Ninja Blade dices retailers April 7

Stealth is a key attribute of the ninja, but Microsoft is making a lot of noise about its upcoming Xbox 360-exclusive action game, Ninja Blade. The publisher today announced that the From Software-developed game has gone gold and will arrive in North America on April 7.

Microsoft also detailed its prerelease promotional plans for the game. Starting March 9, a free demo of Ninja Blade will be available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. If that sells players on the game, they can then preorder the title from participating retailers and get a free Ninja Blade premium theme as a reward. The theme--which will be sold on Xbox Live a week after being made available to preorder customers--will include five avatar backgrounds and four wallpapers.

Described by the publisher as a "modern ninja epic," Ninja Blade follows hero Ken Ogawa and a shinobi support team as they try to save humanity from an epidemic. Rather than spend their time in labcoats looking for vaccines, Ken and company use their talents to clean up the streets of Tokyo, which are choked with victims of the disease who have been turned into monsters.

For more on the title, check out GameSpot's previous Ninja Blade coverage.