Ninja Gaiden, originally planned as a PlayStation 2 project, has finally been released on PAL Xbox, although it hasn't arrived uncut. You may have read in the press that the PAL version of this game would have the head chopping moves taken out, as Microsoft and Tecmo want the game to have a 16 age rating as opposed to 18. Quite why they think this makes any difference to sales is beyond me, as everyone knows 10 year olds buy and play Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and the 18 certificate rating made no difference. In fact it probably made the game more appealing.

   

Regardless, the game in PAL form is edited, and does indeed have the decapitation attacks removed. However, unless you have played the NTSC version, you will not notice anything wrong with the combat - they have done a decent job changing animations and moves, so you can't tell it was ever there. Even the most anal critics of this world won't be able to notice the cut.

You play as Ryu Hayabusa, a hardcore Ninja whose friends and clan are wiped out by the equally hardcore, and very evil Vigoor Empire. The magical and ancient sword that was kept secretly in your home village has been stolen too. Basically your mission is revenge, and you have to fight through different areas, attacking lots of various Ninjas, and climaxing with boss battles at the end of each chapter. Along the way, you pick up new weapons and abilities - there are shops at certain points for buying more health and you can trade certain pickups for power-ups.

   

The game is very much action orientated, with Ryu being extremely agile and able to perform fantastic ninja skills. It's all very cool, and I dare anyone not to love running along a wall taking out ninjas below - an awesome enjoyment factor, and very similar to Prince of Persia:The Sands of Time in that respect. You have basic sword skills, which you can combo up, and attack with, and you then have a secondary weapon such as shurikens or a long bow. Further to this, you have punch and kick attacks too, so there is a fair amount of variety in how you attack the enemy. Vital to the combat, is the block move. But more on that later…

The game is set in a third person 3D world where enemies can attack you from various angles, and often more than one enemy at a time. With this game mechanic, you really need a reliable and usable camera system. Sadly this is something Ninja Gaiden lacks, and unfortunately the game really suffers for it. You can be in either a tight room or an open area, and you get three ninjas coming at you from various angles. Ignoring the fact that the camera isn't great during normal situations like walking around, when you are in battle it just falls apart. It either puts itself too low or too far away, or right behind or in front of you giving you an impossible view of the action, which subsequently means you get your ass handed to you by the enemy. The first boss you have to fight is an absolute nightmare because of the camera - you just cannot get a good view of the fight, and you end up getting very frustrated with it, which clearly isn't a good sign.

   

Another quite serious issue with the game is the learning curve - there isn't one. Or rather, there is, but it goes vertical from the minute you start playing. There is no tutorial or a level that eases you in here, you are thrown straight into the game, and within minutes you are fighting Ninjas. You'll soon learn that this isn't a button basher easy rider title like Dead or Alive 3, this is a proper combat game, and unless you learn how vital the block move is, you will get nowhere, and you definitely will not get past the first boss. Murai is his name, and he is a huge Japanese fighter with nunchukas. His attacks are incredibly fast, and he will destroy you every time unless you block and wait for him to finish his moves. Don't get too close though, or he will grab you and throw you to the floor.

   

This is a really tough game, and from the off you will be probably be struggling to get anywhere with it. Having a tough boss this early on in the game is unusual - perhaps Tecmo wanted to separate the men from the boys or the ninjas from the whingers. After the first chapter it doesn't get much easier, as you meet enemies that are incredibly fast, and some have teleporting skills and they're tough to kill. Couple this with a flawed camera system, meaning you can't see where you or the enemy are, and you have one very frustrating videogame. This isn't about being a hardcore gamer or a softie, it's about Team Ninja's refusal to ease the player into a incredibly hard game by slowly introducing tougher and faster enemies, instead they throw them all at you with the first or second area when you have barely learned the controls.

Graphically the game is very nice, and the animations on Ryu are very smooth. Characters and levels are for the most part beautifully modelled, but this does come at a price. The game has quite serious tearing issues, where the screen is ripping in two across the middle. Early on in the game, it only occurs near water, but later on when there are more enemies on-screen, it happens much more often. It's really distracting and offensive to the eye. Personally I would much rather have the odd framerate issue than having to have v-sync turned off, resulting in tearing. Its not pretty, and really lowers the quality of the game.

   

Overall, Ninja Gaiden is a good game, flawed by technical problems and repetitious gameplay. It has moments of magic when you are battling against a group of ninjas, the camera is holding up well, and you lay some seriously cool moves on them - you almost forget about the annoyances, but then you come across ninjas who have guns! and you try to attack them but the camera gets in the way, and it just gets frustrating and annoying. I really think that certain games do not work very well in 3D and this is a perfect example of a genre that doesn't. Ninja Gaiden certainly has its faults, but can still be an enjoyable game, however it's not the masterpiece we were hoping for.