Ninja Gaiden review:5 stars (It's the hardist, most frustrating game in the world. I loved it.) - Okay, before I say anything else it's this: This game is not for kids. Not only will it give their young innecent minds nightmares of demonic blood craving creatures, but they could also not last more than 2 seconds playing the thing.

In fact, at first I could hardly last 2 seconds playing the thing. I died very easily.

To tell the truth this game is maddingly hard. You truely have to have fast reactions and actual skill in this game. You die, you try agian, you die, you try again...eventually if you try hard enough, you get past a chapter and beat the impossible boss by a hair...you jump out of your chair do a little victory dance to releave a little tention, relax your friction burnt thumbs, sit down, start the next level and start dieing another houndred times. It's frustarating behond belief and yet I loved the challenge.

To be honest, we need more games like this. It been years since I've actually struggled at a game and I still haven't finished it, but you always feel like you deserve it when you win. Until I played that game I didn't even relieze how much I missed that feeling.

Anyway, the action is awsome, the graphics are unbelievable, the characters are ruthless. The story doesn't make much sence, but I didn't care. I am actually usually very critical of storylines, yet for Ninja Gaiden I really didn't care (probably because after all the time and effort it took to move on in the game made you somewhat carefree when you finally saw any of the story).

One of my top favorite Xbox games. I'd recomend it to anyone over 16.5 stars (A Brave reminder of how games should be made) - Yes, this game is amazingly hard. Yes, you have to devote time and certain effort in order to give yourself a reasonable shot at beating the game. But Ninja Gaiden sets the standard (among other games) of how the final product should be. Most games have become so easy that most can be completed within a week and traded at the local Gamestop or EBgames without a second thought. This game does not do that simply by the fact that once you are beaten, you know that you could have done it differently and better. Every enemy has some sort of advantage over you whether it be strength, speed, or sheer number. Yet while that is the case, they all have weaknesses. Figuring out the weaknesses of the enemies and (especially) the bosses makes them go from insanely hard to simple enough to beat. Also the game plays like a fighting game (ie Street Fighter, Dead or Alive) which means blocking, countering, and combos aren't just some feature that the creators added that don't have to be used. Once you can pull off the combos and the counters you find yourself playing the game in a completely different way. Once you look at the game like this, you realize that there are many different ways to get through the game depending on what weapon you like using. The better you get, the more fun this game becomes. Secondly, there is the huge issue with the camera. While it is not perfect there is good logic as to why it is the way it is. The camera trys to stay still as much as possible so as to not throw you off in the heat of fighting someone, only changing if it's absolutely nessesary much like a fighting game. The tradeoff? The camera's focus doesn't like to pan out at all so you won't see the other guys until they run up to you or you change the camera yourself. Very frustrating when they are shooting you. The game's puzzles are easy. Pick this item up after beating up a bunch of enemies and use it over here a couple of minutes later. There is little backtracking and when you do, it might take you a whole 3 minutes at the most.

Visually, you will not find a better game. The frame rate plus the insanely great graphics show off just how much the xbox can do. I have YET to see any slowdown and there is only one giant loading screen in the very beginning which means that once the game starts, you will rarely see a break in the action. And since it's stored on the harddrive you don't have to wait for it every time you start it up.

