From this early look, the game just feels more accessible than past action titles, specifically Ninja Gaiden. Hopefully, harder difficulties will be able to actually engage the more “hardcore” player, as the demo can easily be beaten by sheer button mashing. There are combos, but like with many titles, once you find one attack that works you can sort of fall back on it, neglecting the rest of the facets of combat. Even when button mashing, during the course of the demo my health bar never reached below fifty percent.

It’s clear that some strategy is meant to be used, especially when using a feature called “ninja vision.” This allows the player to clearly see enemy weak points and hidden information. It’s not really anything worth getting too excited over, but it breaks up the game and again adds some accessibility for new players.

Unfortunately, there was not near enough to the demo to discern whether this new Ryu/Kratos will be a success or a failure. The game clearly has its moments, but players may tire if they feel there is nothing beyond the quick time events. The graphics aren’t anything notable as whole, either. They aren’t bad in the least; they just don’t push the limits of the 360. The game really feels rehashed, but hopefully a unique plot and some interesting battles can shake that feeling. Otherwise, this might just fade back into the shadows.

Ninja Blade releases April 7th exclusively for the Xbox 360. However, if you need to quench that thirst for a bloody katana, a public demo will be available starting March 9th.