Mark of the Ninja - (2D Tenchu from the makers of Shank)

[wip3outguy7]

Is there co-op?

[Gamerforlife]

Is there co-op?

Not as far as I can tell. Seems to be a completely single player venture, though there is this girl who accompanies you into the levels I've played. She basically functions as a mobile tutorial though and doesn't really DO anything.

Aside from the bizarre save system I am highly impressed by this game. I just got pissed last night because I had to redo a level about three times because I hit a game ending bug, then I played again but stopped near the end of the level not knowing that the game wouldn't save my checkpoint. So that led to a third playthrough at which point I was thoroughly pissed and quite sick of playing that stage.

Awesome game though, far better than those Shank games they made. It's a much smarter, refined, more well crafted title. Though a good stealth game kind of has to be those things, which is what I like about the genre. When done well, stealth games are gaming at its finest. Most of them aren't though, which is why I never became a bigger fan of the genre. There's a lot of fun ways to kill or avoid guards and there's also an upgrade system and various equipment to use. It's arguably better than any of the Tenchu games actually, though the Tenchu influences are everywhere and that can't just be a coincidence.

[Ghegs]

So apparently you need to beat every long ass level in this game in one sitting

What is this 1990?

I hope so, the 90's were good times for games. I've only played the demo and it's pretty spiffy, I'll probably get the full game soon. How long are the stages? Unless they're over 30 minutes I don't have much of a problem with the lack of mid-stage saves.

Also, are there bossfights? My one gripe with the genre is that you have to learn to be stealthy for the main portions of the game, but then for the bosses all that goes out the window and it's BANG BANG, BANG BAZOOKA BANG or the sword-slashing equivalent.

[Gamerforlife]

Actually I'm starting to think it's a problem with my game. I just booted it up and it's not showing that I completed the level. You know? The one I was bitching about playing three times. Well apparently it didn't save that third playthrough. I don't know what to do at this point. This game seems to have kind of game breaking bug that won't save your progress

[Gamerforlife]

So I deleted my save file, started the damn game over again from the beginning and now it saves just fine. Apparently, that bug or glitch I mentioned in an earlier post corrupted my save data

So actually, the game DOES have mid level saves. Word of advice though, back up your save file. If it glitches up at a checkpoint like it did on my first save file, you're screwed. This is why I always complain about PS3 games not letting players back up their save data. It's because of situations like this, which happens a lot these days. Lots of players complain about corrupted saves in modern titles every day. There were people on the Darksiders 2 forums complaining about their saves getting corrupted before the recent patch that the company put out.

So with my save issues out of the way, I have to say this game is damn near perfect so far as far as gameplay goes.

[Gamerforlife]

Also, are there bossfights? My one gripe with the genre is that you have to learn to be stealthy for the main portions of the game, but then for the bosses all that goes out the window and it's BANG BANG, BANG BAZOOKA BANG or the sword-slashing equivalent.

I've played somewhere around ten stages now I think, no boss fights at all. It's a complete stealth game through and through

I'm really enjoying some of the sadistic ways you can kill people in this game. I don't even want to say how. It's best for players to discover them themselves, but I've laughed maniacally a few times while playing this

There's a little bit of influence here from Rocksteady's Batman games and it works well. There's some platforming bits thrown in too. So Tenchu + Batman + platforming + 2D = Mark of the Ninja. There's a tiny bit of Metal Gear Solid influence too, but it's more in the way of references than anything that significantly affects gameplay

[Gamerforlife]

I finished this a little while back and am trying new game plus mode, between playing other games that is. It's a fantastic title that I think every one should try whether you like stealth or not. This game could convert you.

[Gunstar Green]

This game looks really cool and part of me wants to buy it right now but stealth games often stress me out and piss me off. I'll have to try out the demo.

[Gamerforlife]

This game looks really cool and part of me wants to buy it right now but stealth games often stress me out and piss me off. I'll have to try out the demo.

That's sort of what's so great about this game. It's avoids a lot of what makes other stealth games annoying. The game gives you TONS of feedback to let you know where people are in relation to you and whether or not you can be seen or heard. Plus, it has lots of checkpoints so you rarely have to redo long stretches of gameplay.

Also, I can't stress enough how much fun you can have killing and messing with guards. Imagine lowering yourself from a high perch with your grappling hook, slicing a guy to death, and grappling back up and hanging his body from your perch. Then, you throw a dart to grab another guard's attention. He turns around and shines his flash light up to see the hanging body of his friend. He completely freaks out, terrified. Then, in his state of panic, he accidentally shoots another guard dead. Then he nervously moves around the level erratically, breaking off from his patrol pattern and saying things like, "Oh shit. Oh fuck. Where is this guy? I don't want to die!"

Muhahahahahahahaha

Oh, and there's even more fun ways to deal with guards than that. Some of the attack items you get as the game progresses or the traps that you get to use later.....

[Ghegs]

Coming to Steam on October 16th. Still haven't bought it, now I need to think for a moment on which platform to get it for...