Ninja Gaiden 3

Ninja Gaiden 3 abandons its predecessors completely and draws its own plan. This is an in-your-face spectacle, which is very accessible and lets players randomly hit buttons until their fingers go numb. Does that make this game bad? No. It does well enough on its own terms. But fans beware: this is not the Ninja Gaiden you remember.

By far the most thoughtful game in the series and also the most accessible. Is that a good thing? I obviously think so; purists may beg to differ. [May 2012, p.58]

Best Gaiden yet, but not as accomplished as Bayonetta. It is less hardcore than previous games, making solo play enjoyable, but the online is a misstep. [May 2012, p.96]

Ninja Gaiden 3 isn't just a great hack-'n'-slash action game, it's a great Ninja Gaiden game. [May 2012, p.78]

An impressively courageous reboot that channels the hard-edged heart of the series while discarding its more antagonistic baggage.

Ninja Gaiden 3 offers fast-paced ninja action, though it's not as breathtaking as the originals.

Ninja Gaiden isn't a perfect experience, but it's accessible for newcomers and boasts an addictive gameplay formula that goes a long way to forgiving its detractors.

Tecmo wants to seduce a new audience with Ninja Gaiden 3 and the game became so easy that the true fans will be totally disoriented. The others will at last appreciate a great ninja action game.

For those expecting a Tarantino-like exploration of the consequences of being a bad person, you're looking at the wrong series. It didn't take long for us to realise that Ninja Gaiden 3 has more cheese than a fondue party, but it works in the favour of this frantic over-the-top hack-and-slash title. [April 2012, p64]

Solo play is as forgettable as it is fun, then, but there's a razor-sharp silver lining in the form of multiplayer.

Ninja Gaiden 3 almost plays itself sometimes and generously gives you life and help throughout the adventure. Even if many old Ninja Gaiden fans most likely will feel betrayed, this third installment offers entertaining and fast-paced ninja action that stands on its own merits.

Overall not a bad game, if you are a fan or just curious about this game you should like it but otherwise you will most likely not favour this game.

Ninja Gaiden 3 is a spectacular (but not very pretty) slasher without a complex fighting system. Not everybody will like the changes and hardcore fans of previous games will surely be disappointed.

Only Ryu Hayabusa is left from the good old Ninja Gaiden games. The newest title lacks a cool story, real depth to the combat system and state-of-the-art graphics. A pitiful continuation – possibly end – for a once cool core action game series.

Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 were impressive displays from Team Ninja. The third instalment in the series is not cut from the same cloth. The combat system has been dumbed down and the enemies do not pose the threat they used to. Ninja Gaiden 3 is a big letdown. [May 2012]

A huge misstep for a series that has provided a lot of good times over the years. It's oversimplified, boring and leaves the player feeling they're never quite in full control – a Very Bad Thing in the world of Ninja Gaiden.

Fans of the series will be dissatisfied by the stingy assortment of weapons, the overly mindless fights and the barrage of quick-time events. (…) If you're able to look past the many simplifications in comparison to earlier games in the series, just looking for a fast and undemanding slaughter, Ninja Gaiden 3 fits the bill just fine.

Itagaki's absence is evident in every aspect of this sequel that can barely carry the weight of the "Ninja Gaiden" name on its shoulders.

As with the previous titles, Ninja Gaiden 3's battles are fast-paced and boss fights are as epic as ever. Streamlining the gameplay, however, removed a lot of the depth that came with collecting dozens of melee and ranged weapons, and upgrading them at the Muramasa store. In the end, Ninja Gaiden 3 is a step back from its predecessors.

Team Ninja left the road Itakagi used to walk with such a bold attitude for so many years. The main problem with Ninja Gaiden 3 is that the new title is filled with problems and average gameplay.

It's great that Team Ninja made a new Ninja Gaiden, I just wish they stuck to what had worked so well in the past rather than try and take the series in this awkward new direction. It's still worth considering, just check your expectations and hopes at the door.

Ninja Gaiden 3 is not a complete train wreck, but it does suffer from a multitude of problems. The action can be fast-paced and engaging at times, but many design decisions significantly bring down the experience. Dumbed-down A.I., a limited arsenal, the series' notoriously difficult camera, no inventory/currency system, and an incoherent story combine to make this the most disappointing title in the series.

All flash and no substance: Ninja Gaiden 3 is a shallow action game with little of the series' challenge and depth.

