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Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Storm
November 5, 2008 | 1:18 PM PST
Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Naruto is what can best be described as a ninja in training. He has great skills, but isn't what you would call polished. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Storm is the exclusive PS3 title that follows the story of the orange clad hero and his band of friends and foes alike as he attempts to achieve greatness. Storm combines a bunch of different gameplay elements and sets them in a unique visual style.
What's Hot
Storm has a visual style of which other games will be envious. If you have seen an anime program, or even an episode of Naruto, you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference between the different media forms. Wandering through the main hub city, you'll find so many small little flourishes that make this type of cel-shading put past attempts to shame. The overall effect is so strong, you might even forget you are playing a video game. You can tell it took the careful eye of an artist to achieve such an authentic level of visual integrity when it came to transforming the soft nature of 2D animation and realizing it in full 3D without compromising how the characters were originally intended. The ninja skills and expressive nature of Naruto shine through with the fluid animations. In a game in which combat plays a central role, it is always nice to see equal attention paid to animation as much as the visual style. It wraps up the entire visual package with a remarkable elegance. Don't be surprised if you find that you feel you are directing your very own anime episode while playing the game.
Another strength of Storm is the fact that it does so many things so well. At its heart, Storm is a game with a heavy emphasis on combat. The fighting system is streamlined and uncomplicated. You can fight on water, on the ground on the walls (Matrix style). You have some range and close-quarters moves and a few other buttons to deploy all sorts of ninja tactics on your opponents. In addition to the fighting, there are platforming and adventure elements in between the fights and even racing elements against the clock. What is remarkable about all this is that you can seamlessly go between each element and not feel like you are playing a different game. The key to that is keeping with the ninja theme and the developers did a fantastic job by modifying gameplay segments to fit within the Naruto universe.
There is a lot included in Storm. The main mission mode is where you'll spend most of your time. You follow Naruto's life and see each step along the way. You start in an overworld that you have free roam and you can access your core missions anytime you want. To keep you from just hitting the missions and skipping the beautiful world that was created, the game is paced so that you have to achieve certain goals in the overworld to progress with missions. You talk with townsfolk and hop and run on roof tops to get enough points to continue your mission progress. Each mission is short and sweet but never feels like it drags on.
What's Not
The powerful visual elements created for Storm are not flawless. There is pop-up when you are running through the streets of the city. It is noticeable in some spots more than others. Loading is another issue that you have to be patient for. Not only do you have to install the game on the PS3's HDD, you will also frequently see loading screens for missions. It doesn't takeaway from what was created but shows that this style still has a few, minor kinks to work out.
What is probably more noticeable is how simple the fighting controls are. While I also praise them for being streamlined and simple, they also acts as a barrier against finding deeper strategy when in combat. If it weren't for the Chakra system to unleash more powerful versions of your moves, the combat might not have been as acceptable the way that it currently works. The only time I felt combat wasn't enjoyable was either when I was losing or when the Ultimate Jutsu moves took you out of combat and had you watch a cut scene in the middle of a fight and you can do that as long as you have enough Chakra, it's effective but annoying.
Final Word
Regardless if you like Naruto or not, this game has some serious production values behind it. Storm is not fooling around and the visual style is just an indication of the cool things you'll discover in the game. I was impressed at how the game did so much and it was all tied together by a common thread and executed very well. Take notice of this title; it deserves your undivided attention. This is one storm you want to look out for.
What the Game's About
Naruto is what can best be described as a ninja in training. He has great skills, but isn't what you would call polished. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Storm is the exclusive PS3 title that follows the story of the orange clad hero and his band of friends and foes alike as he attempts to achieve greatness. Storm combines a bunch of different gameplay elements and sets them in a unique visual style.
What's Hot
Storm has a visual style of which other games will be envious. If you have seen an anime program, or even an episode of Naruto, you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference between the different media forms. Wandering through the main hub city, you'll find so many small little flourishes that make this type of cel-shading put past attempts to shame. The overall effect is so strong, you might even forget you are playing a video game. You can tell it took the careful eye of an artist to achieve such an authentic level of visual integrity when it came to transforming the soft nature of 2D animation and realizing it in full 3D without compromising how the characters were originally intended. The ninja skills and expressive nature of Naruto shine through with the fluid animations. In a game in which combat plays a central role, it is always nice to see equal attention paid to animation as much as the visual style. It wraps up the entire visual package with a remarkable elegance. Don't be surprised if you find that you feel you are directing your very own anime episode while playing the game.
Another strength of Storm is the fact that it does so many things so well. At its heart, Storm is a game with a heavy emphasis on combat. The fighting system is streamlined and uncomplicated. You can fight on water, on the ground on the walls (Matrix style). You have some range and close-quarters moves and a few other buttons to deploy all sorts of ninja tactics on your opponents. In addition to the fighting, there are platforming and adventure elements in between the fights and even racing elements against the clock. What is remarkable about all this is that you can seamlessly go between each element and not feel like you are playing a different game. The key to that is keeping with the ninja theme and the developers did a fantastic job by modifying gameplay segments to fit within the Naruto universe.
There is a lot included in Storm. The main mission mode is where you'll spend most of your time. You follow Naruto's life and see each step along the way. You start in an overworld that you have free roam and you can access your core missions anytime you want. To keep you from just hitting the missions and skipping the beautiful world that was created, the game is paced so that you have to achieve certain goals in the overworld to progress with missions. You talk with townsfolk and hop and run on roof tops to get enough points to continue your mission progress. Each mission is short and sweet but never feels like it drags on.
What's Not
The powerful visual elements created for Storm are not flawless. There is pop-up when you are running through the streets of the city. It is noticeable in some spots more than others. Loading is another issue that you have to be patient for. Not only do you have to install the game on the PS3's HDD, you will also frequently see loading screens for missions. It doesn't takeaway from what was created but shows that this style still has a few, minor kinks to work out.
What is probably more noticeable is how simple the fighting controls are. While I also praise them for being streamlined and simple, they also acts as a barrier against finding deeper strategy when in combat. If it weren't for the Chakra system to unleash more powerful versions of your moves, the combat might not have been as acceptable the way that it currently works. The only time I felt combat wasn't enjoyable was either when I was losing or when the Ultimate Jutsu moves took you out of combat and had you watch a cut scene in the middle of a fight and you can do that as long as you have enough Chakra, it's effective but annoying.
Final Word
Regardless if you like Naruto or not, this game has some serious production values behind it. Storm is not fooling around and the visual style is just an indication of the cool things you'll discover in the game. I was impressed at how the game did so much and it was all tied together by a common thread and executed very well. Take notice of this title; it deserves your undivided attention. This is one storm you want to look out for.
November 20, 2009
