Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge (Wii U) Review

When Ninja Gaiden 3 was released on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012, it was met with a very lukewarm reception. The emphasis on quick time events and oversimplifying everything else was a massive step backwards for the franchise. Team Ninja has been listening to their feedback and re-tooled Ninja Gaiden 3 for the Nintendo Wii U. The end result is what Ninja Gaiden 3 should have been in the first place.

The Ninja Gaiden games have never been praised for their story telling, but you have to give Team Ninja credit for adding humanity and depth to protagonist Ryu Hayabusa. Most of the chaff, like the terrorist begging for his life and that pointless prologue has been removed in Razor’s Edge. But the story is still plagued by plot holes and stupid clinches like giving all the bad guys a British accent. Of course you can always switch over to the Japanese voice track to suit your preference.

 

Fortunately the game play has been improved in Razor’s Edge. Combat is much deeper and the game now offers a wider selection of different weapons and magic to increase variety. There’s also a new RPG style upgrade system, hidden collectibles and the difficulty has been increased. Although the difficulty will spike and I mean spike during the boss battles. Quick time events are kept to a minimum and those boring grip of murder sequences are replaced with faster arena battles where you have to quickly kill enemies to maintain your health bar. Razor’s Edge also contains two exclusive levels featuring the lighter and more agile Ayane.
 
The main story mode is around 8 hours long, but Razor’s Edge is packed with plenty of replay value. Not only can you revisit levels in mission mode and compete for the fastest time on the leader boards. But you can also take on dozens of challenging Ninja trials and fight other players in competitive multiplayer. Best of all, Nintendo is offering free DLC that adds new characters, costumes and extra Ninja trials. It’s the game that keeps on giving.

 

Ninja Gaiden 3 looked fantastic on the Playstation 3 and looks even better on the Wii U. Not only is the frame rate and lighting superior. But the screen tearing on the Playstation 3 version is non-existent on the Wii U. On the downside, this version does suffer from the occasional slowdown when the action becomes chaotic. The Wii U version can played with either the Pro Controller or the Gamepad. The display only gives you a few extra buttons and a list of moves. But at least the game supports off-TV play.

Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor’s Edge doesn’t fix all the issues I had with this game. But it’s no doubt a huge improvement over the vanilla version of Ninja Gaiden 3 and I recommended it to any action fan that just invested in a Wii U.

RATING – 7/10* (NOT PERFECT. BUT IT'S A HUGE IMPROVEMENT)

Windy Corner believes Five should be the average instead of Seven on most gaming publications and websites.