This game may sound like your regular Naruto style game but theres something special that makes you love it
The game has you run through the same locations again and again and again and I admit the jungle routes even though they are gorgeous, get a little boring but the graphics are so amazing. What I enjoy however is running through the leaf village. Its a very lively place and even though its linear and only has one or two branch offs its amazing drawing and mixture of animation and drawn backgrounds really sucks you into the beauty of the village and due to this you often forget or don't mind running through the same places again and again.
People really complained about FF13 for doing this but this ninja storm 2 does it and somehow pulls it off without a hitch.
The game play for a Naruto game is outstanding. I was a little overwhelmed by the demo and died multiple times, there is a learning curve. Myself it took nearly five goes on the demo before I got a sense of what I was doing and once I did I was ready for the game. Funny thing is I was half way through the game and still working out new combo's. You can have a long range battle which are always fun then you can have a close up fight. Nothing feels more gratifying when you put on a quick combo then press the jutsu attack buttons and you can sit there watching the rest of your combo unleash then see your jutsu hit them for some major damage points. Only downside is that you can block any jutsu without fail which is kind of rubbish.
The story itself has changed a fair bit but lets be honest. This is an adaption of the anime and the anime is an adaption of the manga. Both anime and game have made changes and thats reasonable.
What really made my like this game is online vs mode. I have played a number of matches and it is very easy to counter the players who just like to spam super attacks. Tactics are a must if you wish to win, picking the right team can go along way but it is a pain when you both wait to see what each other pick so you can pick a team that would negate your opponents team and the time runs out.
It's best to stick with one team and get very good with them and I have to say the people I have played with so far I have only gotten one hate message for winning, most people say good match or man that was awesome which is a nice change from modern warfare where everyone just swears and yells and well you get the picture.
The only other problem is I find myself fully enveloped in the wonderful cut scenes which sometimes look even more badass than the anime that I forget to press the button prompts when they come up but All in all this game is pretty wicked.
Graphics:- the game doesn't try to look realistic like most games, they try to be cartoonish and they pulled it off specularly. I give the graphics a 10. The mixing between drawn background and animated really pushed me for the top score plus there is no difference between cut scenes and game play.
Game play:- While it is a single button command game they seem to put incredible depth and tactics into the combat. I give is a 7 for the game play, brought down a little by having to gather lots and lots of ingredients to get better items.
Voice acting:- Now I know most people who watch anime hate the English but I watched the first series in English and think they did a very good job, some voices are annoying and yes, Naruto is played by a girl but she is able to convey emotion so well. And there are no flaws with the Japanese audio, Japanese is a beautiful language. I give it a 9
Soundtrack:- I am speechless, it is not the anime soundtrack but it is absolutely beautiful and really sets the mood. 10 out of 10
Overall I give it an 8.5 It's nothing overly new or special but for Naruto fans it is perfect and for non Naruto fans it is a change from Mortal Kombat and Tekken etc. It is probably the best Naruto game on the shelf and they exceeded my expectations (even though they were very low).
I hope you enjoyed my very long and first review on Gamespot and I hoped it helped you either want to play or not play the game. Just be warned though Naruto is not for everyone.