Mark of the Ninja - XBLA

[SethMode]

LOL. My buddy donwloaded this as well and said he's digging it. I asked him if it was similar to Shank and he replied "Very similar". He was a huge fan of the two Shank games btw.

I'll give my own opinion once I try the demo myself but I thought that was funny.

He's CoptimusPrime on Live if you want to check his recently played games if you think I'm just trolling.

I don't think you're trolling, it just doesn't make sense. It's not anything close to an action game. If you played it ANYTHING like one might play Shank, you would die over and over again. What aren't you getting about this? Sure it has a similar artistic flair (be it anything from story telling methods to look), but it's a freaking stealth game where you get the best bonuses for never engaging a single enemy or being spotted once in a level. What part of Shank's gameplay was like that? Shank got dull (for me) because it was a run, run, run, mash, mash, mash, kill, kill, kill game. This involves careful timing and planning.

Some reading material that appears to be a little more reliable than your buddy:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/mark-of-the-ninja

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/shank

Having a similar style now makes it the same game I guess, even if the gameplay is radically different? I don't see what it is you're missing here, and I think it's bordering on stupid that you're even posting thoughts at all on a game you haven't tried.

[jms493]

http://videogamesawesome.com/live/

[Twigg4075]

I don't think you're trolling, it just doesn't make sense. It's not anything close to an action game. If you played it ANYTHING like one might play Shank, you would die over and over again. What aren't you getting about this? Sure it has a similar artistic flair (be it anything from story telling methods to look), but it's a freaking stealth game where you get the best bonuses for never engaging a single enemy or being spotted once in a level. What part of Shank's gameplay was like that? Shank got dull (for me) because it was a run, run, run, mash, mash, mash, kill, kill, kill game. This involves careful timing and planning.

Some reading material that appears to be a little more reliable than your buddy:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/mark-of-the-ninja

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/shank

Having a similar style now makes it the same game I guess, even if the gameplay is radically different? I don't see what it is you're missing here, and I think it's bordering on stupid that you're even posting thoughts at all on a game you haven't tried.

I understand that the play style is different. Balls to the wall vs a whole lot more stealth. My point was that the aesthetic is very similar, the way the character moves, the art, the narration. Even the brutal kills are reminiscent of Shank.

[SethMode]

I understand that the play style is different. Balls to the wall vs a whole lot more stealth. My point was that the aesthetic is very similar, the way the character moves, the art, the narration. Even the brutal kills are reminiscent of Shank.

You called it a side scrolling action game, which I said it definitely wasn't, and then you proceeded to continue to argue with me. I never debated that it had a similar artistic style to Shank (and I don't just mean the way it looks). You also called Klei a "one trick pony" based upon...something? If your entire reason to come into the thread to poop on the game without even trying it because of the way it looks, then I really don't see your point.

[Twigg4075]

I played the demo the other day and it was decent. Nothing to write home about IMO. The looked,controlled and felt like Shank, but with the emphasis being on stealth instead of straight up action. My biggest complaint in the demo is one that plagues almost all stealth games, at least older ones. If you get caught you're fucked. Even with a sword it seemed to take 50 slices to take a single enemy down, who of course has a machine gun. So you may as well start over at the previous checkpoint. I would hope you get better or upgraded weapons down the line at lest to alleviate that issue.

[SethMode]

I played the demo the other day and it was decent. Nothing to write home about IMO. The looked,controlled and felt like Shank, but with the emphasis being on stealth instead of straight up action. My biggest complaint in the demo is one that plagues almost all stealth games, at least older ones. If you get caught you're fucked. Even with a sword it seemed to take 50 slices to take a single enemy down, who of course has a machine gun. So you may as well start over at the previous checkpoint. I would hope you get better or upgraded weapons down the line at lest to alleviate that issue.

You never get upgraded combat to handle it out in the open. Just like Batman, if you are spotted by guys with guns, you're dead if you try to stay and fight. You do, however, get a ton of different means to escape and regroup. However, that being said, the thing about this game that breaks the stealth game problems is that the checkpoints are set up perfectly. It never punishes you for dying, nor does it punish you for just restarting at the previous checkpoint (it doesn't even punish you in the sense that if you get spotted while trying to achieve a goal that requires not getting spotted, you can just reload, no harm done). I would hate for it to allow you to upgrade into some action badass that doesn't need to worry about being caught, because it's a stealth game.

I got the impression there was nothing about this game that was going to get you interested at this point given your somewhat contrary nature ($15 rawr!), but at least you tried the demo finally.