Game Reviews

Ninja Assassin

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Ninja Assassin
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| Ninja Assassin

If you happen to have an aversion to the red stuff then Ninja Assassin isn't going to sit well with you.

We've not experienced much in the way of blood and gore on iPhone, but this latest movie tie-in from Warner Bros is positively dripping with the stuff. During particularly busy moments the screen becomes awash with claret-coloured life-juice. Lovely.

Then again, this is a game about being a ninja assassin, so a certain amount of blood-letting is to be expected. Using your trusty katana and shuriken, you hack and slash your way through the Yakuza underworld slaying all manner of nefarious criminals.

Ninja assassin them

There's no virtual directional pad to speak of. Instead, everything is done with gestures – moving, attacking, jumping. To move your character you simply draw a line to the desired location.

Attacking is handled in a similar fashion: drawing a line through an enemy will cause your on-screen assassin to slash through the hapless foe, cutting him clean in two. Jumping attacks are achieved by drawing a vertical line – it's even possible to juggle your enemies using this particular motion.

Shuriken are utilised in a slightly different way. To launch the deadly projectile you merely tap your intended enemy. You have a finite stock of these throwing stars so it pays to use them sparingly.

Naturally, being a shadowy ninja-type you can make use of your surroundings for stealth kills. Various locations – both on the ground and high up – can be used as hiding places, where unfriendly eyes can't see you.

To enter these locations you tap them to leap into cover. Attacking from a hiding place naturally has incredible benefits, allowing you to time moves and avoid unwanted attention.

Killing me softly

While it's nice to see a developer use the screen in such a manner, the control scheme is too simplistic to provide long-term enjoyment. Because both your attacks and movements are controlled in the same fashion it becomes extremely difficult to plan an effective strategy.

More often than not you find yourself drawing lines across the screen in an entirely random manner, which ironically proves to be just as effective as a more accurate approach.

The scope of your attacks is also painfully limited – a fact which is highlighted quite blatantly whenever you encounter a boss character. For example, the first end-of-level guardian is able to block your shuriken and withstand several sword attacks.

While you frantically try to avoid his chainsaw and whittle away his stamina, he happily cuts away with his motorised weapon, sapping your health with astonishing speed. With perseverance it's possible to overcome this annoying road block but when you eventually manage to do so it feels more like luck than skill.

Rinse and repeat

The limited control also makes the rest of the game incredibly repetitive, with little variety being shown in the later levels. You basically move from one location to the next, spilling blood as you go.

The bonus Survival mode – which allows you to post your best score online – helps to smooth over the cracks somewhat but even that becomes dull after a while.

Yes, the presentation is sumptuous, but it’s ultimately a desperately shallow experience, and one that singularly fails to get the blood boiling – despite the copious amounts of red liquid being spilt on-screen.

Ninja Assassin

It may look sharper than a freshly-polished katana but Ninja Assassin’s repetitive nature and limited controls mean that it lacks that vital killer instinct you’d expect from such a premium title
Score
Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.