The Return Of The Ninja!

User Rating: 8.3 | Shinobido Imashime PS2
By danaustin | Review Date:
Hearing of this title was a welcome suprise when I heard Acquire were making a ninja based action game. And what a game it looked. The only ninja games available were the Tenchu franchise which were losing ground due to repetative gameplay, and looking ever more unlikely with each release to be making another one. Which was a shame, as there must be a huge market out there for the ninja game, and I certainly I hope Acquire continue to release this title under the graphics whizz of the PS3. So, down to the game.

And what a game. The graphics may not be the best thing that have come out of the PS2, they are still original and atmospheric and suit the genre of the game, and the gameplay (though I've heard some reviews on here complaining about the gameplay) for me was actually not that difficult to master, very similar to Tenchu, and if you found Tenchu easy to get to grips with, then the learning curve on Shinobido won't be that long. The lock on feature makes things easier to hone in on an enemy and finish some nifty moves on, yet sometimes when there is many enemies on the screen, the action does get a bit disjointed, and it's near impossible to survive, without someone striking you from behind as you duck, dive and jump out of the way, looking for that ever elusive stealth kill. And the stealth kill mode is a lot more interesting then Tenchu, while in battle even, if you duck out of the way of a blow and find yourself behind an enemy you can finish them off with a kill long after they've found you, something you couldn't do in Tenchu. The combat feature is good, but not perfect, and you have to be aware of it's limitations whilst playing, when moving across the rooftops, or hiding behind walls, you have to always remember that taking the enemy out one by one is the best, and easiest technique.

The story is interesting enough, though it quickly departs from the soul stones you need to collect (to recapture your memory now lost due to amnesia) and enters the world of three fuedal Lords fighting for miliitary strength. The only downfall to the game I found was that there are only a certain number of environments, which are used and re-used through each of the missions, fortunately with varying skill levels and enemy placements to make it interesting, but it is still a weakness to the game, because like Tenchu before it, the scale of the game isn't very big in the face of this.

Overall, a great title, and if you loved Tenchu then it is a must buy as you'll enjoy this one, it's strenghts far outweigh it's weaknesess.

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