Ninja Blade Review

By Kieron Gillen Published 24 March, 2009

The panto Ninja Gaiden.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Even when a game is as gleefully stupid as possible, developers are sometimes smart enough to leave room for the player to make it even more so. It's almost inspiring. Case in point: Ninja Blade. The game opens with a unit of ninjas, one of which is you, being dropped from a transport plane into a city that's been infected by Alpha Worms from Space. Or something. None of the ninjas have parachutes. On the way down - slashing enemy flying things who have the misfortune to be passing by - you proceed to land by crashing through the side of a skyscraper and slow the impact by doing a forward roll. That's as sane as it gets. By the end of the level, you've kicked an enormous demolition ball into the boss' equally enormous tendril-covered face.

Which is all mental enough. But then you finish the level, and realise it includes a costume editor. So now, when the high-octane straight-faced lunacy kicks off again, it's starring a fluorescent pink ninja. It only gets worse as you unlock other outfits. I went out the room when a friend was playing and he edited the ninja so he was rocking a scarlet leopard-skin with pink love-hearts all over his sleeves.

There are two sorts of ninjas. There's the sort who are big on hiding and the sort who really aren't. Ninja Blade is the latter. He thinks hiding is what animals are covered in. He's an expert in three weapons - the ancient ninja blades, mystical shuriken and the M60 machinegun. He is, to stress the point, mental. Lunacy is the primary constant. At Ninja Blade's best, it's hilarious, destructive and joyous. Even at its worst, it's often bad in a way that makes you wonder at the sanity of the developer for making whatever decision you're contemplating.

'Ninja Blade' Screenshot 1

Here you have to attack by pressing 'X'. No, really.

It is... well, let's go with "action game". Action-adventure would probably be the box to tick, but that doesn't quite grasp the entirety of its mood-swing game design. I'd say God of War, if I were to choose a single game, but while it's got all that increasing-combo quick-time event finishing move boss-fighting malarkey, its so fond of the wall-running that it pushes the platforming elements into something that even looks a little like Prince of Persia. And then it's got extended on-rails shooter sections where you're mowing down enemies while your truck or chopper trundles along. And the typically elaborate boss fights. And the quick-time events.

Ninja Blade likes its quick-time events. It's got more than I've seen since Fahrenheit, but they're integrated in a far less painful way. But still incredibly odd. Put it this way. It's like you're typing a paragraph in a review and you make some kind of mistkktsim fo dink emos ekam uoy dna wiever a ni hpargarap a ginpyt er'uoy ekil s'ti os. So it's like you're typing a paragraph in a review and you make some kind of mistake and then it rewinds and you try again with no further conseqeeqesnoc rehtruf on htiw niaga yrt uoy dna sdniwer ti neht dna ekatsim fo dink emos ekam uoy dna wiever a ni hpargarap a ginpyt er'uoy ekil s'ti os. So it's like you're typing a paragraph in a review and you make some kind of mistake and then it rewinds and lets you try again with no further consequences.

'Ninja Blade' Screenshot 2

Do ninjas have good arses? Discuss in the comment thread.

That's annoying and strange. As just demonstrated. But oddly, less annoying than the alternative of having to do the whole sequence again. While I suspect this is a total dead-end in game design, this compromise - the QTEs are set to be pretty damn easy on normal difficulty - does allow a developer to keep a tiny fraction interaction in events most games of the type would have as a cut-scene. The normal complaint in a game that runs an awesome video of your character taking down a baddy is, "Well, great - why can't I do it?" Ninja Blade's extended sequences of Dragons Lair-style action at least keep you slightly involved as the protagonist. Given the choice, I'll take this.

In terms of actual proper grown-up videogaming interaction, the combat works with X and Y setting off your basic heavy or normal attacks, chaining in combos. By defeating opponents and the ever-nefarious crates, you discover - to use the proper gaming terminology - red blobs, which you can use to power up your weapons, opening up new, somewhat trickier attacks. Alternatively, you can use them on your various magical shuriken, which are used offensively (flame ones, for example - for hitting people, obviously), defensively (electricity ones, which form a shield that blocks incoming shots, for instance) or puzzle-solvingly (wind ones, which blow out fires, being one example). There are also two other ninja swords, which are basically heavy and light ones, also with puzzle-solving aspects (the heavy ones can bash open cracks in the walls, the light ones are on cords, so they can be used to propel yourself across gaps). And there's a block button too. That may sound like a lot to get a hang of at once, and it would be, which is why they're all introduced throughout the game.

