ELECTRIC ARCADE: MAY 2009

ELECTRIC ARCADE
By
Alex Simon

May brings evermore titles of gaming for various platforms, and you'd be hard-pressed to find one that pushes the high-tech envelope with more eye candy than NINJA BLADE (Microsoft; XBox 360; Rated M). You play modern-day ninja Ken Ogawa, who must assume a secret identity to battle a parasite that has mysteriously appeared and unleashed a wave of destruction and chaos--mutating humans into viscious, savage creatures that thirst for blood! Once the disease has covered nearly the whole of Japan, including the heart of Tokyo, Ken must slice and dice through the mutants to save not only his homeland, but the human race, before the parasite is allowed to infect more of humanity.

Knock-out visual effects, including some truly creative and fire-hose level bloodletting that is reminscent of the Lone Wolf and Cub samurai films, allows the player to become fully-immersed in this terrific game, which expertly blends strategy and problem solving with full-throttle battle. If you try to run-and-gun your way through this particular title, you'll find yourself on a frustrating, and futile, journey.



Transitions from quick time events to interactive play are nearly seamless, and Ninja Blade offers the player a huge world in which he or she can interact, even shifting camera angles and POVs. Upconverts easily to 1080p high-resolution screens, with little, if any, pixilation in the graphics. This is definitely a next-gen game title, made with plasma screens and high-def resolution in mind. Kudos to Microsoft for producing a rated M title that is truly designed for adults with brains, as well as tweens with itchy trigger fingers.