Ninja Gaiden Black

On Saturday I finally purchased Ninja Gaiden Black. After logging in what must have been 12 hours of playtime in just two days, I can't believe that it took me so long to get this game. It is one of the finest games to come out this generation, right along side Resident Evil 4, God of War, Halo, Metroid Prime, Ico, etc. It might be the best action/adventure game ever made. It is incredibly deep, yet instantly accessible. It is absolutely gorgeous. Oh man, is it gorgeous. Its gameplay is like crack. Whenever I'm not playing it, I'm thinking about playing it. The game is also hard. Über hard. Like one of the hardest games I have ever played kinda hard. And I'm playing on normal. There are still three harder difficulties waiting for me.

This game is seriously for hardcore gamers. Sure, anyone can pick up the controller, start smashing buttons and make Ryu pull off some very impressive combos. But those same players will never pass the first chapter. You heard me. This game requires complete skill to play. Every attack needs to be planned. And as impressive as your character's arsenal of offensive moves is (and believe me, it is pretty spectacular) in order to master this game your character has to be a defensive monster. It is all about blocking, rolling, jumping and counter attacking. This is a game in which your regular standard enemy - the ones you face by the dozens - can kill you in seconds if you're not careful. The boss battles are tests of patience. Not just the patience that is required while fighting them to wait for the opportune moment to attack, but your own inner patience as a person, since you might get killed 30 times trying to beat a single boss before you succeed. On Sunday, I spent three hours trying to beat one boss. THREE HOURS. Now, in the middle of those three hours I took a break to watch the Dolphin's game (big mistake considering how they played), but the total time I spent dying, continuing, dying, trying a new strategy, dying, repeating, was just over three hours. In any other game, I would have already broken my controller in half, thrown my X-Box out the window and taken a baseball bat to my tv in sheer frustration. But for some reason, I didn't. I just keep trying over. This game beckons me to play, more so than any other game I have played in recent memory. What kept me going was that I wanted to pass this boss just so that I could continue with the game. I wanted to keep playing. And believe me, once you do manage to beat a tough boss/section of the game, you feel like you really accomplished something. I actually stood up and cheered after I beat that f'ing boss.

The controls are nearly flawless, with really the only issue being the camera. Even though NGB now features a controllable camera (the original release didn't) it still tends to have trouble keeping up with the action (the game is that fast).

Graphically, this game might not have an equal this generation. This is the sharpest, smoothest, most colorful game I think I have ever played. The graphics really are so crisp and hi-res that even though the game only runs in 480p, if you told me it was actually running in 720p I'd believe you. It looks that incredibly sharp. It runs along at a blistering 60 fps. Character and enemy models are impeccably detailed and animated and I know I sound redundant, but the game is just super sharp, smooth and crisp, with some fantastic textures, gorgeous water effects and some impressive particle/spell effects.

I believe I am about halfway through the game. I actually don't want it to end, but I am already getting ready to play through it again on a harder difficulty. Sure, it might be one hell of a challenge, but I'm up for it. The beauty of a tough game like this is that it forces you to become a better player. You can't get by being lazy and just mashing buttons, or relying on super powerful weapons. As your weapons improve, so do the enemies, so you're never at the point where you just begin to overpower everyone. But after you clear a room full of bad guys, blocking, decapitating, throwing and finishing off the last one in a visceral ballet of blood and acrobatics, you feel proud at what you accomplished and you felt in control the entire time. And man, does it look cool too!

Is it a flawless masterpiece? Of course not. Some save points are very far apart, forcing you replay long sections over again if you die (which you will die, often). In fact, I hear that towards the end you are forced to fight multiple bosses in a row without the ability to save after each one. I REALLY know that is going to bother me. Especially considering how damn hard these bosses are. But in the end, I cannot stop playing and that is what counts. I have not been this addicted to a game since the 16 bit days. Maybe it is fitting that feeling has been rekindled by one of my favorite old school franchises. I cannot wait to see what Team Ninja has in store for us in the next gen systems. Should be fantastic.