Ninja Blade (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by James McGee on 04.30.2009
Ninja Blade is more style than substance, but what style it has.
Title: Ninja Blade
Publisher: Microsoft Games
Developer: From Software
Genre: Action-Adventure
Players: 1
Rated: M for Mature
For me, there isn’t really a question: Games are art. They can illicit an emotional response, tell a captivating story, and draw a player in just the same as any book or movie. That’s art, period. Let the snobs look down their noses all they want—I know the truth and, if you’re reading this, you hopefully do, too.
But not every game is art, and they don’t have to be. I’m able to appreciate “the classics” as much as anyone, but I enjoy the trash, too. Peter Jackson directed The Lord of the Rings, which is an amazing series of films. But he also directed Dead Alive, which is a terrible movie, but a lot of fun. Likewise, not every game has to be Bioshock. Sometimes, it’s okay to get down off the soapbox, to stop defending the artistic value of games, and just wallow in the stupid fun that our favorite hobby can provide.
Ninja Blade is not a great game. It is just barely a good game. But it is undoubtedly a fun game. It takes a bunch of different elements—some decent, some tedious, some even pretty good—and creates a total package that is worth checking out just for the sheer absurdity of it all. It is a reminder that games don’t have to be art, just so long as you have a good time playing them.
Gameplay
There is a story churning along in the background of Ninja Blade, but don’t let that scare you off. Protagonist Ken Ogawa has to deal with betrayal and loss throughout the course of the game, but the narrative only provides a paper-thin context for the action. The meat of the matter is this: parasites known as Alpha-Worms are infecting and mutating the citizens of near-future Tokyo. Your job is to kill them. Get to it.
And kill them you will. Ken will take on hordes of baddies, dispatching them in spectacular and bloody fashion. The combat takes three main forms: hack-n-slash, gun turret sequences, and cinematic Quick Time Events. None of the three are all that great on their own. You have three swords, two attack buttons, and earn a few projectile/area Ninjitsu attacks as you progress through the game, but there really isn’t much variety to the standard combat. You’ll mash on one button continuously (there are no two-button combos to be found), occasionally switching to a heavier sword to break shields, or using Ninjitsu to put out fires or give yourself some breathing room. When you find yourself behind a gun, it will be in an on-rails shooting gallery with an infinite supply of ammo and plenty of targets to gobble your lead. And the QTEs are everywhere you turn, but more on those later.
Some outbreaks are too tough even for Proactive. Some outbreaks need…a ninja!
If the game focused on just one of these gameplay types, Ninja Blade would become extremely tedious in short order. However, I think the developers knew full well how shallow these various elements were on their own. That’s why Ninja Blade never sticks to one strategy very long. You’ll slash or shoot through standard minions for a couple of minutes (and its worth noting that you’ll be facing the same four or five enemy types throughout the entire game) before coming to a huge boss. An epic battle will ensue, where you’ll identify patterns, avoid attacks, hack away, and make use of some ridiculously over-the-top QTE “Todomes” (or finishing moves). These boss encounters are where the game really shines, so it’s a shame that even they fall prey to its repetitive nature. Late in Ninja Blade’s ten-hour run, you’ll be facing some of the same bosses again, albeit with a couple of new wrinkles in their strategy. Repeat offenders are always a disappointing cop-out, but it happens late enough in Ninja Blade that it doesn’t detract from the rest of the fast-paced, short-attention-span-friendly action.
Now, many readers likely shuddered when they heard what a huge part Quick Time Events play in this game, and I can’t blame them. They’re even hyped on the back of the box! Ever since Resident Evil 4 and God of War popularized QTEs, they’ve become a crutch employed by developers who want to make their games look cooler than they really are. Many argue that they have you watching games more than playing them. These are all valid criticisms, but the team behind Ninja Blade has managed to make QTEs a fun, integral part of the gameplay experience. You always know when one is coming up, thanks to a close-up of Ken’s eye warning you to get ready. Yet, they manage to blend in perfectly with the rest of the action, so that moving from hacking on an opponent to quickly entering button combinations feels like one, fluid sequence. Perhaps best of all, if you mess up, the cinematic rewinds to a previous point and you get to try again. This may sound like dumbing things down too much, but considering how pervasive QTEs are in Ninja Blade, it keeps things from getting frustrating. All the choreographed button-mashing may still turn some players off, but the developers have implemented QTEs in the best possible way—making them fun, forgiving, and part of the overall package of sheer ridiculousness that defines Ninja Blade.
