Ninja Gaiden Black review:5 stars (Get ready to get your @ss handed to you) - This is hands down the very best video game on XBOX.
Graphics - The best on XBOX. If everyone produced stunning graphics like Team Ninja, there would be no need for a next generation XBOX. Both gameplay and cutscenes are jaw-dropping. I have Doom 3, Jade Empire, and Halo 2. While those graphics are very good, they are feeble compared to NGB.
Gameplay - Second to none. Yes, it is hard, but when you famliarize yourself with the controls, it becomes easier to master the core functionality of said controls; and thus, the more complex combinations. The fluidity and variety of weapons and moves is ingenious. The pleasure you get from ripping through enemies and bosses as Ryu Hyabusa are second to no other experience on XBOX. If Master Chief had to go up against Ryu, Master Chief would be diced into a 100 neat little pieces in a matter of seconds and at the disposal of a 100 different pulse-pounding and creative methods.
Sound - I think the sound is awesome in both gameplay and cut scenes.
Overall - If you are a casual gamer/mindless button masher, be forewarned, this game will hand you your @ss. You will be curled up in the fetal position wondering why you bought this game. Invest the time to familiarize yourself with the controls and it will be well worth experience of the quite possibly the best video game ever produced.
5 stars (NG:B is not for the petty!!!) - Is this the exact same game as the last Ninja Gaiden Game? No it is not.
Yes it's the same story, to where people like to use this as an excuse NOT to get the game due to its extreme difficulty that was so argued about on the original Ninja Gaiden. And for those that was put off on the difficulty of the game, then I have new news for you. Itagaki and Team Ninja has put in a "Ninja Dog" mode (Very Easy mode), for those that can't put up a good fight. I played through Ninja Dog for kicks, and I must say, it is really, really easy. If you can't beat Ninja Dog, then maybe you shouldn't be playing video games entirely.
Just to give people an overview, Ninja Gaiden: Black consists of many unlockables in the game. Mission Mode, Costumes, Difficutly Levels, Old-School Arcade Game, and much much more. I can say that the ONLY drawback I found in the game was that I had to play the Normal difficulty ALL OVER AGAIN just to unlock the anticipated Mission Mode. I can say it wasn't a complete waste of time, because it did prove useful to get myself refamiliarized with the controls and the bosses. Something that is much needed to be taken into consideration when you do the mission mode.
Graphics are still top-notch, the game play is still top-notch, and the camera has been fixed a bit. Sometimes it may come to be a pain, but it least it's not NEARLY as bad as it was before.
Is this game more difficult than the last Ninja Gaiden? Yes.
I have just beaten Very Hard and my adrenaline is rushing through excitement. Once you take a chance at the Hard difficulty you'll see brand new enemies you didn't see in the last Ninja Gaiden. In fact, for those of you that played the HP. Hard difficulty is a harder version of HP. Very Hard introduces more, and more more aggressive, enemies. And honestly, I'm afraid to see what "Master Ninja" mode is like. "Master Ninja" mode is the difficulty that is nearly impossible to beat and is said only 1 developer within Team Ninja beat this difficulty.
In closing, that's my review. I wanted to write something short, but it ended up to be long. Yes, NG:B is more difficult than NG, but in return, there is an easy Ninja Dog difficulty for anyone remotely familiar with video games can beat with a little time and patience. Take it from someone that has beaten all the difficulties of Ninja Gaiden and almost all difficulties of Ninja Gaiden: Black. This game is great, has a lot of replayability, and Team Ninja has definetly put in a LOT of time and patience to give us something worthwhile.3 stars (Frustrating as Hell!!) - I forgot my password so I'm using this for now. I bought this game because I heard how difficult it was and because of the somewhat fair price. Now, I finished the original version on hard difficulty and just finished NG Black (Story mode) on hard as well. Yes! someone who beat this game! I spent way too many hours doing this though, and would not want to repeat it again. New to the game are the mission modes with new bosses/Ninja Gaiden arcade and easy-extreme difficulty settings . Other reviewers are not kidding, missions are insanely hard! You are given a set number of items and must survive an onslaught of minions or fight 2 boss characters at the same time!! I have only 2 missions left and don't think I'll beat them. There should be a difficulty setting for missions right off instead of forcing you to play on ultra hard to start off. The problem is every boss has an attack that if it hits you will kill you almost instantly, if not drain half your health. This sucks the fun factor right out if it's this unfair. Also new in this game are the pain in the a** powerful minions that are now around every corner and fighting alongside every boss character making you target them instead a lot of the time! One good thing is that now save points are closer to these boss fights. Another addition to the game are several encounters with a clone version of yourself that will use cheap juggles/Ninpo to kill you in one combo!! Just wait until you fight 2 of these at the same time in mission mode! Damn near impossible!! So several costumes as well as the Dark Dragon sword and Lunar staff are available/unlocked but I wish you could have played as some of the other characters in the game also. So unless you are a glutton for punishment or a ninja master you may want to think twice about getting this one! |
