Being a Ninja isn't easy, and that's a huge understatement.
User Rating: 9 | Ninja Gaiden XBOX
Ninja Gaiden is a very challenging game. It will have no mercy, no sense of pity, as it cuts you down brutally over and over again. And yes, you will die, over and over again. I would be willing to bet that there is a 100% chance that you will die, no matter how good at video games you are. You'll need patience with this game, you'll need to be willing to lose, and of course, you'll need to learn the skills of a Ninja to survive. If you have all of that, or gain it in the process of playing the game, you will enjoy the game much more than someone who doesn't have those qualities. But of course, Ninja Gaiden is more than just a pure challenge. It's also a brilliant action game, that will give you everything that you want. Being able to play more of the game is often a great motivation for defeating whatever challenge lies in front of you. The combat in Ninja Gaiden is agressive and deep. You will feel the force and power behind each and every one of your many many moves, and despite how hard Ninja Gaiden is, you will still feel very powerful as well. Yes, there are a LOT of things you can do in Ninja Gaiden. There is a large group of moves visible for each and every weapon, and it seems almost like a fighting game because there are just so many of them. There are also projectile weapons that you can use, your shurikens being the only one of which that don't use ammo. How do you get more ammo? You buy it. Yes, there is a shop in Ninja Gaiden, and it's a very welcome thing considering that you will absolutely NEED restorative potions. But that and ammo isn't the only thing you can buy. There is also Ninpo (magic attacks) and, yes, even more moves. Ninja Gaiden, while not the best looking game this gen, is very close to so. The graphics show a unique and stylish flare. That isn't even counting the cinematic movies, which would look like live action to someone with bad eyesight. This game will last you pretty long, considering how hard it is+a reasonable length. There are also harder difficulties, and saying that those won't last you long if you let them would be an understatement. Even after you beat those, if you are subscribed to Xbox Live, there is Master Ninja Tournament and downloadable content to keep you busy. Though it is an action game at heart, there is also platforming and adventure elements in Ninja Gaiden. It benefits from these, making the game feel less repetetive and more than simply "just an action game". Some of these elements have been done before. In fact, that is where we come to the first problem in Ninja Gaiden. A lot of the things in this game have been done before. You could draw a reference to a handful of action and adventure games from here. However, Ninja Gaiden takes all these elements and puts them in one package, which you really can't complain about. The other problem is among the most commonly overlooked things in video games: the camera. The camera in Ninja Gaiden is just...naughty. And you can't seem to get it to behave. All that you can do is position it behind you and hope that that helps. This is sad, considering that Xbox has a second control stick and a D-pad. Even a slight bit of manual control would have really helped. Being a Ninja, incredible challenges, deep and furious combat, Great Value If one or more of the things above interest you (and you don't think that you'll hate the incredible challenges part) than Ninja Gaiden is highly recommended. 