All I can say to the dedicated followers is this- Play the game on Hard Mode. It's really the only way you'll make it feel like Ninja Gaiden. But even that can't erase the bad camera, occasionally faltering frame rate, disappointing visual presentation, the lackluster online, and oh yes, the disappearance of other weapons.

In trying to break free of Tomonobu Itagaki's considerable shadow, Team Ninja crafts a tepid take on Ninja Gaiden that satisfies no one.

The franchise to this point has been both slick and punishing, providing a variety of ways to hone Ryu's ninja craft; Ninja Gaiden 3's new direction simply doesn't cut it – especially when played alone.

A less accomplished but more immediate Ninja Gaiden, then, one that will temporarily distract newcomers and disappoint dedicated followers. Yet it feels destined to be forgotten by both audiences, chalked up as another casualty in the east's drive to conquer the west with bravado rather than its sought-after, ever-rarer Japanese steel.

Ninja Gaiden 3 has all of the telltale signs of a good game. Triple-A branding, fantastic dev team, worldwide support. Unfortunately, what could have been a fairly solid entry is plagued by backwards-innovation [No inventory? Japanese voice option?], absolutely mediocre and over-streamlined combat gameplay, and a predictable plot.

Please don't take this review as the ranting of a moody Ninja Gaiden fan. Remove the franchise name and the score would still be the same. Despite promising much at the start, Ninja Gaiden 3 misfires at almost every turn, and whilst it's not a bad game, it struggles to rise above average.

For all Ninja Gaiden 3 tries to pull sympathy from its players onto its protagonist, it seems to have lost its way. It's an example of a game that is less than the sum of its parts-each on their own are fine, perhaps even good-because the entire thing is just stretched too thin. A two-hour campaign for a fraction of the cost would have, ironically, been much easier to recommend. But with things as they are, Ninja Gaiden 3 will only satisfy people wanting the video game equivalent to the weekend popcorn action flick.

There are the origins of a fast, exciting new combat system buried underneath all the mess, and the gorgeous animations and zippy takedowns provide an immediate buzz. Yet its problems vastly outweigh its positives, and it's hard to come away feeling anything other than disappointed. This was supposed to be a bold new beginning for the series, but ultimately Ninja Gaiden 3 feels like a false start.

Boy, this game is a big disappointment. When an established franchise like Ninja Gaiden sinks this deep, it would be wise for the developer to turn off its life support. The game is graphically strong, but fails on every other level. An absolute shame.

Even though Ninja Gaiden 3 is definitely a watered down experience in comparison to the previous two games, it still sits well above other mediocre action games available on current-gen hardware. And while I can't help but feel massively disappointed with the final product, I'll allow that the game is going to be far more accessible than it's ever been, and there's little in the way of a difficulty hurdle if you play through the default setting.

A truly disappointing sequel. [Issue#121, p.104]

The franchise has been murdered by Team Ninja itself. Every little thing that made the previous games so great has disappeared in Ninja Gaiden 3.

The ENTIRE single player experience can be viewed as such: Enter room, clear room of enemies, enter next room, clear enemies, enter... You get the picture. Boss battles do help to break up the monotony, but like I said before, they are crazy easy, oft repeated and often just plain stupid.

Ninja Gaiden III's overly cinematic action and dramatic storyline soon falls into abstruse repetition, but in pleasing those not accustomed to the series' hardcore action roots, Team Ninja inadvertently ripped the spine out of the near perfection combat that the series' gameplay structure was founded upon.

If a game is going to force you to play like an a**hole, it should have a stronger reason for doing so than 'You're a ninja, duh.' Ninja Gaiden 3 has none.

Feels like a great game that wasn't finished. It's not that the game's too short; it's that it's too sparse. More enemy types, weapons, and spells could have really fleshed this out into a hack-and-slash classic. As is, it feels like a demo stretched into a full length game -- and a short one at that.

Ninja Gaiden 3 is a gash on the face of the franchise and one of the worst games the action genre has yet suffered...It's a nightmare that's as easy as it is uninteresting, and it abandons what used to work for awful new ideas that don't work together. Under no circumstance should you ever waste your time on this self-indulgent and abysmal wreck.

I appreciate Team Ninja's attempts at revisionism and editorial design, but I think most Ninja Gaiden fans- myself included- would have been happier with an elaborate, over-the-top design like the first two games rather than such a pared down, over-simplified one.