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So Ninja Gaiden‘s back with this latest addition, I was fortunate enough to spend some considerable time with it at London MCM and it definitely bears talking about. If you’re the impatient kind, and don’t want to read the full preview, then i’ll simply say that it’s brutal, fast paced and fantastic.
The playable demo sets you in the shoes of Ryu Hayabusa once again, this time you’re in the moonlit streets of London, fighting your way through waves of enemies in the usual visceral style. The demo wasn’t massively long, only putting you in about 3-4 area’s, but it was a brilliant showcase for some of the new features. The most pertinent was the use of quick time events, these play a major role in almost every aspect of the game.
In combat you’ll find yourself prompted by a QTE to do a gut-wrenching finishing move on your enemies, they’re used to help you scale walls and my personal favorite, to instigate an immense take down when your gliding in from a high point. They play their part well, some games make QTE’s feel forced, that simply isn’t the case here. They always felt natural and work as an aid to the situations you’ll find yourself in.
Combat wise the dmeo was a little slim, only pitting you against a handful of enemy types but it was enough to see what the combat had in store. You have the choice of 3 attack types, normal, strong and ranged, all of which can be blended together for some intensely ninja-like combo’s. You’ll definitely feel like a bad-ass as you’re hopping around decimating your enemies with some of the brutal moves you have in your arsenal. The combo’s work to fill up a metre, which unleashed, will release a dragon that will take down any nearby enemies. If dragons aren’t your thing then you also collect the souls of your opponents, these charge up in your arm and can be used to perform a set of devastating one-hit kills on your unwitting enemies.
The only negative point I noticed was that it felt a little stop and go, once in an area you’ll have to wait for wave after wave of the same enemy types until you’ve cleared the predetermined amount. After this you’ll move on and do much the same, the monotony was broken up by some interesting moments that saw you running down alleyways avoiding rocket fire and dodging under or over debris, but the wave sections definitely were noticeable. If you’re opposed to some hack and slash repetition then this could be a bit of an issue for you, other wise though this seems like a brilliant experience.
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