Over on the platforming side, you can wall-run, swing on poles and run up walls, and do things like jumping between them. In other words, it's basic, but still enough for a few jumping puzzles, and doubly so when someone's impolite enough to shoot at you. There are also some extra-manoeuvrability elements, like being able to sprint over short, attack-dodging distances, or longer running. There's also Ninja Vision, which drains the same energy meter as your ranged attacks, and reveals which crates contain useful stuff and which bits of the wall are interactive, and slows down time for those who didn't get enough of that in FEAR 2.

And the rail shooter bits feature you shooting stuff on rails. That's all, folks. Move along.

It's mostly highly entertaining, if somewhat dumb. The problems come in the details and pacing. The combat is the most developed portion of the game, but still manages to fumble on some key aspects. Take the variety of moves, for example - when you upgrade, the higher-level attacks are so damaging you lean towards them as a matter of course. Some are so enormously powered you just end up spamming them - the heavy, area-effect air-attack, or the chain-attack at level three - to wipe out pretty much everyone. Since they're often activated by holding a trigger and attacking, you spend about a third of the game pretty much constantly holding one of the buttons, which seems like a lot of hand-cramp. The difficulty also spikes oddly, partly because some attacks really are much better than others, but often due to the idiosyncratic camera. On some boss fights especially, it often goes for a dramatic camera angle rather than something more practical.

'Ninja Blade' Screenshot 3

A helicopter covered in snails, in case you thought you were hallucinating.

To choose an example, the fight against some manner of space-crab-thing in the sewer is rendered trickier than it really should be by deciding to keep the space-crab-thing in shot the whole time, so it's tricky to work out whether you're about to deliver a justified pummelling to the evil leg or a justified pummelling to the air near the leg, or whether you're about to run into the leg and receive an unjustified pummeling. With the long cool-down after an attack, missing by a fraction is particularly annoying, as it means you can miss the crucial gap in an enemy attack pattern. The cool-down generally sticks in the craw. After throwing a ranged attack, your character stands around like a ninny, so dodging between attacks is harder than it should be. The Ninja Vision is another one - merging so many functions is a particularly bad call, especially when it marries its deactivation to blurring your vision for a crucial half-second afterwards. I was just trying to check which part of your lovingly rendered level was actually interactive - I didn't ask to be blinded.

Over on the platforming side, it's not very good. Specifically, the wall-jump is terrible. I'm not exactly sure why the game even lets you jump in a direction other than 90 degrees away from the surface you're running along, because as far as I could see there's not a place in the game where you have to do anything other than that. And since doing anything other than that sends you falling to insta-death, it's a little wince-worthy.

Then again, it's easy to be negative with Ninja Blade when you break it down in a reductive fashion, but that's not quite fair. Between the swearing-hard bits and the lulls, it's actually a lot of fun, much like hanging around with any true mentalist. When I read the back of the (Asian import) box, in its three-screenshotted features, it listed "Quick Time Events" as one. That raised an eyebrow. It's like listing "Ineffectual, infinitesimal penis" on a dating site. But Ninja Blade was right. It totally sold me on its ludicrous quick-time events, which have a lot of panache and... oh, I feel bad at even mentioning the demolition ball earlier in the review, but I had to choose one moment of proper "HE DID WHAT TO WHO WHAT?" to give you an example. My response to a lot of Ninja Blade was to laugh at it in the right way. As in, with it.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kieron.

About Kieron Gillen

Kieron is one of the founders of the lovely Rock, Paper, Shotgun and nowadays writes comics for Marvel starring characters that even his mum has heard of.

Read more articles from Kieron by visiting the Kieron Gillen archive page.

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Comments (56) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Benno #1 3 years ago

    Ninjas have good arses. Confirmed.
    Edited by 1 at 23/03/09 @ 22:12

  • IIIvirusIII #2 3 years ago

    i played this about a month ago and really enjoyed it , its a fun game and a decent story which is well explained unlike some games .

