Shinobido 2: It Ain't Tenchu

I won't beat around the bush: Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen on the PlayStation Vita is, with the exception of perhaps Reality Fighters, the Vita game I've had the least fun playing. And I've been lucky enough to play a great many Vita game.

I don't want to sound overly harsh, of course. I only spent a short time with the game. But more time wouldn't have fixed what frustrated me most about Shinobido 2: its poor controls, which it appears to be riddled with. And that's a shame, since a game like this has great potential to be deep, fun and engrossing.

I always really appreciated Tenchu games, which the Shinobido titles are clearly modeled after, but Shinobido 2 wouldn't cut it as a Tenchu title. That's strange, of course, since the developer of Shinobido 2 -- Acquire -- is the same developer responsible for the Tenchu series. As much of a paradox such a fact creates, it remains true that Shinobido 2 needs a lot of polish if its going to live up not only to its potential, but to the proud name Acquire earned in its heyday.

Shinobido 2 puts you in the role of a ninja charged with stealth-assassinating enemies he comes across. Fighting foes head-to-head won't work well for you -- ninjas aren't up to the task of close-quarters combat when they don't have the element of surprise -- so slinking around quietly proves to be a worthy alternative. The thing is, Shinobido 2 suffers from some poor, imprecise controls, making the entire experience a muddled one. I was struggling so much with even the most basic controls that I had the a representative from the publisher play for me, and while he was considerably better than I was at the game, even he died in combat.

The biggest problem I'd encounter had to do with using my grappling hook, which was mapped to down on the Vita's d-pad. When I'd try to use it to gain a height advantage over an enemy, I was sent sprawling into a watery area below, totally away from where I was trying to go, and losing all of my energy all the while. Trying to precisely center my character so that he aimed properly was a chore, and the one time I did aim the grappling hook where I wanted it to go successfully, I was sent hurtling directly over the rooftop I should have stood atop and fell directly into an enemy that proceeded to slice me into oblivion.

The touch controls, which allow you to utilize weapons such as ninja stars and caltrops, seem to work a lot better, but without fluid analog controls and an ability to rely on precision when going about your business, that won't matter much, because you won't survive long enough to use those ancillary weapons in the first place.

Shinobido 2 could very well be one of those games that will require a decent amount of time to master, but considering that, at this point, I've played at least 20 Vita games, Shinobido 2 struck me as incredibly clumsy and unpolished. In a strange way, this left me even more interested to sit down with the final product and get down to what the problems with this game truly are. But I suspect that if this demo was any indication, the final product is going to leave a lot to be desired.

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