No. Definitely and emphatically no.

However, Ninja Blade does have some potential. I decided to give it a go last night, curious to how From Software and Microsoft Games Studio’s take on the modern ninja in Tokyo could be any different than Ninja Gaiden. Which, I found pretty quickly, that the protagonist Ken, which seems to be a constructed rival against Ryu Hayabusa, is much different. Not only does he have a token black guy as his helicopter pilot, he has the stereotypical master that is the only one who speaks with a Japanese accent, and a team full of ninjas that sound as if they just got out of the suburbs.

As you literally dive right into the action, scenes occur with button prompts to kill some demons that have overrun Tokyo. These button prompts, although somewhat entertaining and stylish, tell you what action is going to be performed. So if you are to use your grappling wire to latch on to a building, it will tell you to press “X” and right under the button, it will say “WIRE.” Now, I’m not sure what the purpose of added text does. Is there a disease that affects eyesight so only text can be read and no visuals may be seen? I’d rather be somewhat “surprised” how Ken is going to continue to free-fall from 1500m in the sky, rather than knowing he’s going to “JUMP.”

Finally landing on solid ground, you’ll be faced with a good number of “infected” people. Here, the demo gives you the chance to fool around with the combat system, which encompasses all the potential this game has. With four different types of swords, which resemble the same mechanics in Ninja Gaiden, you’ll be able to quickly and stylishly dispose of your enemies. Theres even a version of the dragon sword, which is given to the player right before the action begins. You can dual wield, use a powerful, giant sword, or eventually use grenades and other modern weapons, which will bring a new aspect to the ninja combat repertoire. But aside from revolving around more modern weaponry, Ninja Blade falls awfully close to Ninja Gaiden’s apple tree, except Ken is too much of a bitch to kill his bosses without his “ninja sight” (see: every other slowdown mode ever used).

Although the game shows some promise, it is only very little. Considering the game went “gold” before the demo was released in the US and Europe, these promising glints of superior gaming won’t be expanded on, which is a shame; if some more time were spent on plot and the interactive cutscenes, Team Ninja would need to step their game up for the eventual release of Ninja Gaiden 3.

Lookout for Ninja Blade on April 7th, only on the Xbox 360.

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