Summary A perfectly executed action title starring everyone's favorite frantic, fast-paced modern ninja - Ryu Hayabusa. How can you possibly go wrong when, on your quest, you'll encounter everything from Military helicopters to ancient Fire Dragons?

Description From the same creators that brought you incredible bouncing breasts of Dead or Alive comes Ninja Gaiden (Black); exclusively for the Xbox game console. Ninja Gaiden Black is essentially an expansion pack to the original Ninja Gaiden, giving you extra features and additional content that you would had to have downloaded through Xbox Live in the original game. Falling shy in only a handful of fields, Ninja Gaiden Black is anything and everything you could have possibly asked for from one of the last-gen consoles. Story: "The evil Dark Dragon Blade - A Legendary sword, said to have been carved out of the bone of a Black Dragon, it brought plague and death to the world during the age of ancient myth. It has been sealed by those of the Dragon Lineage since the dawn of history because of its incredible capacity for evil, made possible by the souls of the vanquished Black Dragons that dwell within it. It is said that if the Blade's seal were to be ever broken, it would gather the hatred and evil of mankind and confer it upon the one who wields it, transforming him into the Devil Incarnate; however, not even those of the Dragon Lineage who protect it know of the true extent of its power. The Dragon Sword - Another weapon protected by the Dragon Lineage since ancient times. This sword which is said to have been used by ancient warriors to slay the Black Dragon is now handed down from generation to generation in the Hayabusa Ninja Clan, the modern descendants of the Dragon Lineage. Now, the Dragon Sword is gripped firmly in the hands of young Ninja Ryu Hayabusa..." After a bout through the dojo, and a training session with Master Murai, Ayane (a familiar Dead or Alive ninja) informs Ryu that the Hayabusa village is under attack. Without hesitation, Ryu races toward the village. Discovering the source of the disturbance, the young ninja confronts Doku, an armor clad samurai wielding the dreaded Dark Dragon Blade. Though Ryu is an expert at ninjitsu, one swift strike from Doku, defeats our hero. Now, out to reclaim the Dark Dragon Sword and take revenge on the head of the Greater Fiends, Ryu Hayabusa sets out on an epic quest for vengeance... Gameplay: It's clear that a lot of effort was put forth to bring players a seamless gameplay experience. Most of Ryu's movements are fluid and responsive, and there is a lot of strategy needed to master all of the weapons available in the game. While you are only given the Dragon Sword and standard shurikens at the start of your quest, you will come across a lot of other tools of the shinobi's trade: the Lunar (bow staff), Nunchucks, Smoke Bombs, Bow & Arrows, and a lot of non-ninja weaponry. I personally found the Dragon Sword and Vigoorian Flail to be the most useful, and was kind of disappointed with my favorite hand-to-hand weapon, the Diaboro (Broad Sword; think FFVII's Cloud), because it's just not practical with how slow it is and the lightning fast onslaught the enemies bring. On top of hand-to-hand weapons, and projectiles, Ryu will also obtain ninja magic scrolls called Ninpo Techniques. These will range from shooting a giant fireball to amplifying his own body's electricity to arc lightning bolts out to enemies. Also, they couldn't leave out Hayabusa's signature Izuna Drop. Anyone who's played DOA will immediately recognize this attack. In DOA (and Ninja Gaiden too) when an enemy was launched into the air, Hayabusa is able to jump in the air with them and initiate a devastating spinning pile-driver. This attack is one you should master as soon as you obtain it. It also wouldn't hurt to know this attack in DOA too, as it will ensure victory most of the time. While most of the game is well executed, there were also a lot of times when I felt very displeased. For starters, sometimes when I'd want to perform a specific attack (Flying Swallow), Ryu would do a standard heavy downward strike, leaving me vulnerable, which could mean certain death in this game. As is the same problem with Manhunt, the right analog stick doesn't exactly do what you want it to. When I move the right analog stick, it's because I want to twist the camera into a position that will benefit me, but Ninja Gaiden Black decides to be a prick about that and switch to a First-Person perspective instead. In theory, this was a good idea, but when the camera is this difficult to maneuver, big, scary enemies are out of view more often than you'd like. I won't ruin it for anyone, but the boss you fight in the cathedral was out of sight more than it was on screen, making for an incredibly difficult boss in an already incredibly difficult game. On that note, I'll mention what exactly you will be in for difficulty-wise. Ninja Gaiden (2004) was, and always will be one of the most masochistic action titles ever made, and Ninja Gaiden Black is no exception. OK, that's not exactly true. Because of player's complaints about the difficulty of the original Xbox NG, Team Ninja decided to include an Easy mode for those who found even Normal mode far too difficult (I wasn't one of them, by the way). This new Easy difficulty is called Ninja Dog, and the game will never let you forget that you're so much of a pussy by fastening a bright pink ribbon to Hayabusa. This is a good feature (excluding the gay pink ribbon) for those who may not quite be up to par with the ruthless AI, but I would recommend sticking to Normal or higher if you want to get a real sense of satisfaction when you finally do beat it. I forget where I heard this, but we were asked whether we would want to be Hayabusa or Hotsumsa (PS2's Shinobi). One guys response, "Hotsuma. Why? Because my life would go little by little, not over and over." That was, and is true and funny. Expect to die A lot when playing through Ninja Gaiden Black. Graphics: Team Ninja never disappoints with the visuals in any of their games. For a game made in 2005, NGB still holds up today, even in a market with games like Bioshock. Ryu Hayabusa's character model is fantastic and his (and all other characters) movements are fluid and realistic. Being a master ninja and all, Team Ninja would probably have gotten some harsh criticism had the main character not move the way any acrobatic martial artist would. For the most part, the level design is also rendered incredibly well with the graphics engine, and the variety of the settings you'll encounter will not make your journey seem in the least bit unappealing to look at (although you do have to do some backtracking in the later stages of the game). I have yet to play Ninja Gaiden II, but even if Team Ninja (did) stick to the same engine NGB runs off of, it still wouldn't look totally out of place on a next-gen system. Sound: Can't say I'm very impressed. The steel-on-steel clank in nice, and you get a real feeling of satisfaction when you hear the cleave as you watch an enemy's head separate from his body, but that's about all that you'll find to be Team Ninja's best effort in the sound department. The voice acting is cheesy, and the music is little to none that will leave you wanting more. Granted, the audio isn't why any sane person would buy this game, but it would have been much appreciated if I could play and hear something other than absence of absolutely anything. Come on now; Dead or Alive has some good music. You could have at least taken some tracks from one of those games and used that as the soundtrack to Ninja Gaiden. Ninja Gaiden Black is an excellently crafted maim-a-thon that I thoroughly enjoyed. Most people would say you're weird if you have an Xbox and don't have Halo (I have Halo 2, but I think it sucks, so I don't think that really counts), but I think you're weird if you don't own a Ninja Gaiden game. Either weird or just a pussy. Other Scores Ninja Gaiden Black Received Game Informer - 9.5 (out of 10) Gamespot - 9.4 (out of 10) IGN - 9.4 (out of 10) Gamepro - 5 (out of 5) 1up.com - A+ (A+ being the highest) Review Page Hits: 3 today (45 in the last 30 days) Create Your Own Review or