Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Amazing"

There are plenty of ninja games out today: Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Mini Ninja (yeah, i went there...), but I found there was something that was missing from the ninja experience...the stealth. Not saying there better with them but when you think ninja, you think stealth! And of course there's plenty of stealth games: Metal Gear, Chronicles of Riddick, Spinter Cell...but they never quite do it for me, something always seems to be off with them. Well Mark of the Ninja solves both conundrums! Mark of the Ninja, produced by Klei Entertainment, is a 2D pure stealth game that involves silent ninjas, kick ass tattoos, a quest for vengeance and scaring the crap out of and pwning unsuspecting mercs!

The story (though convoluted and a bit unsure of it's self) is about a ninja who has undergone the ritual of receiving sacred tattoos that is foretold to give incredible powers but at the cost of the wearer's sanity. The ninja receives the marks in order to fight back against a group of mercenaries and to eliminate the despicable corporate head behind them. Not to give away the entire story, things get even more interesting as the story progresses further from here.

While some may or may not be fans of the story, the spotlight here shines on the gameplay; it consists of nothing more than pure, unadulterated stealth. The game consists of 12 stages, and you are tasked with a few different objectives to complete to get to the end of the stage. Unlike most stealth games where you have the option to go stealth or Rambo (balls to the walls carnage and fighting), MotN has you using your wits to move through the stage by avoiding upfront confrontations with armed enemies, mainly sticking to darkness and hiding spots and watching the noise you make in the environment as enemies within earshot and in the line of sight have a better chance of finding you.

For some much needed help against the harrowing odds, you are adorned with some (if i may say) awesome tattoos, but there not just for style. These tatts bestow interesting powers, one of which is to stop time briefly to focus on throwing darts, mostly at lights, bells or even enemies. You also get other items used for either distracting your enemies or killing them, which you must earn through gaining honor from completing specific actions in the stage, getting a set amount of points and finding special items in the stage: either artifacts or scrolls.

Being this is a 2D game, you'd think the stealth idea wouldn't fly, but it works, mainly with the affective use of light and shadow along with sound. Visuals are crisp and colorful, the ninja clearly being enveloped in black when in shadow, and audio is superb (with the slight exception to the voice acting of certain characters...) as using bells and other noise makers to distract enemies. While this is a somewhat short game, by doing the extra little objectives in game, challenge rooms scattered in the levels, as well as the new game + at the end, you'll get plenty of ninja action out of this.

Being a big fan of ninjas, I was slightly disappointed that some of my favorite ninja games didn't involve stealth (only ninja stealth game that comes to mind is Tenchu...) and I guess I kinda sucked at some of the other stealth games (someone always seems to see me...), but this game is defiantly a love letter to all stealth and ninja fans!