  • AhrimaaN #3 3 years ago

    Sounds a bit poor and thanks to the global economic crisis I blame poor sales on me having no money for fluff like this.

  • bad09 #4 3 years ago

    I have a good arse apparently, but I'm not a ninja.

    Or am I....

    / disappears into the night to play Ninja Gaiden

  • crwoody #5 3 years ago

    give me a pirate any day :)

  • GordonJ #6 3 years ago

    Played the demo and hated it. Way too many QTEs

  • Peew971 #7 3 years ago

    Loved the demo, almost bought it from Play-asia a while ago but couldn't find a single review. Definitely on my "to buy" list.

  • Lukus #8 3 years ago

    A good, informative review. And having played the demo last night, I can see what you're getting at.

  • PinkSpider #9 3 years ago

    "Played the demo and hated it. Way too many QTEs"

    This.

    The intro to the demo was a QTE. Played a few minutes after this, was alright but didnt strike me as amazing.

  • Pastici #10 3 years ago

    It seems like one of those games that you buy and like even though you really shouldn't. Which means I'll love it, just skint at the moment :(. When is it due for release over here?

  • Cheeky #11 3 years ago

    This game sounds average. There is no way I'm going to-

    *Gets taken away by Ninjas*

  • Buztafen #12 3 years ago

    As a mate of mine said...."its either the worst game in the world....or fucking awesome....i just dont know which!"

  • Ryze #13 3 years ago

    Hey - at least the camera's not too annoying, eh?

  • photoboy #14 3 years ago

    Loved the demo of this, especially dropping the wrecking ball on the giant spider boss. I'll definitely be buying as it seems to offer the panache and visual flair that was oddly missing from Ninja Gaiden 2. I just hope the game is as mentally over the top as the demo suggests.

    Plus I've always quite liked QTEs, and it's good to see a review acknowledge that they're a way to make cut scenes interactive rather than leave you sitting there watching passively for several minutes.

  • Lukus #15 3 years ago

    A good cut scene shouldn't need QTEs to keep you feeling involved in the game.

  • Azazel #16 3 years ago

    Ugh... features snails. No sale! *shudder*

  • Eraysor #17 3 years ago

    The demo is absolutely epic.

  • Toonster #18 3 years ago

    I watched someone play the demo for this. Apart from the visuals, it looked a bit pants. The score definitely surprised me!

  • muters #19 3 years ago

    Genuinely expected this to fall afoul of the 2-or-3/10 bug, if for no other reason than it having a name only second to X-Blades in the Gratingly Generic Titles league table. Nice to know it isn't shit, especially after a month in which my 360 ran Shellshock 2, Onechanbara and Eat Lead.

  • FenderMaster #20 3 years ago

    funniest review ever

    you're about to deliver a justified pummelling to the evil leg or a justified pummelling to the air near the leg, or whether you're about to run into the leg and receive an unjustified pummeling.

    on what other website/magazine/paper do you get writing of this calibre?

  • Gnort #21 3 years ago

    Somewhat surprised to read such a positive review. I do suspect that Kieron had way too much sugar before writing this, though.

    I thought this sounded pretty awesome when I first heard about it, a ninja action game made by people who somehow thought that Ninja Gaiden was too realistic and sensible. However, I downloaded the Japanese demo when it came out a few months ago, and was so apalled by the QTE-fest (and I don't usually mind QTEs nearly as much as some people here) and the dull, clunky combat that I took it right off my wish list.

    From the review, it doesn't sound like the finished game is particularly improved from the demo, just that the bizarre spectacle of it all has been turned up to 11.

  • Scimarad #22 3 years ago

    "A good cut scene shouldn't need QTEs to keep you feeling involved in the game."

    What he said. If it's a choice between QTEs and watching I'll just watch, thanks.

    Still, despite this the game sounds great!

  • DUFFMAN5 #23 3 years ago

    For fuck sake how many more times do we need to say it
    WE DON'T WANT QTE's IN GAMES!
    Please someone who cares, take notice.
    These stop me spending money on most games, that I may have otherwise taken a punt on.

  • space_ace #24 3 years ago

    there are crazier ninja games, like the one on ps2 where you kick air-to-air rockets from the wing of a plane.
    ninja blade the demo has a very realistic version of west shinjuku, which was kind of cool

  • drumbaby #25 3 years ago

    "on what other website/magazine/paper do you get writing of this calibre?"

    http://www.microsoft.com ?

