ninja theory

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DmC: Devil May Cry

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 02/22/2013

Posted in: Microsoft, Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Retro Consoles, Sony, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: 360, bitch, dante, devil may cry, dmc, ninja theory, pc, ps3, virgil, whiny, xbox. Leave a comment

DmC-Devil-May-Cry-5-Box-Art-Cover-Front-PC

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Ninja Theory

Release Date: 1/25/2013

Available On

Whine, whine, whine. Bitch, bitch, bitch. That’s all fans ever do these days. Instead of embracing a new take on a series and trying something new, they want the same damn thing over and over again. I have never heard a fan base cry over a game as much as DMC and over just the character redesign at that. Just because he doesn’t have white hair doesn’t make him a bad character—or that man bra. Ninja Theory did an amazing job with this game, and it has all the greatness of past games: fluid animations, slick controls and combat, fun boss fights, and an engaging story. In fact, the character designs in this game are so much better than in past games. It’s the whole “breath of fresh air” thing going on.

The story at least sticks to the lore of previous games. You start out with Dante coming out of his trailer, and a mysterious woman named Kat is telling him to run. You are stuck in Limbo. This is the main world you will play in, where the environment constantly shifts around you. It’s very interesting and fun, and it’s a nice visual treat. You learn about Dante and Virgil’s childhood as well as their father Sparda. Exploration requires some platforming via the two angel and devil whips. Pulling platforms towards you or jumping around in the air on different floating platforms. Not a single level is the same, so the game is never visually tiring. DmC doesn’t really focus on puzzles, which is good because most people play these games for the action, and boy is it good.

I can understand this game not being as hard as previous games, but playing it with higher difficulties solved the problem. Moving on, the combat system is very fluid and pretty deep. There are four different weapons you will acquire: two angels and two demons. The Eryx is similar to the Beowulf gauntlets and the Arbiter, which is a demon scythe. The angelic scythe is Osiris, while Aquila has two fast-moving glaives. There are three weapons you can use, which are Ebony and Ivory pistols, Kablooey, and Revenant, which is a shotgun. Kablooey shoots darts that explode when you detonate them, making it the most powerful gun in the game. Of course, your standard weapon is Rebellion which is a fast-moving mid-range sword. The weapons handle excellently and are really fun to use.

The game still uses the stylish system when fighting. Going from Dirty to Sensational I was never able to get past sadistic, even when I tried hard. You are rated just like in previous games and penalized for dying and using items. The same orb and star system are here. You also get to use Devil Trigger, which regenerates your health while throwing all enemies in the air for a limited amount of time. Saving this up for tough fights like bosses is crucial. The controls are really smooth, with one button being held down to activate either demonic or angelic weapons. Switching between each is fast and easy. You can also use your demonic whip to pull enemies toward you or the angelic one to pull yourself toward enemies. You eventually unlock more combo moves, and then you can really have at it. The fighting system feels great and is silky smooth; I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Honestly, it feels more fluid than past games.

There are hidden areas throughout the game, which are key doors that have special missions. Finding the keys is tough, but you get health fragments to increase your health bar. You can also buy these in the shop, but each one will cost more red orbs than in past games. Honestly, the game feels very similar to the past ones, the only difference being in what you see in the game. The boss fights are amazing and challenging on their own, but they look unique and have a very disgusting demonic style to them. I loved fighting the bosses, which are one of the best features of the game.

When it comes to visuals, the PC has some nice flair to it. Better lighting, anti-aliasing, HD textures, and it can run at 60+FPS, which is actually a huge step up over the consoles. This alone makes it the superior version, even without the flair. Of course, this was made for consoles, so there are a few ugly spots here and there, but overall, it looks great. I love the art style, and the voice acting is superb. Even the facial animations are very well done. I honestly loved how Ninja Theory redid Dante and Virgil; I just like them better in this game. People need to just stop complaining and sit down with this game without a bitter taste in their mouths beforehand.

Overall, DmC is an excellent game, and my expectations were met. I feel it is better than previous games, but of course, the previous games do hold a special place for me. It’s time to move on, though. It’s sad that a fan base can’t accept change because they want the main character to have white hair or that the combat didn’t kill you 500 times on the first level on the easy difficulty. Grow up and get over it, is what I say. The past games are still there; DMC was in no way ever “ruined” or “doomed.” I hope Ninja Theory makes a sequel and continues to give the middle finger to the fans who show no love or support.

Reviewed On

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/03/2011

Posted in: Microsoft, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Retro Consoles, Sony, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Xbox 360. Tagged: action, adventure, enslaved, Microsoft, ninja theory, oddyssey to the west, xbox, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Namco Bandai

Developer: Ninja Theory

Release Date: 10/5/2010

Available On

Ninja Theory has had a hard time establishing itself as a talented developer. With the major hype of Heavenly Sword, Lukewarm sales of the crappy Kinect Joy Ride, and the controversy of DMC, it’s struggling. Enslaved is probably NT’s most successful game, mainly commercially, due to its better marketing. The story is probably the game’s strongest point, as character development and combat take a back seat.

You play Monkey, a guy who escapes a slave ship that’s crash-landed in post-apocalyptic New York. Along the way to escape, he finds himself stuck and enslaved, but a young woman named Trip needs his muscle to get her back home further west. The relationship between Trip and Monkey is what makes you keep playing, and their constant fight for freedom is heartwarming.

