Ninja Blade to be released in April

By Robert Purchese Published 26 February, 2009

360 exclusive gets demo next month.

Microsoft will release exclusive Xbox 360 action game Ninja Blade in Europe on 3rd April - four days earlier than the US.

There will be a demo of the slasher on Xbox Live from 9th March.

Ninja Blade - developed by From Software of Armored Core and Tenchu renown - follows hero Ken Ogawa and his pack of warriors as they fight a disease that is transforming citizens of Tokyo into monsters.

Sounds very Ninja Gaiden, but Ninja Blade takes a more steroid-enhanced approach, and adorns Ogawa with an array of upgradable super-human powers. He can run at silly speeds up and down walls, produce incomprehensible flurries of screen-filling attacks and smack the floor with more force than Hulk Hogan.

The potential is there, although the relative lack of fuss so far doesn't bode well. Still, can't be worse than Tenchu Z. We hope.

Head over to our Ninja Blade page for some gameplay videos and screenshots.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (16) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • miiiguel #1 3 years ago

    I have to say that's a bit distasteful to keep bashing the charismatic Tenchu Z. There are fans of the game in here, you know ?
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/09 @ 14:22

  • sn3jk #2 3 years ago

    ninja blade link points to tenchu z review.

  • alimokrane #3 3 years ago

    aghhh, I thought it's being released March 20th ???

  • muscleblade #4 3 years ago

    @alimokrane

    Dont listen to tothegame.com. with release dates.

    I thouth the otagi games and Tenchu Z where pretty entertaining even if they lacked polish.

    Tenchu Shadow Assassins on the Wii is actually one of the better Ninja games ever made. Nothing can compare to Ninja Gaiden of course.

    This is a day one purchase for me if it fits my predictions. A very entertaining B game.

  • muscleblade #5 3 years ago

    February: SFIV and GTA IV DLC
    Mars: RE5 and POP DLC
    April: Ninja Blade

    Good times

  • Derblington #6 3 years ago

    The game is region free at Play Asia already. Not sure it's worth buying yet though...
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/09 @ 15:07

  • ParanoidZombie #7 3 years ago

    agreed with seamonsterneil. Maybe I played too much ninja gaiden 2, but this demo was soooo boring. And there are way too many QTEs. And the main character has zero charisma.

  • smernicki #8 3 years ago

    you always have to worry when the corporate PR machine hasn't been turned on at this stage...

  • RedSparrows #9 3 years ago

    I wish NG3 was being released in April :(

  • alimokrane #10 3 years ago

    @muscleblade
    "February: SFIV and GTA IV DLC
    Mars: RE5 and POP DLC
    April: Ninja Blade

    Good times"

    You summed my tastes pretty nicely. I absolutely agree. Good times indeed. I would add Star Ocean 4 to April though ;)

  • Quint2020 #11 3 years ago

    "I thought the otagi games and Tenchu Z where pretty entertaining even if they lacked polish."

    Otogi lack polish!? It was one of the best looking games on the original Xbox, From Software need to make a sequel to that game asap.
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/09 @ 16:34

  • Peew971 #12 3 years ago

    It's already available in Asia, no region protection and full English version. Can't be bothered to link Play-asia.

  • Razorus #13 3 years ago

    I don't expect it to be brilliant tbh. Mediocre, in fact.

  • Slipstream #14 3 years ago

    This game looked generic from the get go...but I'm and idiot and I'm going to buy it because I have a mega weakness for the modern Ninja...*sigh*

  • Meho #15 3 years ago

    It's not just generic, it's decidedly mediocre. Played through first two missions of the Asian version and the game is trying to ape both God of War and Ninja Gaiden but is simply not in the same league. And the bossfights are simply obnoxious because of the abominable QTEs piled on top of other QTEs. Not that I am against any QTE in any game ever but Ninja Blade takes the piss and looks like Dragon's Lair most of the time. Not only that there are simply to many of QTEs in bossfights (and quite a few outside them as well), but they are not even implemented well. It is fairly obvious that first and foremost they are supposed to make things look cool, but from the gameplay point of view, they are almost game-breaking: you are usually asked to do press ONE button in any given moment and if you fail, the game rewinds and lets you try again until you get it right. No punishment, no way to skip or get out of it. To me, this made an already average Ninja Gaiden clone (weak enemy AI, combat system with too long advance and recovery times on most of the flashier moves for them to be effective, half baked platforming) damn near unplayable.

  • Slipstream #16 3 years ago

    QTE's lol, I'm one of the few that actually love them, only if they're done right mind.

    Like failing to miss one should result in instant failure, there should be an animation for the character taking the blow and then recovering ready for your next inut, unless of course the move was fatal enough that you simply cannot recover from it. (Chainsaw lawlz)