Review: Ninja Gaiden Black - Xbox

Reminding us how 3D action games can be incredible

Thursday, October 13, 2005

In every activity there are times or situations that put you in perfect harmony with whatever you are doing. This state has sometimes been referred to as Zen like state. A game that is able to transport the player into this state ends up feeling more like an extension of the player’s mind than a controller driven program. A few fighting games have attained the quality necessary for this state, but few action/adventure games have succeeded. However, when Ninja Gaiden released for the Xbox there finally was an action/adventure game that the player was able to grasp quickly and from there it became a masterpiece of destruction. Thankfully for all those fans of the game, Team Ninja decided to put all the expansions from the Hurricane Packs and more into Ninja Gaiden Black.

First, I want to address the pressing question that is on everyone’s mind – has the camera improved? Sadly, it has not. In most cases it appears to work just like the camera did when Ninja Gaiden first released, but then there are the boss fights. These boss fights are tough to begin with, but when coupled with the new camera scheme they are exponentially harder. This is because more often than not the camera is placed in some obscure corner that does allow you to see the boss and yourself most of the time, but doesn’t allow for movement that is perfectly parallel or perpendicular to the walls. Many times, it is not necessary to use the walls in the boss fights, but when it is you will find yourself running along the wall when you want to run up it or much further from where you wanted to be because of bizarre depth of field issues.

The wall issue is the smallest problem though, the biggest problems are the fights were you have a large area to run around in but your camera won’t center behind you. Nope, the camera will never lock behind Ryu during a boss fight because for some reason it must always be trained on the boss. Ryu has this uncanny ability to hit any nearby target with his bow or shuriken without manual control so it boggles my mind why I must stare at the boss all the time. This is especially true when there are items along the wall you need but can not see because the boss isn’t on that side. Brilliant! On top of that, there are some levels where you are constrained to a very small space for movement and there are places in that space where the camera can not see you. Yes, there are times in every boss battle where you will inadvertently get into a spot where you can not see yourself. This can prove fatal when the new boss minions decide to attack you and you can not see anything. Of all the things they did to the original Ninja Gaiden, this should not have been changed.

Aside from the camera though, the game has gotten amazingly better. Sure most of the stuff was added in the Hurricane Packs, but not all. Team Ninja has added many new elements to this game that were not available with the Hurricane Packs from Xbox Live. A few of these additions are the story expansions (more in engine scenes and loading screen back story) and new unlockable content. The new story elements do not add any new twists to the story but rather flesh it out with further explanation of how things got to where they are and Ryu’s relationship with all the women in the game. Though few people played Ninja Gaiden for the story, these expansions did give Team Ninja more opportunities to put the women on the screen for fan service. Part of this expansion also included the addition of voice over for the kunai scrolls. Again this really doesn’t add much to the game.

Also included are many new outfits for Ryu. For those that haven’t played the Hurricane Packs though, there are new enemies, the Lunar staff which can rack up higher combos than the Vigoorian Flail, and new mini-challenges. Aside from the new enemies the biggest change is the fact that many bosses now have henchmen that spawn periodically to further harass you. This may seem like it would make the game more difficult, but it actually makes it easier. This is because these henchmen will provide essence which can then be used for an ultimate attack that will take the boss’s health down by a large amount each time.

The story expansion isn’t the only new content; there are also three major pieces to unlock. The first is content only for the weaklings while the other two are for the dedicated player. The first is the new Ninja Dog difficulty setting which is only unlocked after dying repeatedly on the easy difficulty. However, if you require the Ninja Dog setting and aren’t below the age of 5, you probably should stick to Tork: Prehistoric Punk. The other two additions are Master Ninja mode and the Missions.

The Master Ninja mode is actually a difficulty setting that will make you cry. It is almost impossible to describe how hard this mode is. You are just going to need to think faster than the machine can process what you are doing just to stay alive, let alone kill anything. This mode takes no prisoners and will kick you while you are down. If you dare to attempt this, make sure to have a spare controller handy to replace any that get broken due to being thrown. Mission mode is a major departure from the rest of the game because it isn’t story based. In fact mission mode is just a battle royal where the enemies just keep coming and coming and you only have certain weapons to use. This mode can get taxing after awhile because it is just wave after wave of enemies, but the beauty is that it tests your skills in all areas of combat and the feeling of success after you master all 50 levels is pretty awesome. Again, an extra controller is suggested.

Otherwise the game has not changed. Yet, when this is referring to a game that blows most others out of the water by fluid character animations, a buttery frame rate, astonishing level design, intuitive button layout, a perfect difficulty ramp, and masterfully mixed audio, then that is not a problem. There is little change in the audio or visual aspects of the game.

For those who have not played the original, here is a quick run down of the visual and audio aspects. The game boasts some of the best character models and level design on the Xbox. The visuals never take a dip in quality though the price is fewer onscreen enemies, which are more than made up for by their extremely tough attacks. Then there is the amazing audio. This game possibly has the best soundtrack out of any game on the Xbox. The music always seems to fit the mood of the game, whether it is urban or rural, ancient or modern. There are also the satisfying sounds of the weapons, characters, and weapons hitting characters to compliment the soundtrack. The voice acting is average with little emotional impact but much less cheese than Silent Hill.

In the end Ninja Gaiden Black takes most of what made Ninja Gaiden great and improves it by leaps and bounds. There are more unlockables, the girls get more screen time, more enemies, harder difficulty settings, and more destructive ecstasy. Add to that the new Ninja Dog, Master Ninja, and Mission modes and you have a game that is worth much more than the $30 price tag. Just be warned – this is not for the faint of heart because it will make you cry and it will laugh at you while you are down.

Graphics: A

Sound: A

First Play: A

Last Play: A+

Gameplay: A-

Overall: 95% A

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Review: Ninja Gaiden Black - Xbox

Reminding us how 3D action games can be incredible

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