Ninja makes its mark

If you think you have had enough of stealth games, you haven’t played Mark Of The Ninja yet, writes Bruno-Dieter Chan

GETTING bored of first-person-shooter games which seems to be abundant nowadays? How about a nice ninja platformer game in the style of good old Ninja Gaiden? Then Mark Of The Ninja might just hit the spot for you.

The story is pretty simple. Your clan of ninja, called Klei, has been kept in the shadows throughout its history, but one day it is mercilessly attacked, killed and captured by a pro-mercenary force. The reason: The Klei picked the wrong person to steal from. You are the chosen one, tattooed with the Mark Of The Ninja and given mystical powers to take on the impending threat.

The game starts off easy, a little jumping here, climbing over there, pushing doors and some hiding. It then introduces you to some equipment you find along the way, in the in-game tutorial: Bamboo darts, grappling hook and your Ninjaken sword. The bamboo darts can be used to destroy search lights or emit sound off gongs, giving a larger range of darkness to hide in, distract an enemy or even stunning him as you close in.

Your Ninjaken allows you to kill at close range, but only if you manage to surprise or stun your opponents. So running in there mashing the attack button will not guarantee you a kill unless the target is stunned from the flurry of attacks to allow you to finish him off.

The grappling hook is good for swinging from area to area or to reach zones out of climbing or jumping distance. It also makes a nice noise on certain surfaces.

Most of you will be thinking, “Gosh, this is gonna be easy. I’ll just get in there and massacre the lot”. This is where Mark Of The Ninja differs greatly from action platformers. First, you and the enemy employ a line of sight mechanic, meaning the enemy which would be invisible to the character is also invisible to you. This is indicated by a cone in front of the eyes, although the enemy is not as long as yours.

Second, closed rooms block both lines of sight but you can press yourself against a door to peer in. Third, search lights like flash lights extend the enemy’s line of sight. And finally, noise plays an important role too.

If you manage to take out all the light sources, do remember that the struggles of an unsuccessful take-down will draw guards in the area too. And if some guards do spot you, hiding in the shadows will not fool them.

Now comes the fun part. Mark Of The Ninja rewards stealth with points. And it does not matter if you kill all the enemies or sneak by without killing a single one or a combination of both. Just do it without being detected and you get points. Silent Assassin kill. 400 points. Check. Imperfect Kill. 200 points. Check. Body Hidden. 250 points. Check. Guard successfully Sounds the Alarm. 800 points. Check. Wait what?

Yes, with the huge resources of skills, equipment, routes and staging areas there is no excuse for you, the ultimate ninja, to be caught, thus striving for the perfect score for your play style is the driving factor behind the game’s replayability value.

Wait, what’s a party without party favours? You can start buying upgrades after level 2, these upgrades are purchased with honour, which is earned by completing levels and seals and finding scrolls. The more perfect you are, the more goodies you get earlier in the game.

Mark Of The Ninja is one interesting game, it requires a certain amount of planning, timing and skill but at the same time does not feel hyper intense that you have to resort to button mashing just to complete the level. Add its Cartoon Network art style for ninja cartoons and you have a very enjoyable game you can play on or off Saturday mornings.

Mark Of The Ninja

Publisher: Microsoft Studios

Developer:
Klei Entertainment

Availability: store.steampowered.com/app/214560/

Price: US$14.99

System Requirements:
•     OS: Windows XP SP3/VISTA/7
•     CPU: AMD Phenom 9750 or Pentium D 800+
•     RAM: 2GB
•     Graphic Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 3000+ or better
•     Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0ccard
•     Space: 2.5GB

Our Verdict: HHHH
Documentation: HHHH
Graphics: HHHH
Sound: HHHH
Replay Value: HHHH

 

1 / 1