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It’s no secret that ninjas are incredibly popular heroes (or anti-heroes, if you will) for games, but only recently has there been a focus upon female ninjas, or kunoichi. Usually sidekicks or secondary helpers to other characters, these assassins have rarely stepped into the spotlight as the star of the show. Vivendi Universal’s taking steps to rectify this situation with Red Ninja: End of Honor. Grab some shadows and bring your thirst for revenge, because Red Ninja is a bloodthirsty tale of death and retribution. Red Ninja is set amidst 16th century Japan’s tumultuous political climes. The samurai class, once majestic and powerful, are slowly becoming antiquated soldiers, forcing warlords to resort to other means to wage warfare. Obviously, this means an increase in the number of bandit and ninja attacks, primarily between Shingen Takeda and Nobunaga Oda. (Any other gamer feel like Oda could’ve used an anger management course?) Trying to launch a pre-emptive strike against Takeda, Oda sends the Black Lizard Clan to kill Takeda’s weapon smith and steal his latest design, a deadly item called a tetsugen.
Brutally torturing and murdering the designer in a surprise attack in front of his daughter, the Black Lizards try to send a message to Takeda by hanging his daughter out in front of his shop. Several days pass before Takeda’s ninjas find out about the attack and rush to respond. Not only are they shocked by what they see, they’re stunned to discover that the little girl has somehow managed to survive this vicious assault on her family. Taking her down from her gallows, the ninjas secret her away, training her in their arts. After a number of years go by, the young girl, equipped with both ninja skills and the tetsugen she was hung with, decides to seek her revenge against the Black Lizard Clan and their master. 
Players will take control of Kurenai, the ninja vigilante as she starts her bloody path of justice. Obviously, she will have the typical ninja abilities of silent sprints, stealth kills and heightened agility. Interestingly, Red Ninja has a momentum-based system that governs her success with certain movements, such as wall jumps or climbing hills. Full runs will let her scale these obstacles easier, while walking or creeping will usually result in her going nowhere. She’ll be stocked with secretive arms like blowguns or smoke bombs to aid her in soundless attacks. As a creative twist, Kurenai will be able to use her “feminine wiles” to distract or lure in idiotic guards before killing them. However, the true skill in her repertoire is the use of the Tetsugen, a razor thin wire with an incredibly sharp hook or blade on one end. There are a number of additional edged heads for the weapon, allowing Kurenai to use the weapon as a grappling hook and much more. This lets her reach rooftops, poles or other areas with ease, and like a spider, Kurenai can actually climb up or down the wire itself to get a better perspective on the action below. However, its use in combat is much more varied and lethal. 
Kurenai can sneak up on unsuspecting guards, performing any one of a number of gory stealth kills. These instant kills aren’t restricted to close quarters attacks either. She can hurl her blade at an opponent and then rip the implanted fiercely out of their body. These assaults can be aimed at specific body parts also. For instance, with good aim, Kurenai can slice the feet off an opponent, leaving them stumbling around on stumps. Yet even if she misses her intended target, she’s not defenseless. She can increase the tension placed on the incredibly sharp wire to garrote enemies or even slice them in two. It sounds wicked, and looks even better. 
Kurenai’s revenge will take place across eight separate levels, each one separated by a number of smaller “chapters”. However, unlike Tenchu, Red Ninja will allow players a choice of how they’d like to play the game. It’s possible to stick solely to the shadows, striking only at unaware brigands and remaining unseen. It’s also possible to go in “blades a-blazing,” chopping down everything that moves in her path and taking out her revenge on everyone. This openness also extends to certain puzzles found scattered throughout the game, meaning that there’s usually more than one way to skin the cat that’s been blocking you from the next area. The developers have left advancement through a level pretty much open in this sense for players to develop their own style as they play through the game, giving gamers a greater level of control. 
What we saw of Red Ninja looks like it could revolutionize not only the ninja genre, but the action/adventure genre as well. While it’s still a ways away from completion (the build was 30-40% complete), the basics of gameplay, combat and the individuality of the character of Kurenai seemed to totally come through without a hitch, which looks promising. We’re just hoping we’ll see more of this title at E3 and get our hands on a more completed build, when we’ll provide more insights into this upcoming fall title. Check back here for more information!
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