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Xbox 360 2009 Games

• By GamePro Staff
• January 07, 2009 16:35 PM PST
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Ninja Blade

After many years as the king of ninja mountain, Ryu Hayabusa's reign is being seriously challenged. His latest adventure, Ninja Gaiden II was merely kinda awesome. And his modern-day director of choice, former Team Ninja leader Tomonburu Itagaki, has left Tecmo, with the future of his helmed franchises in the unsure hands of newer employees. Thus, the opportunity has presented itself for another ninja to sneak behind Ryu and slit his famed franchise's throat.

Microsoft is making a pretty big gamble with Ninja Blade. By publishing a game that's eerily close in concept to Tecmo's bread and butter, it risks alienating one of the system's most staunch Japanese supporters. This time around, the ninja action is being created by From Software, who has history with Japan's most dangerous profession. While the company's previous ninja series, Tenchu, trended towards stealth, what we've seen of Ninja Blade suggests this game will be everything but. The teaser trailer showed a steampunk-style ninja leaping down the side of a skyscraper, running across the side of the building as he sliced and diced demons on his downward path. If that's indicative of the final project, Ninja Blade could make the brutal battles of Ninja Gaiden look like an episode of Hello Kitty.

Red Faction: Guerilla

It has been 50 years since the events of the original Red Faction, and the Earth Defense Force, who liberated the oppressed miners from the grip of Ultor, has become the very corrupt organization they freed the Martian planet from. Now, Alec Mason must lead a new rebellion alongside his fellow miners utilizing their strongest advantage: guerilla warfare.

From the moment you take up arms in Red Faction: Guerilla, you'll be able to tackle missions in any of the game's six major areas at your leisure. As you press onward, leaving a string of collateral damage in your wake, keep in mind that any environmental damage you inflict will persist until you come back for more or build the rubble back up again utilizing the new Reconstructor backpack.

Guerilla's multiplayer, whose beta ended back in August, also plans to utilize this completely physics-based destruction while also including an experience point-based system. Of particular interest is Damage Control (capture and hold) which has players blowing apart the pre-existing fortifications of one point and rebuilding them with their own fortifications using the aforementioned Reconstructor backpacks. A variety of 10 power-up backpacks -including a jet pack-coupled with the constant environmental damage should help to shape this multiplayer experience into a wild one.

Splatterhouse

For those of you who've seen too many B-movie horror flicks, this one's for you. Released for the arcade back in 1988, Splatterhouse was originally a side scrolling beat-em-up with a heavy emphasis on blood, gore, and a protagonist modeled after Friday the 13th star Jason Voorhees. Now, Namco Bandai has decided to throw this bloody IP to the wolves at Bottlerocket Entertainment (The Mark of Kri) to see what sort of twisted reimagining they could conjure up.

The tale of Splatterhouse, whose modern update is being penned by Gordon Rennie (Judge Dredd), revolves around Rick Taylor, a student who discovers a cursed mask which grants him supernatural abilities after his girlfriend, Jennifer Wills, is kidnapped by the sinister scientist Dr. West. Rick could easily be likened to a person-shaped sack of meat, bones, and miracle grow. Instead of having the typical health bar on screen, whenever Rick takes damage a chunk of body is just ripped right out of him. Naturally the more damage you take the closer you become to being a walking skeleton. And it gets better: in order to heal, you call upon the magical, restorative properties of your hockey mask and your hole-filled body grows back like crab grass.

As a gore filled, third-person action title, following in the vein of God of War, Splatterhouse is certainly an out-of-nowhere revival that should warrant one's morbid curiosity.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

The Star Ocean franchise is a long-running series originally published by Enix-before merging into Square Enix-for the Super Famicom, with iterations and sequels leading up to the Xbox 360. These science fiction space operas have always been known for their real time battle system and heavy emphasis on item creation.

With this latest iteration, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Square Enix has once again recruited the talent behind the original Star Ocean, Tri-Ace, in the hope of bringing the series' status to Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest level here in the U.S.

Set before the events of the original Star Ocean (this game was almost titled Star Ocean 0), Last Hope weaves a tale of mankind venturing into the great void of space for the first time after World War III ravages the Earth. Channeling a bit of Mass Effect, Last Hope aims to focus more on space and planetary exploration as humanity struggles to find its place in the universe.

As of this writing, Square Enix still remains ambiguous as to the possibility of a PS3 release, stating that "no plans" are currently in the works. However, given the strong relationship between Sony and Square Enix, and the fact that the original trailer was on the PSP, the idea that this title is merely a timed exclusive is a strong one.

Street Fighter IV

You remember it, don't you? The days before boob physics and identical engines, when fighting games were still original and every sequel had brand new features? Sure, we suffered from gamerclaw and had to hide Mortal Kombat from our parents, but fatalities were fresh and the genre was taking its first steps into 3D. Where has all that innovation gone?

Say hello to Street Fighter IV. It doesn't just have gorgeous graphics, mid-battle specials, and the return of some of the most iconic characters in gaming. It's got the originality that's been missing from versus games for a console generation.

Street Fighter II Times Two

At SFIV's core are the essential components of the series' best title, Super Street Fighter II Turbo. It has a 2D playing field, a hand-drawn art style, and all 12 classic characters, from Ryu to M. Bison. All the classic playing fields are back, too: Guile still makes his home at a military airfield and Chun Li still propeller-kicks through Chinatown. But while the stages are limited to 2D movement, they're all rendered in 3D. If you manage to pull off a Super Combo or Ultra Combo (SFIV's mid-match, finisher-style moves), the camera goes crazy, zooming in and panning around for perfect angles on the action.

It gets better. Despite being 3D models, all 21 characters are rendered and animated to mimic the classic, hand-drawn feel of early Street Fighter. That rendering technology allows a character's "ink" to spray and streak across the canvas of your TV screen. If you land an especially punishing hit, you won't see blood fly; you'll see streaks of ink flash away in homage to Japanese calligraphy and sumi-e art.

You Lack Focus!

All that said, the real crown jewel of SFIV is its combat, thanks to a new mechanic called the Focus attack. It lets you absorb a single hit from your opponent by holding down the medium punch and kick buttons. You still take damage from the hit, but it gives you the chance to counterattack. As you charge up the counter, the focus shifts from being a simple reversal, to a knock back, to being completely unblockable. Hit with it, and you gain back whatever health you lost while charging.

It sounds simple, but there's a kicker: You can dash out of a focus charge at any time, or dash into one from a special move. The result, according to the developers, is a gameplay style akin to the tactical move-reading of boxing. With such a system in place, Street Fighter IV could leap from ancient classic to modern blockbuster in a single Shoryuken.

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