Team Ninja brings back Ninja Gaiden to your Xbox console in an innovative 3-D adventure that shouldn't miss out on.
Gameplay: When I saw that first trailer for Ninja Gaiden early in 2004, the amount of creative combo techniques shown in it just made my jaw drop. When the game finally came out, I didn't have any real expectations for it, since I thought that there was no way to include all those crazy combos into the actual game, but when I went around to check the reviews, I found that Team Ninja ended up including all of combos shown in the gameplay trailers and even more.
Graphics: The graphics engine used in this game is just unbelievable. It's nearly impossible to tell the difference between the real-time gameplay pixels and the CG cut-scenes. Actually, I think every moving image in the game is one-hundred percent real-time footage!
Sound: Everything with the sound first just perfectly, from the music played in the many areas that you explore, to the sound of slicing through the flesh of your enemies. The only down side is that there can be some times where the music just doesn't seem to go with the action, which makes it a bit hard to get into it.
Value: The game is quite long, with around 20 to 25 chapters of gameplay, with each taking a good length of time to get through. Even after you've beaten the game, you can always come back only collect the golden scarabs that you missed on your first play through, which help unlock special items. Amoung scarabs, there are many other unlockables that will keep you coming back to this title.
Reviewer's Tilt: All in all, I had a really fun time with this game. I'm basically in love with ninjas, and stealth-action, and this game was focused on two-thirds of those elements. If you enjoy being a very acrobatic ninja with extraordinary power, then this game is for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a ninja simulator genre, I suggest you check out the Tenchu series.