Sound
Once you get past the gloriously insane total package, you’ll quickly realize how lack-luster the individual parts of Ninja Blade truly are. There is no greater casualty than the sound, which is painfully mediocre. The slice of swords, the roar of monsters, the thunder of gunfire…it all sounds decent enough, but nothing stands out in the slightest. It simply gets the job done.
You’d expect the voice-acting to be as over-the top as the rest of the game, but it’s all rather reserved, which is honestly a little disappointing. Some of it is downright wooden (sadly, the main character falls into this category), but the rest is just sort of “eh.” Kuro Sakamoto (a teammate that turns on Ken very early on) is the only character that stands out, with a totally hammed-up performance befitting a cheesy, B-movie villain. If ever there was a game that begged for terrible voice acting, this is it. Sadly, it just didn’t happen.
Graphics
Like the sound, there is nothing spectacular about the graphics, but they more than serve their purpose. Things are dark and dingy throughout, save for some flashes of color from Ken’s customizable outfit. Animations are fluid and the game runs smoothly, save for the occasional hiccup when moving between combat and cinematics. I did run into a couple of anomalies late in the game. During the final mission, all of the text disappeared. I mean, ALL of it. On-screen, pause menu, weapons-upgrade screen. All of it. And the final cut-scene suffered from…well, it was so bad I’m honestly not sure what to call it. A combination of tearing, clipping, texture drop-out and just general fugliness. As I said, this only became a problem in the last few minutes of the game, so it may have been an isolated defect in my disk or some such. Bottom line: its no Gears of War, but Ninja Blade looks good enough to get by.
Fun Factor
So the sound and graphics are nothing to write home about, the gameplay is full of repetitive hack-n-slash combat, and there are QTEs out the whazoo. What, exactly, does Ninja Blade have going for it? Well, the category ain’t titled “Fun Factor” for nothing, kiddies. This game is, quite simply, a blast to play. It moves along briskly, never dwelling on one of its under-developed gameplay elements for too long. Even if you do spend a lot of time matching button-presses, the action you see while doing it is so outrageous you can’t help but giggle. Sky surfing on a missile? Check. Doing your best “Tiger Woods” on a wrecking ball to take out a giant spider? Done. Free-falling off a building, fighting baddies on the way down, then sticking the landing? Got that, too. Ninja Blade takes several elements that, while suspect on their own, blend together to make one beautifully outlandish package.
BOOM! That just happened!
The fun even extends to character customization. You can collect different costume patterns throughout the adventure or customize your own color palette. Unlike the game going on around him, Ken takes himself pretty seriously, making it all the more fun to dress him up as a clown and watch him brood. The story (such as it is) may fancy itself as being intense, but the players and developers are in on the joke: this is just a big, stupid action game, and it’s very proud of the fact.
Lasting Appeal
Most gamers should be able to conquer this one in under ten hours on the default difficulty setting. Once a mission is complete, you have the option of replaying it to achieve a higher score (which can be uploaded to online leaderboards) or to uncover any collectibles (costumes, health/chi upgrades, etc.) you might have missed. After finishing the game, you can restart with upgraded weapons as well. And, of course, there are Achievements to obsess over. While none of these incentives really beg for multiple playthroughs, I’ll go one further: You should NOT play Ninja Blade more than once, at least not in quick succession. The game’s strength is the mindless fun and brisk pace. Replays will only give you more time to notice and scrutinize the flaws. Play it, enjoy it, then let it go. Trust me on this.
The 411
Ninja Blade is like a so-bad-its-good sci-fi /martial arts B-movie that someone accidently gave a 200 million dollar budget. It is the very definition of “more than the sum of its parts.” Combat is repetitive, sound is forgettable, graphics aren’t the best, and you’ll spend as much (or more) time handling Quick Time Events as you do engaging in “real” gameplay. But when everything comes together, this turns out to be one of the most fun games I’ve played in a while. You might want to consider a rental, but if you’re in the mood to just slash some monsters and see some crazy stuff, Ninja Blade delivers.
Graphics
7.0
Aside for some eye-gouging problems late in the game, the graphics are serviceable but unspectacular.
Gameplay
8.5
A collection of tired mechanics that, miraculously, come together to form a surprisingly awesome blend of shooting, slashing, and QTEs that just…works!
Sound
6.5
Passable effects and music with mostly forgettable voice acting. I never thought I’d say this, but this game could have really used some more over-acting.
Lasting Appeal
6.0
The standard range of collectables and Achievements, but multiple play-throughs may actually hurt your perception of this one.
Fun Factor
10.0
Outrageous, over-the-top, thoroughly satisfying in its ridiculous presentation, Ninja Blade is more than the sum of its parts.
