Review: Ninja Gaiden 3 | Video Games, Reviews, Features ...

When most gamers think of Ninja Gaiden the first things to come to mind are gore and punishing difficulty. For fans in search of the former, you can rest easy. Ninja Gaiden 3 is as bloody as ever, although decapitation and limb loss are mysteriously absent. Players in search of the latter are in for a shock though. Despite a legacy of difficulty that stretches back nearly a quarter of a century, Team Ninja apparently decided to make the newest entry in the series a gentler, more?accessible?experience. The question lingers: at what cost?

Pre-release press made it clear that this would be a different game. Developer diaries stressed plot, character, and multiplayer over the unforgiving violence that the franchise had staked its reputation on. So, it could be seen as a bold step if the game decided to go off in a more narratively complex direction, perhaps at the cost of gameplay refinement. Strangely, this isn?t what has happened. Instead, everything has taken a noticeable step backward. The simple, effective storytelling is gone, replaced with silly attempts at high stakes drama that come off as cartoonish. The basic gameplay has been drastically simplified, removing a lot of its depth and complexity. The only identifiable progress to be found is in the arena of multiplayer, and the neccesity of such a feature is highly questionable.

Let?s start with the plot. After spending the previous two games seeking revenge, thwarting kidnappings, and stopping the summoning of powerful, ancient demons, protagonist Ryu Hayabusa finds himself aiding the Japanese Self-Defense Force in their fight against terrorists. Eventually, our hero is confronted by the admittedly intriguing figure of?the Regent of the Mask, who apparently causes Ryu?s Dragon Sword to fuse with his arm, transferring the pain and suffering he has caused into him. The Regent then demands that all of the world?s governments surrender to him, causing Ryu to spend the rest of the game trying to thwart this new enemy?s plans while dealing with his grotesque and painful arm.

While there are certainly glimmers of potential in the setup, the execution falls flat in almost every department. The idea of Ryu being forced to confront all of the violence he has enacted is pretty brilliant, but it never really pays off. Also, it?s pretty hard to make some sort of commentary on the evils of violence in a game that tasks you with murdering hundreds of people. Notice the word ?people? in the last sentence. One of the many disappointing things about this entry is how most of the demons and supernatural foes from previous installments are gone, simply replaced by terrorists, soldiers, and generic ninjas. Enemy variety is crucial in an action game that throws so many opponents at you, and NG3 is just lacking.?The biggest letdown is in the portrayal of the protagonist himself. Ryu was always an?archetypal?mysterious ninja, and while the attempts to add characterization are admirable, they just don?t succeed.

Of course, most fans couldn?t care less about the story or characters. Ninja Gaiden is about gameplay. However, as I?ve stated, the overriding design approach to this iteration appears to have been a focus on simplification and accessibility. Just listing the changes seems to speak for itself: there is no essence to collect, no store or currency, no?Reverse Wind Technique, no decapitations, no limit to your arrows, and a?severely?limited arsenal of both magic and weapons. Streamlining is one thing, but it appears as though a large portion of the essential mechanics have been gutted.

What?s left is a button-mashing hack ?n? slash romp that isn?t really bad, but doesn?t live up to its pedigree. Really, the nicest thing you can say about Ninja Gaiden 3?s gameplay is that it houses a few good boss fights, but that?s damning with faint praise when the majority of your time will be spent watching Ryu stab the same few character models. The operative word there is ?watch,? since the title often appears to just play itself, either with overly long cutscenes, long animations, or?unnecessary?cutscenes.

?Unnecessary? is another one of these key ?words as well. It can most appropriately be applied to the game?s multiplayer component, which is just as strange and out of place as ?it sounds. It?s not bad, just as BioShock 2?s multiplayer wasn?t bad per se, but it reeks of the same cloying ?me too? mentality that gives off the impression that ?the developer didn?t think the single-player could stand on its own. The actual implementation is decent; you customize a ninja and fight other people?s ninjas online, leveling up to unlock more powerful attacks and customization options. The fact that the people you?ll face online are (usually) smarter than the campaign?s enemy AI means that you might actually run up against some real challenge, but I doubt anyone will still be playing this mode in a couple months. There is a ?co-op? feature as well, but it?s really more like a series of challenges that can be undertaken simultaneously with someone else.

Honestly, besides the fact that every game seems to need multiplayer to justify its price point these days, I ?see the multiplayer as a platform for future?micro-transactions?and downloadable content. Team Ninja has already confirmed that the campaign will be getting some ?of the weapons it sorely needs as DLC, so it stand to reason that they?ll try to monetize the online component as well. It will likely start with extra costumes, but I?m curious to see if a lot of the options and variety that appear to have been excised from the rest of the game appear as paid add-ons. And, of course, an online mode means that the game comes with an online pass, meaning buying the game used locks you out from half of it unless you pay the publisher $10.

Pessimism aside, it must be reiterated that the game is still mostly fun in a simple,?Final Fight-esque way. Carving your way through legions of baddies can be cathartic, even without raising the genre bar like the reboot once did. Speaking of said game though, it is sad to note how far Gaiden has fallen as ?a benchmark for console graphics. Once upon a time, Ryu had the flashiest visuals around, but now he barely stands out from the pack. The voice acting is as cheesy as always though, so if you enjoy camp and unintentional comedy, there is some enjoyment to be had past the meat and potatoes swordplay.

The fact is that??Tomonobu Itagaki is sorely missed. The people left behind the helm now are clearly aware of the things that make other action games?successful?quick time events, dynamic heroes, new features?but they don?t seem to understand how to utilize and combine these disparate tools into a unified whole. There is hope for the Ninja Gaiden name yet, but they?re going to have to go back to square one and rediscover what made people latch onto the ?franchise in the first place before it can overcome the mediocrity of this outing.

Pros:

• Some cinematic moments
• Serviceable hack ?n? slash action

Cons:

• Multiplayer is?unnecessary
• Story and character fall flat
• Lacks trademark difficulty

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This game was purchased for review and played to completion in about 7 hours. Another two hours were spent with the multiplayer. The title was played on Xbox 360, but is also available for PS3.

Source: http://www.gamingsurvival.com/2012/03/24/review-ninja-gaiden-3/

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