  • lambtron #26 3 years ago

    eh?

  • menage #27 3 years ago

    Sold,

    in about 3 months for 20 euro

    I liked the demo, I didn't like it 60 euro worth.

    All the people complaining about QTE. If the game's selling point is one it's not for you. so no need to bitch.
    Edited by 1 at 24/03/09 @ 08:35

  • Quint2020 #28 3 years ago

    Lol, awesome review.

    I played the demo for all of about 5 minutes and thought "meh I'd rather just play through Ninja Gaiden II again", I was probably being a little unfair with it, this sounds like it should be my kind of game, perhaps I'll try the demo out again soon.

  • BillyBrush #29 3 years ago

    i would think your demo impressions would be more of a guide than keirons review tbh.....if it's cheap and japanese he'll mark it up a bit

  • creepylizard #30 3 years ago

    I thought the demo was absolute cast iron, copper bottomed shite...

  • Darren #31 3 years ago

    The demo of this game was middling and had too many QTE bits as others have commented. It was probably on a par with Ninja Gaiden 2 (although visually it was more impressive) but I didn't think much to that to be honest.

  • Quint2020 #32 3 years ago

    I didn't really give the demo a fair chance though really, so on the back of this review I'll probably play through it again and give it a bit more time to "click", we'll see whether it makes any difference to my initial impressions.

  • BillyBrush #33 3 years ago

    @Darren...you thought from the demo it was on a par with Gaiden 2??


    hmm...i'd have to disagree, each to their own

  • Monkey_Puncher #34 3 years ago

    I was expecting the worst when I turned on the demo, but it's not bad at all. It also seems to realise how crazy it all is, I've seen one bit where he rides a motorbike into the face of a massive monstaer thing to kill it.

    Probably pick this up at some point, just not at full price.

  • Eurolamer #35 3 years ago

    Sounds quite appealing. Always room for more bonkers games, that is games that aren't afraid to be mental if it produces a decent playing experience. And that's what we're all here for, right?

  • darm #36 3 years ago

    I don't understand why are people bitching about QTE these days. Were they bad in God of War? Were they out of place in SWTFU? I liked them a lot.

    It's only weird a bit that QTEs in Ninja Blade can be failed without ANY penalty. But, as review pointed out, it's still much better than having to restart entire boss fight or something if you fail.

    That being said, this game is tremendous fun. It's so silly and so packed with action. Well, maybe sometimes even too silly, the finishing sequence of one boss with a bike nearly made me puke, but most of the time you just slash everyone and press forward wondering how crazy can it get.

  • HermitArcader #37 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • nickthegun #38 3 years ago

    Thats a very concerted effort not to say 'its ninja gaiden with QTEs'.

  • Darren #39 3 years ago

    @BillyBrush - Well I thought Ninja Gaiden 2 was pretty ordinary to be honest and was a predictable, inferior follow up to the superb original. It felt like a lazy retread and was graphically underwhelming given the power of the Xbox 360. It also had some god-awful level design and a diabolical camera.

    There again I haven't been impressed at all by any of Team Ninja's 360 efforts this generation; both Dead or Alive 4 and DoA Xtreme 2 were letdowns IMO and even Ninja Gaiden Sigma on the PS3 was a weak port. They strike me as a developer devoid of new ideas really, which probably explains why they keep remaking the same hand full of games over and over again.

    Oh and EG gave both Ninja Blade and Ninja Gaiden 2 the same 7/10 score so someone agrees with my comment that both games are on a par with each other, though I'd give NG 2 and the NB demo 5/10 personally. :p

  • Darren #40 3 years ago

    When I got to that tediously unexciting QTE boss fight, I just quit the demo and deleted it. Absolute rubbish. I play games to be thrilled not bored to death.

  • Meho #41 3 years ago

    Since Kieron was unusually mild to this game and it ended up getting a seven, which to an innocent onlooker makes it look as good as Ninja gaiden II (or Devil May Cry 4 for that matter) as far as this website is considered, I feel obliged to copy and paste my comment from an earlier article on this game:

    "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 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."