The combat had a lot of potential, but after the first chapter, you’ll get tired of it. It’s the same two combos over and over again, with a crappy camera that can’t stay put. Sure, the angles are cinematic, but if you get backed into a corner, it’s nauseating. The camera can’t stay put at all, and it leads to cheap deaths and frustration when mech after mech is beating you down. You can charge an EMP burst to disable shields and make the mechs temporarily stunned, and this is essential to defeating them due to their constant blocking and shielding. You can command Trip to use a decoy so long-range mechs shoot at that instead of you so you can climb around and get to them. Some mechs have weak points that allow faster kills, and you can use your staff as a projectile weapon equipped with plasma rounds and EMP rounds. This staff is also used for puzzles and exploring as well.

So combat is pretty finicky, but exploring can be a blast thanks to huge sprawling vistas, easy-to-see glowing handholds, and whatnot. Occasionally the camera gets in the way here or the controls can be a bit touchy, but it’s not nearly as frustrating as the combat. You’ll notice orange orbs floating around everywhere, and these are used for upgrades, but you can only upgrade if Trip is in the vicinity. There are some points where you can use Monkey’s Cloud hoverboard, and there are a few exciting moments like chasing a giant mech, but this feels a bit tacked on.

The game also has pacing issues since the first chapter is epic, and the next six or seven are the same repetitive area-to-area beating mechs up and jumping around the affair. It’s a shame that Enslaved feels like it’s only 80% complete because it needed a lot more polish. Even though the game looks good technically, it’s pretty bland, with just lots of green everywhere. There’s no unique art style or anything, and this is a shame. The mechs all look the same, and the enemy variety is less than half a dozen. Boss fights sometimes feel epic, but they repeat often, so Enslaved is iffy on every subject. I do recommend this as a great weekend rental or bargain purchase.

Reviewed On

Heavenly Sword

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/15/2009

Posted in: PlayStation 3, Retro Consoles, Sony. Tagged: action, adventure, heavenly sword, ninja theory, playstation, playstation 3, ps3, Sony. Leave a comment

Publisher: SCEA

Developer: Ninja Theory

Release Date: 9/12/2007

Available Exclusively On

When a brand new game console launches, we all look toward the games they launch to really show us what the console is capable of. There have been some failed system launches with either very few games or just poor ones. The PS3 was not such a console, especially with Heavenly Sword backing it and wowing gamers across the world. Heavenly Sword puts the characters, Nariko and Kai, in your hands as you battle an evil warlord trying to take over your clan’s land. Right from the start of the game, you get introduced to sweeping epic landscapes, amazing graphics, beautiful sounds, and a great, albeit simple, combat system. For being a launch title, the game has excellent production values, and they really shine for the PS3.

The most important part of Heavenly Sword is the combat system, which never falters. You don’t receive the Heavenly Sword until a bit into the game, but once you do, you are welcomed to three different fighting styles on the fly. Instead of having to stop the game and switch styles, you can use them by just holding down a button. You are always in “speed” mode, which breaks the sword into two swords, while L1 puts you in “range” mode, which is kind of like Kratos’ chain swords in God of War (which Heavenly Sword receives its nickname “Goddess of War”), and lastly, holding down R1 puts you in “power” mode. There are a good amount of combos that let you switch in and out of these styles with amazing animations and a cinematic sweeping camera. Another element of the gameplay is the counter system. The enemy will glow the color of the style you need to be in to counter. Standing still is an automatic block, so hitting the attack button at the right time will perform a killer counterattack.

On top of this, you play as Kai, who has a deadly semi-automatic crossbow that can be controlled with “aftertouch,” which is controlled with the SixAxis motion controls. This was one of the first games to really utilize the SixAxis with bone-crunching and nasty kills from guided bows or anything else you can hurl at the enemy.

Puzzles in the game aren’t really a challenge since there aren’t many of them, but the bosses are. Each boss has multiple health bars, and once you get one knocked down, you initiate a button-pressing sequence by hitting the circle (which sounds just like God of War). Some bosses are just downright hard and seem impossible to beat, but remembering their attacks is the key.

Not only does the game look and sound amazing, but the story is riveting, as is the acting. With full-motion capture sequences, this game has some of the most realistic facial animations I have ever seen. With Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, Ink Heart) as a director and actor on board, you are treated to amazing work. If the combat isn’t satisfying enough for you, there are epic battles where you fight thousands of soldiers on-screen at once. Shooting a cannon and using aftertouch is just so satisfying, especially towards the end of the game. If you are also curious about collecting items, you can unlock stuff by doing certain tasks or meeting certain goals in each section of the game. With such a beautiful game, you would want to see how it was made.

If I had to see a flaw in Heavenly Sword, it would be that the game is extremely short, clocking in at 4-6 hours, depending on your playstyle. You could literally beat this in one or two long play sessions. The game also has some technical issues, with some slowdown and occasional choppy animation. The combat is also a bit shallow and a tad too button-mashy. Other than that, I can’t wait for the sequel to be announced, but it has been over 3 years with no word, so I feel this great new IP has been abandoned.