• January 25, 2007    Home > Game Reviews > Verdict

    Shinobido: Tales of the Ninja

    Tenchu's creators are back with a real-ultimate-ninja title for PSP, and we're first to review the English version.
    Version
     PSP    		Developer
    Acquire    		Publisher
    SCEE (EU)
    Spike (JP)
    TBA (US)    		Genre
    Action

    Page: 1  2 

    Page 2

    "There's still little more satisfying than laying a poison rice ball down for a henchman to gobble down."

    As in the PS2 counterpart, Tales of the Ninja has a few different types of mission available to players to keep things fresh - thievery, assassination and the wonderful Total Destruction, to name but three. The Total Destruction missions will bring a smile to many faces and provide a lasting challenge as players try to beat their own personal best times for slaughtering entire villages of people. BAD people, that is. They probably decapitate puppies and laugh.

    Missions are chosen as the player sees fit, and it's possible to complete the game without taking on every single separate task - though story-centric missions are mandatory. This 'freedom' is a nice touch, just as it was in the PS2 game, but doesn't exactly change the world.

    It should also be noted that Acquire is not stupid - missions are short, sharp and straight to the point, serving the portable style of play perfectly by offering quick blasts and frequent saves - something all to many companies are only just getting the hang of doing on the format.

    There are a number of nice little additions to Shinibido which add a mild amount of longevity to affairs - levels created on the PS2 version of the game can be downloaded onto the PSP via a USB cable, and characters from both versions can be shared for multiplayer games, of which there are quite a few.

    Shinobido: Tales of the Ninja is a real kickback to the days of the original Tenchu on the PS1, before the series descended into utter gash and when stealth action titles were few and far between. There still isn't much more satisfying than laying a poison rice ball down for some greedy-arsed henchman to gobble down, only to stab his throat off seconds later.

    Graphics Sound Gameplay Depth Presentation OVERALL
    6.0 6.0 8.0 7.0 6.0 7.0


    THE VERDICT:     Technical issues do mar the experience somewhat, and controls can be a bit on the flighty side, which serves to dampen the overall experience somewhat. Nevertheless, Shinobido is a good effort and is a fine addition to the burgeoning Really Rather Good Games List for the PSP.

    Page: 1  2 



    Video Coverage
    (Latest Videos & Video FAQ)
    PLEASE DO NOT DIRECT LINK TO ANY MEDIA FILE ON KIKIZO
    DescriptionDur.SizeDetails
    Shinobido: Tales of the Ninja
    Direct feed trailer   (PSP - SCE)    		 01:24 19MB DF, SD, 16:9
    640x360p30
    2.3Mbps

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