Ninja Gaiden 3 is an ok game; but there is a lot of things that prevent this game from being a great sequel to a legend.
Ninja Gaiden is fast paced, requires precision, ensures the occurrence of lethal opponents, contains over the top attacks, distributes great weapons, provides various ninja arts, and etc. When I saw the trailer of the game I was excited. It looked like the story had a more serious, dark tone to it. What was my reaction after playing it?
I will start by talking about the noticeable elements of the story. I will just provide a brief summary. A terrorist group is after Ryu for an unknown reason. A Japanese special forces unit warns Ryu about the oncoming threat. The special forces unit also asked Ryu to help them figure out why he is being pursued by the terrorist faction in question.
Ryu suffered from a curse, which was placed on him early in the game. This curse used the souls of those Ryu killed in the past to consume Ryu. It is a little disheartening Team Ninja didn't add suspense by incorporating some form of real time decision making. Adding real time decisions could have brought the story to life. For instance, the choices made in Infamous resulted in changing Cole's physical/mental characteristics as well as how others interacted with him. Team Ninja could have at least made the concept more believable through the dialogue.
Suffering from the curse in mid battle the same way over and over quickly got old as well as annoying. For example, Ryu weakens from time to time. Ryu can barely move and he only has the strength to deliver sloppy, desperation cuts. This was pretty cool when I saw it for the first time; however it got extremely repetitive and really didn't add much to the story. The story isn't as dark and emotional compelling as I thought it would be. Overall, the cursed Ryu concept was an excellent idea. The problem was the execution in terms of presentation.
Now I am going to talk about the gameplay. If you played previous Ninja Gaiden games, then you will be familiar with the game in some respects. You can use shurikens, signature moves, cast ninpo techniques, use kunai to climb long distances, and super techniques. However, the game really doesn't play exactly like the previous titles.
There is a new combat system called Steel on Bone. They wanted to make sword fighting look more realistic by struggling to cut through bones. The kills looked really nasty despite the lack of decapitations and limb dismemberment. The way I plowed through enemies shocked me and I thought it was cool.
There are also instances when you will encounter scenes that involves reactions during cutscenes. I assume these are quick time events, but there is an option to turn them off. I thought the quick time events provided that extra splash of flash. I assume these encounters were put into place to take advantage of the Playstation Move controls. I can't explain how that works due to my lack of motivation to get the Playstation Move. I can honestly say that I don't think Ninja Gaiden is the kind of game that would work for the PS Move. I feel as though the PS Move hindered Ninja Gaiden 3 from being more than just a good or ok game.
Ninja Gaiden is an icon; because of the difficulty level. Playing on Normal difficulty was actually difficult if you were not careful while playing. This game was so easy that you can beat it in record time.
This game lacks in gameplay. The attacks are brutal and the interactive cutscene animations are flashy. I love over the top elements, but there is a lack of depth in the overall gameplay. There are only two weapons. You get the Dragon Sword and the Tiger Claws. It gets worse! The move list is laughable to look at. All you get is button combinations with no names and instruction on how to execute them. The moves really don't seem all that different and lacks a sense of flow.
The controls of the game just feels sloppy. In previous Ninja Gaiden games it was easy to cancel out of attacks with the dodge command, which was extremely important due to nasty enemy grabs and sticky situations. Smoothly cancelling out of attacks is not possible in this game. I guess they didn't make a big deal out of it since the game is so easy anyway. Don't worry about buying stuff, because you don't buy anything. All you have to do is survive the battle and your health will return.
Sadly, there is only one Ninpo attack. The super charge attacks practically work the same way despite the variety seen in previous installments. It was just weird how combat worked in this game in general. The cursed arm is the key to winning battles. The more you kill the more power you gain.
When Ryu's arm glows red you can execute the super charge attack which involves quickly jumping around the screen using single bone breaking slashes that puts each victim near death which allows for finishing blows. Using that technique will allow you to build up your Ninpo meter quickly in order to unleash your Ninpo attack once the meter is full. The Ninpo attack looks really cool, but that is the only Ninpo art available. I assume you only get one Ninpo attack since it acts as a super bomb that kills all enemies on screen.
The boss battles have some nice flashy quick time like moments, but the bosses themselves are not threatening at all. And that summarizes the gameplay in a nut shell. The game feels so shallow when compared to the games that came before it. There is even an auto aim targeting system for bow usage. The game doesn't provide any kind of challenge.
There is not much to talk about in terms of multiplayer additions. You have solo and coop trials that involves custom ninjas. You level up to get moves from the story mode. I was surprised to see that the Ninpo arts from the previous games somehow made its way back into this game specifically for the multiplayer modes. I just don't like how the moves are identical to Ryu's setlist. You start with a ninja that has very little and you need to rank up to gain various skills. You can also take your ninja and face off with other players in order to brag about who has the better ninja. However, I don't see this mode lasting very long.
Final Thoughts:
I had high hopes for NG 3; but the direction they took with this game was disappointing. There is some fun to had with this game; but sadly this game failed to impress due to a lack of difficulty and variety. Hardcore fans of Ninja Gaiden might want to stay clear of this game, because there is a high probability you will be extremely disappointed.
Pros:
+Very bloody kills.
+Surprise attacks from enemies.
+Cool quick time events that doesn't feel like quick time.
(You can turn off the prompts.)
Cons:
-Controls are not fluid.
-The Ryu weakened state mode will grow tiresome.
-The graphics seem off.
-No challenge.
-Lack of weapons and ninpo arts.
-Multiplayer mode will not last.
Team Ninja dropped the ball on this game. The game did provide some thrills here and there, but it isn't something to shake a stick at. The way this game turned out is the reason why motion control shouldn't be used by companies that are inexperienced with it. This game gets a 5 out of 10.