Mark of the Ninja. Never heard of this until a week ago. Review.

By goukijones — September 7, 2012
Tags: blithering-blathering review

It's true. The first time Gouki.com saw/heard of Mark of the Ninja was at PAX 2012. GoukiJones sat down immediately to play. A Ninja in a MetroidVania world with an absolute brilliant art direction. How can you go wrong. GoukiJones had to try this out.

Thank god we spend a ton of money every year to go to PAX. I'm not sure if I would have caught this game during it's actual release. Which is a Friday/today. Why? I don't know. It's a Microsoft published game that comes out on a Friday. I was blaming in on Europe.

Anyway I've had it for a few days now and I've played thru the first 4 levels twice. The first time I was just blazin'. Killing whatever, setting off alarms. Rushing thru levels.

The art style is the same as Shank. These are the same developers of Shank. Klei Entertainment. If you're interested, BatRastered wrote about Shank last year.

What makes the gameplay so unique about MotN is the sound wave mechanic. You can see exactly how much sound that light is going to make if you break it. Or how loud your footsteps are when you run. Everything makes a sound. There's also a great use of vision and line of sight. Anything out of your characters view is slightly blurred, until he's close or uses his "ninja senses" to sense what is happening on the other side of doors. There's also dogs that can smell you. Amazing.

My second playthru I could only play the first 4 levels. This was at 9PM[before the game was officially released] last night on the west coast. I didn't want the Microsoft police or Twitch patrol on my case. I got a pro-tip to just play the first 4 levels and I should be okay. Sure enough. You can watch all or parts of this video below, from the live stream last night. Warning: It has my grill in it!

Watch live video from Gouki.com Show on TwitchTV

Mark of the Ninja is a great game and I'm looking forward to playing more of it right now. MotN is now available on Xbox Live for 1200 points. I think that's a good price. You can get at least 2 playthrus, 1 killing everything and 1 letting everyone live and not setting off any alarms. Deus Ex style. I'll definitely try to get both.

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Mark of the Ninja

4,456 Views
2 Stories
Editor's Choice
Release Date: Sep 7, 2012

Buy it! 80% - Rent it! 20% - Flush it! 0%

Verdict: Buy It

Comments

This game looks awesome. I will play this while waiting for Borderlands 2 next week.

BatRastered rated Mark of the Ninja Buy it
Sep 8, 2012 by BatRastered

Doesn't look like I'ld spend a lot of time playing it, but still looks fun.

dragonkiss83 rated Mark of the Ninja Rent it
Sep 10, 2012 by dragonkiss83

Great review, Goukijones. This is definitely one of the games I would like to get at some point in the future. For me, personally, my LAST Xbox Live Arcade game I considered to be my favorite is Joe Danger 2: The Movie. I have to say my thanks to Raptr for giving this game away, in which I managed to get a copy thanks to a game called 'Splosion Man. without me reaching Elite status with this game, I would not have gotten Joe Danger 2. Joe Danger felt like a mix of Trials HD, Excitebike, and Eval Kenievel. It was soo awesome when I found myself doing crazy stunts, whether I'm on a Motorcycle, Unicycle, Handcart, Snowmobile, Jetpack, or even Skis. It also has a nice level editor so you can make your own levels and share them with people online. I personally can't wait to get back on this when I'm off my Borderlands 2 hook (trust me, it'll take a long time for that to happen.)

Arthvader rated Mark of the Ninja Buy it
Sep 24, 2012 by Arthvader

Good review, I'm not convinced most of the time by any review (across all sites and mags) but this has definitely swung my decision to by this..

Zero2990 has not rated Mark of the Ninja yet.
Sep 27, 2012 by Zero2990

Great review and I can agree with it, at least with all that I saw on the game's demo!

I really loved how, even though the game is 2D, Mark of the Ninja made you feel like a bad ass ninja! Now that you tell me I can do it Deus Ex style without triggering alarms or killing anyone, I want to play it even more!

asmilon rated Mark of the Ninja Buy it
Sep 27, 2012 by asmilon

Love the gameplay on this one. It looks like distractions play a big part in this game; one of the reasons I love the Metal Gear Solid series so much.

Last great arcade game in arcades? Gundam Extreme Vs. I just found it in an arcade, and the free-for-all action reminded me of Power Stone (god rest its soul)

Last great arcade game at home? Joe Danger 2: The Movie. I just like doing time trials!

derkasan has not rated Mark of the Ninja yet.
Sep 27, 2012 by derkasan

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Mark of the Ninja. Never heard of this until a week ago. Review.

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