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Naruto: Rise of the Ninja

Posted: Wednesday, July 09, 2008

by Kristen Barghout
Anime Exchange

This is one of those games that I was really looking forward to, but have been unable to afford until now. And I can tell you that this game was definitely worth the wait.

Naruto: Rise of the Ninja follows the story of the anime series. Unlike the Dragonball Z game, they have not remade the cut scenes into hd cell-shaded CGI, instead tehy have simply inserted theminto the video game. I actually find this to be quite lazy, especially since the game can be completed in about 10 hours. If they had added some nice CGI it would have made it a little bit more enjoyable.

However, despite the length of this game, I really enjoyed playing through it. The graphics are impressive, the story immersive and the voice acting exaclty what you can expect from a top class anime series. Although graphically impressive, there is one flaw, and that is the fact that the in game characters never actually move their mouths to speak…the voice overs simply sound, this is unlike the Dragonball game where they speak even in battle.

I do think that they have cut many corners in this game, there are things that I would have included in order to improve the style of the game. I would have been much more impressed if they ahd bothered to animate things other than your character travelling from A to B…which brings me to another issue.

Missions CONSTANTLY require you to travel from A to B, then back to A, back to B about five times before you can proceed to the story mission. This becomes ridiculous and irritating after the third time, and I couldnt help but think I would have enjoyed the experience a bit more had they implemented some kind of teleportation device. And before I get the, maybe they couldnt…they could, as after each mission, you can warp back to leaf village.

However, despite the many gripes I have about this game, and what appears its lazy development, I am still really impressed with the game and have enjoyed playing through it. I have even decided to watch the complete Naruto series, something that up until now I have failed to manage.

So anyway, if you fancy a steal, this game is available from Play.com currently for £17 instead of its £39.99 RRP, so it's definitely worth the purchase. Either that or go to your local GAME store and you can get it preowned buy 1 get 1 half price, for £22, its a little more, but you have the chance of getting another game too.

Kristen Barghout

Blog: www.animezonecentral.com

Kristen is a professional programmer, with a keen interest in all things related to anime and video games. She doesn't just like certain genre's, she likes all genre's, and will always give an honest opinion.

Kristen can't always find the time to post my articles here, but if you visit her blog, there is lots of news and reviews, so please check it out.

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