advertisement

GC 2008: Naruto: The Broken Bond Impressions

By Luke Anderson, GameSpotPosted Aug 21, 2008 4:49 am PT

We got an updated look at Leipzig and even found out about a new playable character.

Naruto is back for another outing on the Xbox 360 in Naruto: The Broken Bond. The story takes place right after the events of Rise of a Ninja, and in the mission that we saw at Leipzig, you'll need to help Naruto and his friends rescue a local village from a bandit attack. You'll be able to control three characters at a time with seven in total to choose from, including Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, and the newly announced addition of Sasuke.

Naruto's back and ready to kick butt, ninja-style!

Every character will have their own special abilities in Broken Bond, such as Neji's abilities to sense danger and guide you through dangerous areas without harm. Naruto has the ability to sprint, for example across a bridge set with explosives. He also has the ability to clone himself, which let us create a bridge of piggybacked Narutos later on. Shikamaru then used his ability to stretch his shadow across the newly created bridge to open a gate on the other side.

Sasuke will have has his own unique story and different set of skills in the game. The gameplay will be quite different when playing as him, too, including the artistic direction of the scenery, which Ubisoft said reflects his internal struggles. Specific portions of levels are playable only with specific characters, so if you want to collect everything, you'll need to use every character to explore every area.

The game has a more open-world feeling than before, with multiple paths available throughout the game. Non-player characters will work on clearing roads and making bridges at certain points in the game, and the world will change and develop throughout your progress through the game. The average play-through time is estimated to be around 10 hours, and the single-player campaign is definitely the focus on this occasion. Despite this, Broken Bond looks like it has a solid fight mode, with online support and 25 playable characters included.

You'll guide Naruto and two of his friends through Broken Bond's story.

The cartoon style of Broken Bond looks gorgeous, with crisp, vibrant 3D environments and detailed cel-shaded characters. The game looks and sounds pretty close to completion, and it should keep Naruto fans happy with the level of detail that the team has delivered. Our presenters claimed that there would be some exclusive content planned for the game, as well as integration with Ubi.com, but no details were revealed at Leipzig. Ubisoft will also be announcing a preorder campaign with a special something for those that get in early.

Naruto: The Broken Bond is coming in fall 2008. For more on the game, see our previous coverage.

51 Comments

  • narutofan400

    Posted Nov 17, 2008 1:37 pm PT

    i can't wait for this game to come out

  • daffiedoe

    Posted Nov 17, 2008 2:24 am PT

    And I have another question. I have bought the game but when is the game release? Was it on 18 or 20 November 2008? Cause I checked another site and they say it's on the 20th. But this site says 18 November. Which is it ?

  • daffiedoe

    Posted Nov 17, 2008 2:17 am PT

    Does anyone know what the 25 playable characters are? Is it true that there are more Naruto's?

  • ff7cloudking

    Posted Nov 11, 2008 3:38 pm PT

    Does anyone know if the full roster has been released yet?
    I want to know because I do not want to have to download characters like Shikamaru and Jiraiya, and I also dont want to have a lot of other minor characters completely missing from the game, like Ino, Hnata, and Gai.

    But as long as the roster is improved over ROAN, I will defenitly be getting this game.

  • skirbie

    Posted Nov 11, 2008 8:58 am PT

    I first got my first Naruto experience ever with Rise of a Ninja, which I loved because of how it packaged Action, adventure and fighting into one cohesive story. Since I wasn't familiar with the back story of Naruto, this games was perfect for me. The game itself wasn't perfect, but I found it to be a very enjoyable gaming experience.

    Playing Naruto UNS for the PS3 is very different experience and somewhat of a let down in comparison as it seems to be more driven by a system of running around a boring village collecting items, unlocking characters and power-ups that can be used in mission based events. It's beautiful to look at, but seems to be a little on the dull side between missions.

    Since The Broken Bond picks up right after the events from Rise of a Ninja, I am certainly looking forward to this sequel game. It's looking very promising at this point, and I hope that it will at least equal if not surpass the first game.

    Ultimately whatever type of game a person enjoys most is the right choice.

  • Scoped_Knife

    Posted Nov 11, 2008 4:24 am PT

    Well... seing as Storm doesn't seem to have quite lived up to all expectations this seems to be my last hope at a good Naruto game to sink my teeth into for the present...

  • DAKYON posted Nov 5, 2008 11:57 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    DAKYON

    Posted Nov 5, 2008 11:57 pm PT (hide)

    ninja storm owns this game , that for sure........ please don't get mad, i just wanna make friends

  • ColdGen

    Posted Nov 5, 2008 8:11 pm PT

    I thought demos was OK - camera was a bit ish but a bit of variety and the cutscenes are well done too.

  • Mangekyou300

    Posted Oct 26, 2008 12:37 pm PT

    From Gamestop: Reserve Naruto: The Broken Bond and receive a code to unlock an exclusive in-game character. The code will be on a sticker placed on the box. All Customers: Code will be packaged with the game.

  • Sagacious_Tien

    Posted Oct 25, 2008 10:30 am PT

    It feels like a rushed effort. Should be as good as Rise of a Ninja, but it feels like this one could have used more time.

  • kkkkknaruto

    Posted Oct 25, 2008 8:14 am PT

    not bad but the best naruto game would be the adventure and exploration from this game and the fighting gameplay from the ps3 one....cuz i ave never seen a game run as smoothly as ultimate ninja storm newayz i got only ps3 so uns it is!!!

  • jpclyde

    Posted Oct 24, 2008 2:53 pm PT

    hopefully you get to use more jutsus

  • cristhiansj_1 posted Oct 23, 2008 9:16 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    cristhiansj_1

    Posted Oct 23, 2008 9:16 am PT (hide)

    It's Rise of a Ninja 2... bad game, NUNS ever!

  • G-Star-T2005

    Posted Oct 20, 2008 2:49 pm PT

    Rise Of a Ninja was awesome imo just the overall look made me want more, so this one has got to bring anime based adventure games back maybe a Bleach adventure?

  • daffiedoe

    Posted Oct 13, 2008 4:21 am PT

    Awesome! I want this game!

  • naruto-mario22

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:42 pm PT

    im going to get this game and naruto ultimate ninja storm and naruto clash of ninja revolution 2

  • soccermania09

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 8:09 pm PT

    This game is going to rock my world Go sasuke

  • soccermania09

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 8:09 pm PT

    This game is going to rock my world Go sasuke

  • Nbmaster

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 8:12 am PT

    Im going to buy Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and Naruto The Broken Bond!
    Both games look awseome!

  • Mangekyou300

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 9:02 am PT

    I wonder if The Bronken Bond will rival Ultimate Ninja Storm? IDK we will just have to see when they come out in stores! XD

Naruto: The Broken Bond Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | DLC & Expansions | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices

Check Prices: $29.95 – 38.99

GameStop $29.99 SHOP ›
Deep Discount.com $38.99 SHOP ›
GamesDirectOnline $29.95 SHOP ›
advertisement

Related Content

Matches based on text similarity.

advertisement
Click Here

Related Unions

Naruto: The Broken Bond Boxshot Enlarge the boxshot
Naruto: The Broken Bond

Game Stats

Full Game Details »Close

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement