Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge Xbox360 Review (Demo)

 Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge Xbox360 Review (Demo)

Blood. This is the first and last thing you will see when delving into the demo for Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge. Players new to the series should not come expecting the stereotypical stealthy ninja game, a la the Tenchu series. Instead NG3 presents the fabled ninja as less of the live in the shadows, art of deception, silent killer, and replaces it with a more slash first ask questions later depiction. Think John-117 trading his assault rifle for a katana and greeting a phantom-load of grunts. Definitely not one for the squeamish among us, NG3 delivers a blood splattering experience but ultimately suffers from rushed development and shallow gameplay.

Graphically NG3 is a good looking game for its genre. It's a fast paced action game and the art team recognised this by taking the perfect approach. Bland environments contrasted with vibrant blood. You progress through locations quickly and with a blood thirsty appetite, therefore there isn’t much time for sightseeing. The demo is set in a run-down desert town where sand is in abundance. This makes the blood stand out in a very outrageous fashion; you will certainly know when you make contact with an enemy as their glorious streaks of red stain the sand. 

"The negotiations will be short" - Qui-Gon Jin

Gameplay is the heart and soul of NG3 and at its core the game revolves around a hack and slash mechanic. The game shares its time between two distinct sections, exploration and combat. The first is very similar to Assassin’s Creed’s acrobatic free running. Jumping between buildings here, running across walls there, all with seemingly effortless ninja flair. This part of the game is extremely enjoyable and provides intuitive interactions allowing the user a greater participation than merely “Press A to scale wall”. Unfortunately these sections throughout the demo are few and far between, unproportionately sharing the limelight with the combat segments.

When you reach the combat the action becomes very hectic. The protagonist, Ryu uses an arsenal of swift katana combinations, acrobatic ninja skills, and elemental magic attacks called Ninpo to defeat his enemies. Progression in the game allows the player to upgrade to stronger Ninpo and develop Ryu’s sword skills. Mastering these skills will enable relentless barrages of limb severing attacks. However trying to remember and execute these routines, all whilst being bombarded with countless enemies, only results in confusion and death. Which nine times out of ten is at the hands of one of the game’s many grenade wielding suicidal terrorists.  In fact countless resurrections only inspire the player to pound X (quick attack) and Y (heavy attack) even harder. Talk about sore thumbs.

In fact the entire demo feels hurriedly put together. From the offset there is a clear lack of guidance; Controls are hurriedly thrown at the player mid battle without even the courtesy of halting the action, enemies all have the same voice repeatedly shouting the same pleasantries of “F*** you!”, and they attack in very unrealistically rigid waves, that seem to spring out of thin air as soon as the previous group is killed.

NG3 offers a wide variety of upgrades to earn.

In general the game takes a very linear approach. For example after a short run about the rooftops you are repeatedly lead to very obvious square clearings, where upon reaching the middle a fight ensues. A rather monotonous way to drive a narrative.

Speaking of the story, the demo fails to give one. The player is simply dropped off in the desert outside a ruined town and as soon as you enter you are inundated with bandits trying to kill you. Understandably this is a trial run of an unfinished product but even a paragraph detailing the basics would have given the player a sense of motivation that this presentation is sorely missing.

Overall the demo of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s edge disappoints. The visuals fail to save what is ultimately a shallow hack and slash affair. By all means the fun is there to be had and quite frankly the gore puts NG3 up there with God of War Ascension, as one of the filthiest games currently out there. But for the serious gamer looking to invest his time in something that will satisfy his gameplay and storytelling needs, this isn’t for you.



-Image credits
 www.videogamer.com
 www.garetro.com