Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm for PS3 trailer and details/impressions

ChairHome · April 16, 2008, 5:43am

This game looks amazing. Its like you’re playing the anime.

BaSiK_TeKniK · April 16, 2008, 6:17am

nice :tup:

EveryFlowerFlow · April 16, 2008, 8:34am

Looks real nice, I might have to pick this up.

System_1 · April 16, 2008, 8:55am

Looks very good. Though at a second watch I can tell that it is 3D, but still very impressive.

Sonichuman · April 17, 2008, 5:43am

Preview of the game:

from what I read it sounds like DBZ Tenkaichi…only Narutoized…I’m quite interested…

saberwolf · April 17, 2008, 6:29am

Very nice:amazed:

bbq_sauce · April 17, 2008, 6:32am

I fucking wish Shipuuden looked this nice…

ChairHome · April 17, 2008, 5:52pm

Impressions from 1up

1up:

Over the past few years, Naurto has quietly supplanted Dragon Ball Z as America’s manga/anime series of choice, topping the charts with its hyperkinetic brand of ninja combat. And it’s not just kids’ stuff: This series reaches a surprisingly wide audience with its unique characters and stylized aesthetic: I’ve personally witnessed two grown adult men unashamedly wearing Naruto’s trademark headband in public. It’s become such a massive domestic hit that Namco Bandai plans to break from tradition by launching its next videogame adaptation, the PlayStation 3-exclusive Ultimate Ninja Storm, in the United States before it appears in its native Japan.

Storm hails from developer CyberConnect2, the same team behind the well-received Naruto: Ultimate Ninja PS2 games (and the quirky .hack// role-playing titles), and the similarities to their past efforts are apparent. You’re still controlling Naruto through a series of tense one-on-one battles against various super-powered opponents, but everything’s been given a sparkly next-gen makeover. “We’ve put a lot of effort into the graphical engine in an attempt to break the barrier between the anime and the game,” says CyberConnect2’s CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama. “Our previous Naruto games had cool toon-shaded visuals, but now we can do fine details like hair and shadows that really set this one apart.” He’s not lying: Storm’s in-game graphics look remarkably like a three-dimensional interpretation of the anime – clean edges, bright colors, and plenty of dizzying camera angles and wild motion blur effects.

The revamped combat engine receives similar attention, shifting character movement to the analog stick in order to free up the directional pad for character-specific one-use items such as bombs or health recovery. And unlike hardcore fighters that require complex controller motions for special attacks, Storm simplifies matters with two attack buttons – one for melee strikes and another for tossing long-range shuriken – but deepens the proceedings with its Chakra gauge, a rechargeable meter that you can use to amplify the power of your strikes or be spent all at once on a blistering super move. Another new addition allows you to call upon two assist characters during battles with the L1 and R1 buttons. While you don’t actually get to control them, they’ll leap in and help extend your juggles and combos.

Our hands-on time left us slightly overwhelmed and befuddled: It’s tough to not get a little lost and disoriented amid the fluidly animated chaos, as Naruto sends out hundreds of copies with his Shadow Clone super and chases his foe across disorienting vertical walls. But that unpredictable, over-the-top action is what Naruto fans crave, and the game’s simple, nearly automatic-feeling combos let you enjoy the pure visual insanity. The game truly ups the ante with its new Mission mode, an assortment of over 100 special tasks that you discover while exploring the game’s wide-open, go-anywhere towns. The mission we saw had Naruto facing off against a gargantuan monstrosity that required perfectly timed button inputs to defeat (a la God of War and Heavenly Sword).

While it doesn’t exactly re-invent the licensed anime fighter, Storm expands its scope to encompass a metric ton of Naruto content: The game’s single-player story spans from the series beginning all the way through issue #135 of Naruto Shippuden. So even though you’ll be playing as Naruto during most of the single-player quest, the multiplayer will offer over 25 different characters, each with their own absurd special attacks. Sadly, online play doesn’t appear to be on the agenda. “We won’t be able to offer online versus play in this game,” Matsuyama says. “But we are preparing some downloadable content to increase the game’s overall scope.”

vxnine · April 17, 2008, 8:11pm

im not a fan of naruto but damn my jaw dropped

ulovemikeroch · April 18, 2008, 9:18am

I have a question about this game, since naruto has moved onto shippuden in Japan that there are Shuppuden games. And because America still hasn’t reached there yet that we’re stuck with the regular ultimate ninja games, but storm takes a step back in the story. So is Japan gonna stick with this stepback or what? I’ve looked info up but theres only info on this one game.

_Onslaught · April 18, 2008, 9:22am

Still no online play? WTF?! They’re probably going to cut off a lot of content if a US version releases. Thanks, but no thanks.

Son_Them_All · April 19, 2008, 10:05am

I just saw the trailer this morning. Wow. just…wow.

I CAN’T be the only one who thinks this is what SFIV should have looked like…

fallot · April 19, 2008, 11:15am

Fucking read.

Son_Them_All · April 19, 2008, 12:12pm

lol how did I miss this?? Yes…GTFO of this thread if you’re that stupid. I’m debating whether to tell you why you’re stupid or just let you assume that you are…hmmm

Finkledoodoo · April 23, 2008, 4:46am

I’m not really not really a fan of the ultimate ninja series, more of a clash of the ninja guy myself. What turned me off with Playstation narutos was the studdering gameplay on top of the one button attack, (clash also has the one button thing, but it’s so smooth.) I never really got drawn into the game like I did in clash. It looks like they made storm very fluent and smooth, enough so that I may actually forget about it’s predecessors and become a fan. I always thought that ps2’s naruto games looked better, they just never absorbed me, but storm has me absorbed through the trailer already…

digimonemporer · April 23, 2008, 5:53am

They BETTER add all those freaking characters from episode 1-135. This “only 25 character” BS is NOT acceptable…LMAO…

But seriously…

it isn’t!

System_1 · April 23, 2008, 6:00am

No online play angers me greatly. There better be some sort of update like T5 DR that adds it or something. Still gonna buy this anyways, I’m still a fan of Part 1 Naruto (fuck Part 2 tho)

And 25 characters out the box ain’t bad at all. I mean, that’s what DLC is made for.

digimonemporer · April 23, 2008, 6:16am

Is this A3 “My Zangief is hated on” Booker?

But yea, hopefully this game won’t suck!!!

System_1 · April 23, 2008, 6:19am

Nah, must be another Booker. I don’t even play Alpha 3 much, especially as Zangief.

ulovemikeroch · April 23, 2008, 6:20am

Hm, I guess it means that they can only make the game up to where the U.S release is.