Red Ninja: End of Honor

Written by Troy Matsumiya  on November 17, 2004

First Impressions: More proof that you should never tick off half-naked ninjas.

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Traditionally, ninja games have all been about hacking and slashing your way through waves of nasty enemies Ц essentially Уrun-and-gunФ but without a gun. Japanese developer Tranji is taking a different approach with the upcoming third-person action/adventure title, Red Ninja: End of Honor. You will still be able to hack and slash if you want, but will also be able to attack your enemies using the true ninja's greatest weapon: stealth.

The cinematic story takes place in 16th century Japan during a time of political unrest. The formerly mighty samurai are losing power, and shadowy ninja clans are filling the void. You will play as Kurenai, the young daughter of a master weapon-smith who works for Shingen Takeda, one of the most powerful lords in Japan. Takeda is at war with Nobunaga Oda, a greedy evil lord who is trying to take control over the country. Fortunately, Kurenai's father has just invented a new weapon that would give Takeda a significant tactical advantage and lead to the defeat of Oda Ц but as the bad guys always seem to do, Oda discovers the existence of this secret weapon and dispatches the nasty Black Lizard Clan to kill Kurenai's father and steal his plans. During the attack, Kurenai is brutally beaten and strung up with a razor sharp steel wire, and is left hanging for dead.

A few days later, Takeda's chief ninja Chiyome visits the master weapon-smith's home to discover the horrifying carnage. He is even more shocked to find that Kurenai is still alive. He quickly cuts her down, nurses her back to health, and trains her in the dark art of ninjitsu. In a nice twist of poetic justice, Kurenai masters the use of the same steel wire that nearly killed her, turning it into her instrument of revenge.

Her weapon, called a Tetsugen, is actually a three-piece staff connected by the razor sharp wire. You will be able to use three separate attachments to add different abilities, like a grappling hook, a blade for slicing, and a heavy club for smashing things (like heads). The entire game is built around the unique wire combat system and its various uses. Like Indiana Jones' whip, the Tetsugen can hook onto ledges so you can swing across large chasms, or you can use it like Scorpion's spear to snag and pull enemies towards you for some up close and personal butt kicking.

But wait, folks - that's not all! Sitting in a rafter, Kurenai can hook someone walking below her and jump off, pulling her hapless victim up off the ground and leave him dangling like a pendulum. Or you can impale one enemy, step back, and run around in a circle to clothesline his buddies rushing to help. And since the wire is pretty darn sharp, you can expect very few of your enemies will die in one piece.

Recognizing that the Tetsugen could be made a bit too powerful, the developers will make you work to achieve the bloody severing effects. The wire's damage varies based on the amount of tension it has; if you stand right behind someone and wrap it around his neck, it will have little tension and do only a small amount of damage. Take a few steps back and both the tension and damage increases (a helpful tension meter on your screen will let you know tight or loose things are). Increase the tension high enough and it will completely slice through the enemy and leave a pretty big mess for the janitor.

You will also be able to target specific body parts, each with its own physics system, so dismembering someone is promising to be entertaining to say the least. For example, if you get bored of slicing people in two, why not cut off their legs instead Ц after all, they can't come running after you to complain, now can they?

But don't think that the enemy will simply stand there and take it; enemy AI is promising to be quite challenging and put up a good fight. The bad guys can yank on the wire to try and snap it in two, or even run towards you to ease the tension. Your tactics will also depend on the type of enemy you encounter; standard guards will stay and fight, while scouts will run away and alert their buddies. Leaders are tough s.o.b.'s who command groups of soldiers, but if you kill him, his subordinates lose the will to fight and become easier to dispatch.

The Tetsugen is not your only weapon; you can use a dagger, blow gun, smoke bomb and several other weapons not yet revealed. As well, you can use your special ninja abilities ranging from quiet stealth skills to Prince of Persia-like wall-running. Depending on how fast you are running and the angle at which you approach a wall, you can affect the height and distance of your wall-run. But be careful, as enemy archers will be more than happy to use you for target practice. In combination with wall-running will be your superhuman jumping abilities, giving you access to areas otherwise inaccessible to the non-ninja. In fact, expect to do a lot of jumping, wall-running, climbing and shimmying, as many of the levels appear to have been inspired by Tomb Raider Ц complete with the inclusion of some nasty death traps.

If you feel like a tease, you can also use your womanly wiles to attract lonely guards hoping for some hot ninja lovin', but end up getting a broken neck instead (sounds like many dates I've been on). There are several other powers at your disposal, but Tranji has kept these under wraps for the time being.

The game will consist of only eight levels, but they are all quite large and broken up into many subsections. There will be multiple paths to your objectives, so you can run screaming head on at the enemy, or sneak around all stealthy like (although how anyone could not notice a hot ninja babe wearing a scandalously short, bright red silk robe is beyond me). Your playing style will not affect the outcome of the game, but will affect the various upgrades and abilities you earn as you progress. If you are aggressive, Kurenai will earn strength and armor upgrades; if you play stealthy, you will gain silenced weapons and improved stealth skills like climbing.

The only downside so far is that Red Ninja is single-player only, which is too bad because multiplayer battles with the Tetsugen and Kurenai's ninja powers would sound like a blast.

Visually, the game is looking much better than the early versions shown last year, but don't expect Splinter Cell quality. However, the developers are still working on polishing the game, so expect even better visuals and animation when it hits the shelf.