GameCover:: 

NINJA BLADE is a typical beat'em up game similiar to much more popular Ninja Gaiden or God of War. The story in my opinion is pretty cool. You're a member of the special squad called G.U.I.D.E formed to fight an Alpha-worms: a unclassified species of hook worm wich rapidly multiplied, triggering uncontrollable bleeding and open sores but instead of killing the host they mutated him so much that he turned into violent, superstrong killing monster.

You play as ninja called- Ken Ogawa and you're a member of already mentioned organisation. The plot is getting more twisted, especially after first mission and the story is really, really interesting but that's enough spoilers.

I have heard about this game alot. Some people enjoyed playing it and some people did not. I've picked up a copy from a Gamestation for 25 pounds and honestly- it paid off. Played nearly 9 hours straight, nearly peeing myself i have to add. Long time i didn't experience such awesomness in a video game. Let me explain the basis of Ninja Blade to you:

• FIGHTING: Fighting is not as advanced like we can see in Ninja Gaiden 2 but that's not a minus. You get 3 weapons wich can be upgraded to a 5th level (using red shards dropped from enemies, pretty standard) increasing weapons damage, range and unlocking new combos. Also weapons look changes as well wich is pretty cool. But all of that is nothing new for this sort of a game.
  
  As a first weapon you get ninja sword: well balanced weapon, can be used against most monsters (after max upgrade you can use it basically against every foe you fight but long usage will cost you life points). Then you get a heavy two-handed sword wich can break heavy armors and let you through cracked walls smashing it into bits- a slow but an effective weapon. As a third melee weapon we get two fast short blades wich are perfect against crapload of monsters around you and to deflect enemies projectiles. Weapon itself has a low damage but it's super fast, it has brilliant looking combos and it can be used as a grappling hook to reach further placed platforms.
  
  The best thing about those weapons is that you can change them whenever you want so for example you knock enemy in the air using a heavy two-handed sword and pressing right arrow on the pad you change into two fast blades making an italian mixed sallad from a mutant. There is quite few combination. There can be a moments where above foes head you can see ''Y'' button logo, that means that you can finish him off in quick time event (that sort of a system was borrowed from God of War) ending with cool looking killing blow awarding you more points when the mission ends.
  
  Also further you'll go in to the story you'll get Ninjutsu. It's basically a shuriken containing power of the three elements, wind, fire and lightning (also there is one hidden wich can be unlocked). They are very usefull not only in combat but also to clear the path using certain element. Ninjutsu can be upgraded to level 3.
  
  Last thing worth mentioning is a so called Ninja Vision. By pressing LB you'll turn on vision wich slows everything down drastically (basically it boosts your reflexes) helping you to escape, dodge, attack etc. It's a very usefull thing but it consumes KI energy, when you'll use up your KI your vision turns off and your screen is blured and for a couple of seconds you cannot see clearly, that's a pretty cool effect right there. While in a Ninja Vision mode you can scan enviroment looking for a paths and enemies weak points.





• QUICK TIME EVENTS: Second essential thing in Ninja Blade are Quick Time Events. QTE appear in this game VERY often. Everytime when you'll see Ken's eye spotting a danger it'll be followed by a Quick Time Event.
  
  It's basically pressing a commands buttons wich are being displayed on your screen in a right time. If you fail, QTE will rewind and you can try it again (on hard level QTE button commands are always different than before so you have to pay attention) but you don't have to repeat whole level again. Alot people are not very happy by the fact that QTE's are so often but i personally love every each one of them cause QTE in this game are a masterpiece. I haven't seen nothing like this, ever. Even in my beloved Shenmue 1 and 2, God of War 2 QTE's never looked so epic like they do in Ninja Blade. Quick Time Events are the reason why you SHOULD get this game, this is something you have never seen. Not in a movies, anime nor games...





• ITEMS: Roaming arround, breaking barrels/crates, breaking cracked walls etc will contain a certain item. Some will boost your life (need 3 pieces), some Ki energy (3 are needed to expand as well), item called ''Shinobi Moji'' wich is a sacred ninja relic wich awards you more points in the end of the mission. You can also find First Aid spray for healing purposes and Adrenaline Boost to temporarily increase strenght and defence.
  
  You can also find an outfits and emblems. That's what is really sweet in this game. Between missions you can customize Ken's appearance. Change the clothing style, colours on every each piece of armor that Ken is wearing... there is plenty of options and paletes to try so you can make the best looking ninja ever Smile You can also download free of charge costumes and emblems from the internet wich is a nice suprise.

Of course game is not perfect. There is quite alot glitches that annoy me. Wallruns can be pain sometimes, you jump bit to high and our Ninja stops running and just falls down to his death. Also FPS can slow down pretty bad (that's why it's always better to install the game on the hardrive) especially when you're using ninja vision and there is alot of fire around for example. Camera can play around too sometimes but it's not a great issue and most of the time we have a clear view of what's going on the screen (you can always customize camera speed in options). One of the main minus is targeting, there is no auto targetting system and we miss alot, especially using heavy sword but i guess this takes practice.

The big credit i'd give for the voices. Our Ken talks in english (to his american friends) and in japanesse (to his father) wich is a great addition.

In summary: Ninja Blade is a great game. It's not perfect but for fans of this sorts of games it's a must have. Also, amazing Quick Time Events will make you dribble, i promise. In my gamer opinion i give Ninja Blade 8+/10

Here's the best trailer of Ninja Blade i have seen (even tho it's not an official one), enjoy watching: