Black Dragon Blade sword has been stolen and it is up to the young Ryu Hayabusa to get it back before something terrible happens.

In its truest form, Ninja Gaiden Black is not only an action game but also an adventure one as well. During the course of the game players will have to transverse various alleys, solving puzzles, as well as doing various other things to get to the main objective. Along the way you will fight many different enemies that would like nothing else then to see you bleeding. Since that is the case you will have to take them out in order not to become a grave man.

One of the best things about this game is how smart the enemy AI actually is. Many people might think that the game is cheating or have various other comments. If you sit there and try to perform the same move over and over again the AI will pick up on it, just block it and wait for the moment you are vulnerable and strike you. Players must constantly use all of Ryu’s moves in order to get past each level. If you are successful in getting past the “grunts,” you will not have seen anything yet because the bosses of each level are really tough, which will remind players of the boss’s from old-school games. Players will have to figure out the different boss' style of fighting and find their vulnerability and exploit it to kill them. Even though this game is really tough on you once you get past any of the arduous bosses you will feel like you have accomplished something.

When enemies die they will leave one of three different kinds of essence: yellow, blue, or red. Yellow essence is the currency of this game, if you want to upgrade your weapons or buy items you must have plenty of this in stock. Blue essence replenishes Ryu’s health, and red replenishes his Ki power. When you strike the fatal blow to the enemy if you have a higher combo count or end with an ultimate technique you will get more essence.

Throughout the course of the game players will notice that they will have a wide variety of weapons that they can use. The weapons will vary from primary weapons such as swords, projectile weapons, such as the mighty Shuriken, and magic. As players progress though the game they will want to upgrade their weapons, because if you do not you will have a hard time facing some of the enemies later on in the game. One of the biggest reasons for upgrading your weapons is that it unlocks new moves that you can perform, which have deadly results to the enemies.

A thing that can make or break a game like this is the camera control. Fortunately for gamers the camera, while it isn’t perfect, is still pretty good. At any time during the course of the game players can tap the right trigger and the game will focus right behind Ryu’s back. Players will also be able to manually control the camera using the right analog stick to see what is going on. If you get stuck in the game you will also be able to go into first-person mode and look around to see if you can find the way out of any given situation.

What makes this game even better is how responsive the controls are; just tapping them a few times and you will see Ryu perform some amazing combo’s that will prove to be deadly to the myriads of enemies you will be fighting. This can be attributed to the fact that Team Ninja has had ample of years of experience making fighting games so they could apply the same concepts here, and what we are given is a beautiful game that will react to the slightest touch of the controller.

Included in Ninja Gaiden Black is a mission mode, because it focuses on all out-action by being pitted against myriads of enemies. The missions will take place in various locations from the story mode, but unlike the story mode you will be faced with more enemies that are a lot tougher, even on normal mode. In this mode you will get to use a variety of different weapons to take out the oncoming enemies. Ninja Gaiden Black is one of the best-looking action games that can be found on any current generation console system. Everything about this game is drop-dead gorgeous. The character models, especially on Ryu and the bosses, are nothing short of awesome. Then you have the different environments that players will transverse through the game, be it forests, modern towns, and even in airships, the game is astonishing. None of the levels look identical so players will always be in for a treat when they play through this game.

What goes hand in hand with the graphics is the wonderful animation. Every single move that Ryu performs is amazing to see because the animation is so smooth. The transition between each move is really a sight to behold. One might expect that the framerate for a game like this to be shaky, but fear not, this game has a really good framerate that rarely dips down.

To complement the game’s gorgeous graphics, the soundtrack and voiceovers are really good as well. The soundtrack really fits well within the Ninja Gaiden universe and complements the gameplay as well. The sound effects are really good, from the sword clashing to the sound of blood dripping from the bodies of the defeated foes. The voiceovers are also really good, both the English and the Japanese, either way you cannot go wrong. Finally if you have a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround-sound system, then you will definitely want to hook this game up to it because it will immerse you into the whole game, making it feel like you are really there in the midst of the action.

If you like unlocking things in your game, then you will highly appreciate this game. There are many things for gamers to unlock from the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden and many other things. Ninja Gaiden Black also features the content from the two Hurricane Packs that have been released over Xbox Live so gamers will get to enjoy the various added modes as well as new enemies and weapons. Needless to say that this game has so much replay value it in, that it is ridiculous the amount of time that you will want to spend playing it, but enjoying it every step of the way.

Ninja Gaiden Black is rated Mature for blood, gore, and intense violence.

Gameplay: 9.2
Even though the game is pretty linear and the majority of the puzzles are pretty simple, you will not find a more fun game around. The quick reaction time that Ryu has when you press a button is simply amazing and truly feels like you are playing with a ninja.

Graphics: 9.8
Ninja Gaiden Black is one of the best-looking games that you will find on any current generation system. The game is just oozing with graphical eye candy from the character models, animations, and environments that you fight in.

Sound: 9.2
The game sounds really good from the musical score and effects to the voiceovers.

Difficulty: Hard
This game will show you now mercy. It is one of the hardest games I have played in a long time, and that is on Normal mode. Even though this is the case you will want to continue to play it because it is that good.

Concept: 9.1
Ninja Gaiden Black is a well-designed game that has myriads of options that will keep players coming back to play this game.

Overall: 9.6
If you didn’t purchase Ninja Gaiden when it came out last year, then you must go out and purchase Ninja Gaiden Black as soon as you can. It is one of the best action games I have played in recent years. There is so much you can do in this game, and the unlockable content only further makes this a game that will not leave your Xbox for some time.