    To reiterate: the game is absolutely mediocre in 'normal' moments as its combat and platforming parts are trying to imitate the best games in these genres but not being right there. In bossfights, however, QTEs really manage to ruin it completely.

  • Meho #42 3 years ago

    However, if good arses are what you are after, yes, this guy delivers. Shame that in a lot of the platforming parts he has to run towards the camera...

  • Thunderbolt #43 3 years ago

    Meh, I say - bargain bin fodder

  • Gnort #44 3 years ago

    @Darren

    Yes, Ninja Blade's graphics have more detail in them than Ninja Gaiden 2's (which didn't take much of a step forward, they were barely any better than NG1's on the original Xbox), and the camera in Ninja Blade is certainly no worse than the wilfully awful one in NG2, but in my opinion the games aren't anywhere near each other in quality. After finishing the demo of Ninja Blade I went back and played half of the first level in NG2, and it was like a religious experience by comparison.

    I hate to imply that I think the numbers at the end of the reviews are important, but if this had been given to any other reviewer at EG I think it would have struggled to get 5/10.

  • Darren #45 3 years ago

    @Gnort - What would have struggled to get 5/10... Ninja Gaiden 2 or Ninja Blade? ;)

    Ninja Gaiden 2 was pretty rubbish. Well OK it wasn't rubbish really but compared to its illustrious predecessor it was. It was rushed, buggy, poorly produced and didn't improve on anything from the original game. Epic fail in my book.

  • Gnort #46 3 years ago

    @Darren

    Ninja Blade ;)

    I agree that Ninja Gaiden 2 was a bit of a disappointment, and didn't really move far enough forward from the original (which was one of the best, if not the best action game of the last console generation), but many parts of it still worked, and the obliteration technique system was leagues ahead of having to QTE tough enemies to death in terms of keeping the player involved (sometimes less is more).

    I can see why others may have hated NG2, but I still really enjoyed it, even if it was not as good as it might have been, so I'm clearly the target market for these sorts of games, and the demo of Ninja Blade put me off it completely.

  • mjhoward #47 3 years ago

    Sounds a bit like it's got that Earth Defence Force thing going on; bad, but in a good way.

  • Artemis_Matsas #48 3 years ago

    Hated the QTE sections. deleted the demo after 5 minutes of play.

  • The-Bodybuilder #49 3 years ago

    This review, as much fun as it was to read, is on a high.
    Its akin to watching the street fighter movie, being so stunned by the sheer madness of it, and then being kind to it and to then give the movie a "7" as its "a bit of a laugh innit."

    This game is a travesty, much like street fighter th emovie.

  • BillyBrush #50 3 years ago

    If anyone was to play NG2 swiftly followed by Black they would see exactly how the two compare.

    You do that and Black seems not so slick as you remember.

  • Windypops #51 3 years ago

    Awesome review. Quintessential Gillen.

  • patchbox360 #52 3 years ago

    'There are two sorts of ninjas. There's the sort who are big on hiding and the sort who really aren't. Ninja Blade is the latter. He thinks hiding is what animals are covered in'.

    haha

  • captain-future #53 3 years ago

    wow?! I played the demo and would have guess an EG score of max. 3/10... so it's not really a bad quicktime-events ridden game?

    wow.

  • muscleblade #54 3 years ago

    Getting the PAL version this week. I think i might like it.

  • muscleblade #55 3 years ago

    Howewer, i dont expect this game to be as good as: RE5, Dead Space, NG2 or DMC4 - games that also got a 7/10 on this site.

  • ParanoidZombie #56 3 years ago

    @Darren: I cleared both ninja gaidens on master ninja difficulty, and i can assure you that NG2 is better. Much faster gameplay, less backtracking, much better weapons, better AI, better pacing, and yes a slightly better camera, even if having to use both the right stick and the trigger is a bit tricky sometimes. Agreed that the game lacked polish, though - 3 title updates were necessary in order to fix a couple annoying glitches / frame rate issues -. Problem is that the gameplay doesn't reveal its true depth until you reach mentor difficulty, which means that 95% of the people who bought it didn't play the game itakagi had in mind.

    ... I have no doubt that ninja blade must be an enjoyable game, but comparing it to gaiden is a bit like comparing virtua fighter to mortal kombat.