A worthy sequel to NG2. Sure it's not perfect, nor innovative. But it's still a great action game for fans of the genre!
To start with the overall review first: Ninja Gaiden 3 is a bit under-appreciated. It is a worthy sequel to Ninja Gaiden 2, still every bit as hard and every bit as action-oriented. But as with all sequels, the developers have tried new things to create variation, some of them good, and some bad.
Among the good things are especially the more worked-out story and the addition of some quicktime events, plus an online mode, which provide nice distractions and don't hinder the game at all.
On the bad side, certain design choices have made the game a bit more 'tame', seamingly having forgotten what Ninja Gaiden was all about: namely chopping your hideous *demon-opponents* to *shreds* with *multiple* weapons in over-the-top *gore*.
As such, Ninja Gaiden 3 definetely could have been a better sequel. But for those into the genre, it still provides many of the things you would expect and a nice gaming experience.
[Story]
The story is a little more worked-out this time. Altough it's not great by any definition, it does feel more involved than NG2, where the gist was no more than 'Evil appears, vanquish it!'. NG3 sees Ryu take on a new organisation bent on destroying the world: the Lords of Alchemy, who use a mix of (quantum)technoloy and magic to do their work. This means you will largely be facing hordes of soldiers and robots, and less monsters. This is a bit of a shame as the freaky, gory demons made NG2 such a cool game. Finally, there's a bit of a 'love/family' thingie included, in the form of special agent Mizuki and her adopted daughter you have to protect. But since Ryu now actually talks much more and shows his face, the whole picture felt like a worthy new adventure.
[Gameplay]
The gameplay is what you would expect from a Ninja Gaiden game: hack hords of opponents to shreds and save the day. So nothing innovative, but that is what you should expect. The main game is not long: about 6 hrs. when playing on easy, but the challenge obviously lies in tackling all difficulty modes, challenges and even online modes, which will keep all but born master ninjas occupied a good while.
The challenge modes ar similar to NG2, only now you don't have to unlock them in each main game level first; just play the first chapter. They still consist of hordes of progressively more difficult enemies that you have to defeat. Great for those wanting a challenge.
The online mode is new in this game, as appearently this is required for every game nowadays... I haven't played but from what I could tell, it offers a decent lineup of team, deathmatch and co-op modes. I expect the fun of this mode succeeds or fails by how many people keep playing it at any given time.
There is one gameplay-element I was annoyed by: when you first start the game with no prior save data, you are immediately thrown into story mode without even going to the Start Menu -you are only able to select the difficulty. Only when you've cleared the first chapter on the 'official' save point does the menu go to normal. What is worse: the options you can edit during play are not equal to those in the main menu, particularly the Language selection. In essence, the game defaults to English audio, and only after I'd finished it I learned that there *is* in fact a Japanese option, but only under the main menu....
[Mechanics]
The mechanics are just about the same to Ninja Gaiden 2, with many (if not all) of the same moves and combos. There a few changes though:
- There are no additional weapons; only the dragon sword. Altough a recent patch should include at least the favorites of the Eclipse scythe and the Eagle talons, it appears these same weapons can only be used outside of the main game if you purchase a DLC pack. This is really a shame as the number of available weapons is what made NG2 so great. That Team Ninja decided to add this only afterwards, and not completely free, is simply lame.
- Some quicktime events are now included to finish off enemies with 'steel on bone' attacks, as well as certain bosses or during normal gameplay. Altough you see this in more games these days - not all good- I thought it was quite OK here, not intrusive and essentially a nice change of pace.
- There are no items - at all. During battle you build up Ki, which you can use to do 1 type of super-ninpo, destroying all enemies on stage. Health is healed *after* each sub-battle, and may increase depending on how much Ki you have left saved. Also, as there are no health/Ki orbs anymore, the only Obliteration technique you have now comes from Ryu's cursed right arm, and this only charges over the course of a battle. Finally, weapons can not be upgraded as there are now money or shops. While I did not feel this lack of items to be disturbing during gameplay (it's just different), it does take away a very strong strategic element from your battles - something which I particularly enjoyed on the higher difficulties of NG2.
- You can't chop up your enemies anymore. I felt this to be the biggest letdown of the game, as this is what made NG2 so awesome. Sure, there's still enough blood flowing, but no longer can you jump in and chop the head or legs off an enemy and earn disapproval from your mom. Next to the fact that it makes the game more 'tame', I also found it to be somewhat of a strategic hindrance: in NG2 you could really help your chances in large battles by 'amputating' some of your attackers at the start...
[Graphics]
Nothing special here; simply OK. Still, it has to be said that I would have expected somewhat more, given the amazing things that games like Mass Effect, Skyrim or Uncharted bring to your screen these days. Although you definitely should not play this game for graphics, all Japanese developers should embrace the 21st century some more and move away from the late-PS2 era.
[Replay value]
This is essentially the reason-for-being of games of this genre, and NG3 delivers what you would expect. Obviously there are the different difficulty modes, going up to Master Ninja. Only those with ninja-blood will find these easy....I expect not getting over Normal myself. Then there's also the trials, and the online mode to keep you occupied for many hours.
[Summary - the good]
+ Great hack 'n slash action
+ As difficult as you would expect a NG game to be
+ More worked-out story
+ Online modes for enthusiasts
+ Enough replay value
[Summary - the bad]
- Not as gory as NG2
- Bosses and monsters are less cool
- Crooked start menu on your first play
- Additional weapons only after patch, and $$ in DLC