Reviews// Shinobido (PS2)

We’ve always loved ninjas. Hated by the Pirates for generations, we feel that they do have a certain charm to them that is somewhat encapsulated by games such as Ninja Gaiden – the freaking cool ability to sneak around and throw shuriken at random Shogun goons.

So it’s with some excitement that we approach Shinobido, a game also about a ninja. Isn’t life great to you sometimes? More ninjas going at it! This time around you play as a guy called Crow, who has lost his memory after an apparently penultimate fight with some sorcerer geezer. As a result, Crow realises his memory has been encapsulated into several mysterious crystals, and aims to get them back to find out about his past. An unknown character (communicating with Crow via considerately fired arrows) informs the ninja that his past lies with one of the leaders of the land.

Funnily enough, in reaching the nearest Shogun palace he finds that there are in fact three opposing leaders of the country, apparently at the brink of war. And these mysterious crystals are the focus of their endeavours – as is the nature of the missions you get to play in Shinobido.

As the three country leaders are all looking to one-up each other, they each ask for your services as a ninja to perform tasks that will benefit their kingdom specifically, while perhaps giving the other two a major disadvantage. Instead of doing missions in a linear pattern, you get a list of missions to choose from, each benefiting a particular leader – a comparison chart under the mission menu signifies the progress in armies and weaponry of each kingdom. By undertaking and successfully completing missions, the charts will swing in favour of one of them and against one or two of the others.

Crow doesn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about changing alliances every five minutes. Each kingdom leader has a ‘respect’ meter for you, and as long as you’re not spotted, you can work for others while maintaining that respect level. It makes for an interesting game play aspect as it does add a bit of tactical thinking to your choice of mission.

The name of the game is stealth, just like any other ninja game. Each mission will give you specific parameters to complete the stage, such as not getting spotted, or stealing a box full of special documents or even assassinating an opposing general. You can run along passages or crouch and sneak up behind unsuspecting guards, and can do stealth kills using Triangle if you’re close enough.

Other swish moves include running along walls and buildings, using items to distract guards away from where you want to go and, of course, running at ludicrous speed. You will need to hit Circle to make a fast getaway if you get surrounded and spotted, as it is better to run away and hide than take part in a battle where you’re likely to lose your life.