Ninja Blade Preview

By Heather Bartron
January 26, 2009 13:24 PM PST
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Have you been keeping an eye on Ninja Blade? Chances are you haven't, but it's not your fault!

Just Let it Happen

Set to release January 29th in Japan, Famitsu is buzzing with news, news that was worth translating so that you, our loyal GP'ers, can be ahead of the curve and share my excitement. Like many good stories, Ninja Blade is set in Tokyo in the year 2015 at the peak of an infection thought to have been neutralized in previous years. The infection stems from parasites known as "Alpha-worms" that transform humans and animals into big, nasty uglies. Enter Ken Ogawa and the rest of the GUIDE (Global United Infestation Detection and Elimination) team headed by Ken's father, Kanbe. The GUIDE team has been formed by the United Nations in a bid to save Tokyo from the rapidly spreading infection.

Not Another Rip

With a name like Ninja Blade, and a generic storyline, there is most likely going to be the instant reaction of, "Great, another Ninja Gaiden rip off." But Ninja Blade is far from a clone. It follows through as a cinematic adventure transitioning from cutscene to interactive cutscene to full on immersion. The interactive cutscenes involve pressing the controller face buttons or the analog stick at the right moment. Your timing is gauged with a five point scale of "Perfect" "Excellent" "Great" "Good" or "Miss." After hitting the right input from the instructions, Ken performs an acrobatic move sure to be over the top and badass. To give you a heads up that an interactive scene is about to occur, the camera focuses on Ken's left eye as an indicator to ready yourself.

The action in Ninja Blade comes at you from all directions displaying fast paced vertical combat in addition to the traditional horizontal. In addition you have the ability to wall run with no restrictions on horizontal or vertical movement.

As you may have noticed from Ninja Blade trailers or screen shots, Ken carries four swords, all of which have their own special abilities. His largest sword, the Stone Render, comes in handy for breaking armor and walls, the Twin Falcon blades multipurpose as whips, and the Oni-Slayer, his primary sword, is quick and best for one-on-one combat. As the game progresses you can upgrade your weapons and acquire new skills for them. Not only do you get a multitude of weapons you also have the ability to slow the flow of time and discover enemy weaknesses with Ninja Vision (Ninja Bijon).

Ninja Blade specifically caters to our fantasies of becoming a ninja fit for an action movie. Don't go into the game thinking it's aiming for realism because it is doing quite the opposite. For example, one boss fight integrates Ken riding a missile like a surf board. Crazy! And finally, with a solid angle of cinematic gameplay and beautiful graphics it will be a hard game to deny.