Ninja Gaiden has been one of my favorite franchises since its rebirth on the original Xbox. After Itagaki left Tecmo  I was a little worried to what may become of one the premiere action franchises in the industry. Metroid: Other M was a mess and Dead or Alive 3D brought nothing new to the series. Well after some hands-on time with a demo at Sony’s E3 press conference, I can confidently say that Team Ninja has been hard at work making sure this is the best Ninja Gaiden yet.

• Blood Symphony
  The new Team Ninja (minus Itagaki) has crafted the bloodiest entry into the franchise yet-- possibly the bloodiest game ever. Blood paints the screen as Ryu impales, decapitates and all out mauls every enemy in his path. A new fury attack (hold down triangle when Ryu glows red) has Ryu dash around the screen in a frenzy massacring everything on screen.
• More QTE’s (Quick Time Events)
  With a much more frantic pace to the action more QTE moments are added to the mix. These QTE’s only enhanced the action moments in the demo. Like Kratos in God of War Ryu can finish off foes with a simple button press mid-combo. QTE’s are also used to transition action scens. One scene had Ryu dodging rockets mid air and another sliding under an oncoming truck before facing a hoard of enemies. These moments kept my adrenal pumping all throughout the demo.
• Skills of a Ninja
  It’s not all about fast-paced blood spilling action in Ninja Gaiden 3. When smoke fills the air Ryu takes to stealth to perform some brutally vicious kills. By slightly tilting the analog stick Ryu can slowly walk behind his enemies and instantly finish them off with a simple press of triangle. Ryu can also use his ninja senses (press in R3) to scope out the correct path to follow. It’s nice to see some variety added to a series that hasn’t seen any real innovation since the original Xbox.     
• Falcon Punch!
  Midway through the demo a falcon swooped down landing on Ryu’s arm. This served two purposes: one it acted as a checkpoint and two it restored Ryu’s life.
• More Personal
  Finishing blows and stealth mode bring the camera in closer which really showcases the violence that Ninja Gaiden 3 brings to the franchise. My only concern of the demo came during a boss fight at the end with a giant spider-like tank. While attempting to chop off the tanks legs, I often found myself stuck with horrible camera angles that left me exposed to cheap shots.

When the demo finally came to conclusion my curiosity for a once favorite franchise had reemerged. Ninja Gaiden, post Itagaki, looks to be shaping up quite well. The action is faster, the game more visceral in appearance, and the new additions to gameplay (stealth and even more brutal lock-on attacks) have the Ninja Gaiden 3 at the top of GameXplain’s radar.