Overall, this is not for the casual gamer. But if your up for a good challenge and you want something to master, buy Ninja Gaiden.5 stars (Cue the well-deserved hyperbole: this is a truly stellar game) - Allow me to descend to the level of a fanboy for a moment: "Ninja Gaiden is the best game on the Xbox." Okay, I know, statements like those just make you role your eyes and move on to the next review, looking for someone with more objectivity who recognizes that any game has faults (and also trying to avoid the barely literate reviews that proclaim "Dis game suckzors its the worst game ever play halo w00t"). But before you leave, give me a few minutes to explain how Ninja Gaiden can possibly be better than Halo, Halo 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, or Splinter Cell (all of which I have played and, except for the last, beaten).
First, a brief description of what exactly this game is. Essentially, Ninja Gaiden is a 3d-person action adventure game (with more emphasis on action) that features a lengthy single player component with a story revolving around finding and destroying the Dark Dragon Blade, a sword of great power that is being sought by very bad men. In addition, if you have a Live connection you have access to various additions (the Hurricane Packs) and the Master Ninja Tournament (I don't so I can't comment on those).
So what makes Ninja Gaiden so good?
For starters, the graphics are, as usual for Team Ninja (the creators of Dead or Alive 3), phenomenal, and really take the Xbox to the very limit. The textures are detailed, the environments are varied and, when necessary, realistic (and, when appropriate, very fantastic). All told, they are the best graphics I've seen on the big black box, surpassing even the normal mapped uniforms in NFL 2k5, at least in my opinion.
The audio is also excellent, although I have to admit it could stand to be more boisterous and explosive, especially when compared with Halo 2 and when listening on a 5.1 system. So, that's one point at least in Halo 2's favor.
The story and characters are serviceable and are well done for what they are meant to do. What I mean be that is: this is an action game primarily, with less emphasis on character development than, say, KOTOR. Ryu, the main character, is stolid and consistently bad ass, and the main antagonist is well done, but otherwise the other human characters are mainly there for eye-candy (those of you who have played the game know what I'm talking about).
So far, I know, I'm probably not overwhelming you with reasons why this is the greatest Xbox game ever. In a word: gameplay. Ninja Gaiden features the deepest, most satisfying, and one of the most challenging combat engines ever devised. Imagine a sophisticated fighting mechanic along the lines of Soul Caliber placed into a free roaming action game and you have some idea of how this engine works. But the mechanic goes far beyond simple button mashing, and actually requires you to use strategy and to develop a sense of timing for blocking/rolling/jumping off of walls and slicing and dicing. If you like the idea of running on the wall, throwing three shurkins in a flash at an evil ninja, then rolling up out of a crouch, slashing upward and launching another ninja up into the air, slicing him several times, then grabbing him (still in the air) and driving him head first into the ground...then this game is for you. And that just scratches the surface of the plethora of moves you can do with the various weapons in the game. Add in the ninja-magic, the charge up moves you do by collecting souls of fallen enemies, and you have a degree of replayability that is simply through the roof.
Now, this game is hard. Really hard, especially when you first pick up the controller. In fact, before you get used to blocking and rolling and using the walls for advantage, the very first boss will simply waste you, and later bosses will having you screaming--and there are a lot of bosses in this game, all requiring different strategies and nimble reflexes. But fear not: you will, if you stick with it, reach a point in playing this game where everything will start to click, and very soon you'll be breezing through areas that had earlier given you headaches. This happened to me (for example, the first time I played it took me 20 hours to beat the game and I must have died 50 times; the second time I went through in 12 hours and died twice; the third time, all on the same difficulty, I beat it without dying once), and I watched it happen to both of my roommates. At first they couldn't believe the difficulty, and almost gave up, but then they got the hang of it, and one even went back and beat it on hard and then very hard mode.
In short, this game is simply a sublime and stellar example of an action game done right. I rarely replay games once I've beaten them, and certainly don't go back and replay them three or more times; this game is the first time I have ever repeatedly beaten a game, simply because I've gotten better and found more and done more every time, from unlocking the Unlabored Flawlessness (a sword) to using the special outfit you get after beating the game to simply learning more moves for each weapon.
I heartily recommend this game for any Xbox owner. If the difficulty frightens you or if you don't have Live, you may consider waiting until Sept 2005 when Ninja Gaiden: Black is released. It will include the original game, plus both an easier and even harder difficulty setting, along with both Hurricane Packs and "even more" extra maps/goodies, all for $30 (apparently). Otherwise, find this game immediately, play it, and don't give up! Stick with it and you will experience one of the greatest games on any system.
Ninja Gaiden Features:
Video Games
Xbox (x box)
Microsoft
Action
Adventure
Stunning 3-D graphics
Huge levels with plenty of action
For one player
Complex action/fighting game set in ancient Japan
Avenge your clan using old-school ninja fighting techniques

Ninja Gaiden is the Video Game version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 39.95USD.