TGS 2003: Red Ninja: End of Honor announced

Vivendi Universal Games has today confirmed that it will publish the previously unannounced Red Ninja: End of Honor for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in fall 2004. The action adventure game is currently in development at Tranji--a new studio formed by the Japanese developers New Corporation and Opus.

Red Ninja: End of Honor will feature a story written by Japanese movie director Shinsuke Sato and will see players assuming the role of a female ninja named Kurenai in 16th-century feudal Japan. Kurenai is on a mission to avenge her father's death by destroying the Black Lizard clan, who afterward hung her and left her for dead. In a somewhat morbid twist, she'll use the very wire she was hung with as her primary weapon. Kurenai will also have access to a number of different secondary weapons including blowguns, smoke bombs, and rocket explosives. As players progress through the game, Kurenai will also master a number of ninja techniques, allowing her to dislocate her joints to get out of tight spots, disguise herself, and control or manipulate enemies.

We got to see a quick demo of Red Ninja in a meeting with Vivendi Universal at TGS, and we got a pretty good feel for the mechanics of Kurenai's wire. You'll acquire three different heads for the wire: a blade that can be used for slashing and impaling enemies, a blunt attachment for bludgeoning and hanging enemies, and a grapple for swinging across chasms and interacting with the environment. The wire features a full physics model, and you'll be able to use it creatively with the environment to dispatch your foes. For instance, you could target an enemy's head area with the blunt wire head and wrap the wire around his neck, then jump onto and then over a beam and hoist the enemy up, effectively hanging him. Even at the game's early stage of completion, the wire is quite functional; now Tranji has only to build diverse levels that allow players to take advantage of this unique gameplay mechanic.

"Red Ninja: End of Honor will offer authentic ninja gameplay and action around every corner," said Michael Pole, senior vice president of product development at VU Games. "This epic adventure carries universal themes that every player can relate to--duty versus honor, old versus new."

We'll bring you more information on Red Ninja: End of Honor as soon as it becomes available.

See more of GameSpot's coverage of the 2003 Tokyo Game Show.