Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Almost, but not quite"

As a lover and purveyor of stealth games, it's hard in this day and age to find any stealth games that are even the least bit sneaky. There are a few exceptions though, more recently the Splinter Cell series (the older ones mind you), Assassin's Creed (though not heavily based on stealth) and the Hitman series (I've heard it is a stealth game, never played any of them however. I may decide pick them up one day.) Anyways, enough about me **** over how the industry is losing more and more stealth games and let's talk about this little wonder known as Mark of The Ninja.

Story

Mark of The Ninja (MOTN) is a 2D side scrolling stealth game (yeah I was just as surprised when I first heard of it.) In this unique little arcade title, you play as a ninja who has been given a distinctive mark all over his body using the ink of a rare and mysterious flower that has leaves that burn with toxins. More to the point, with the help of this mark the main character is given extraordinary powers that allow him to become a force to be reckoned with, but there's a catch anyone who has used the special mark prior have all ended with the same fate, in which they are driven to madness, and perhaps even to the point of suicide.
The main reason our young hero was given the mark to begin with was to allow him to accept and complete the most suicidal of missions, much like the other ninja before him. At this point I was reminded of the Arbiter from Halo 2, since both were only made when in times of crisis. The crisis being, that an armed group of mercenaries had threatened and killed several other ninja in the very hive in which they thrive and now the ninja want revenge. Not the most complex of stories, but an enjoyable one at the least.

Gameplay

Even though most arcade titles usually have some problems with their gameplay, MOTN is an exception to this rule. The gameplay is actually pretty solid; the controls weren't clunky or unresponsive, the A.I. never seemed to be completely unfair, any mistakes I ever made while playing were largely my own. MOTN gives players a choice in whether they prefer to hunt down enemies and covertly take them out or avoid them altogether.
The hiding spots you can use were very spotty and scattered, but well placed as you don't want the player to just completely sneak past an entire level simply by hiding behind a plant or pot. Much like traditional stealth games, you can knock out lights and other devices using your throwing knives of which you have an infinite amount. Be wary though as destroying such things makes a loud noise which attracts enemies who are in range, which can either give you an advantage or a disadvantage depending on how you play. Other than throwing knives, the game gives you a grappling hook where you can swing to and from certain places that allow it, as well as a distraction weapon (noise maker, smoke bomb, etc.) and attack weapon (poison knives, spike traps, etc.) of your choice all of which can be used in a variety of ways.
I remember one scenario in which I had silently killed one victim and tied him up on a pole and left him hanging there for another guard to find, in doing so the guard was frightened by seeing his friend hanging there, lifeless. He ended up stepping backwards into a hallway onto a spike mine I had set up prior to the event. His buddy had gone to check up on him wondering what had happened and saw the ensuing carnage unveil before him and went into a craze and began firing his weapon off into the dark, hoping to hit whatever monstrosity his diminutive mind imagined had caused such a catastrophe. The poor guy had backed up into the door I was hiding behind and where I silenced him and stuffed his lifeless corpse into a vent.
Of course, this wasn't in one fell swoop there were many a time where I ended up reverting back to checkpoint so I could do things just right, which is quite normal for me when playing stealth games. I always seem to develop OCD when playing these types of games where everything has to be just so.
After the end of each level you are tallied up on how many enemies you may or may not have killed, whether you set off any alarms, which side objectives you've completed (if any) and so forth. After the score has been calculated you are rewarded with tokens with each level giving you a total of 9 tokens in which you can use to upgrade your ninja in a number of ways, such as giving you more ways to stealth kill like behind doors or the ever so classic death from above. Any side objectives you complete go towards unlocking various costumes which give you both pros and cons to each. I never used any other costumes other than the original as I figured the cons outweigh the pros.

Visuals

Now I don't know about anyone else but when I first saw the opening sequence I was instantly reminded of the old TMNT cartoon that aired around 2005, which isn't a bad thing mind you, I enjoyed that show when I was younger and sometimes wish they still had it on for nostalgias sake.
Anyways, the visuals are very dark and shadows seems to stick out more than anything else, not surprising for a game built around stealth and ninjas…however one thing that always seemed to grind my gears (yes that's a Family Guy reference, LIVE IT WITH IT.) is that the environments don't seems all that drastically different, everything seemed to always blend together which isn't a big problem or anything but this game is definitely lacking with variety when it comes to visuals. Everything has a comic book/cartoony (or graphic novel if you're feeling high horse) sort of feel to it.

Overall:

Pick this game up its freaking fun, and I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys a good stealth game, like I said stealth games seem to be dying out which makes me sad face :-( . Is it worth $15? Yes, I believe it is. I found this game too easy but it has a New Game Plus+ mode which I will have to try one day…after I get tired of Halo 4.
Seven Word Review:
"A solid performance, though a bit easy." THE VERDICT: 8.5/10