Let's Talk... Mark of the Ninja

Stealth is an overused mechanic in modern action games, but occasionally an amazing pure stealth game will come out to remind us why we love the shadows. This time the spotlight is on a very rarely done 2D stealth game called Mark of the Ninja. Mark of the Ninja is heavily stylized with hand-drawn environments, similar to Shank 2's art style. The game's story is set in the present day and essentially follows the conflict between a very traditional ninja organisation and modern military technology. There aren't enough 2D stealth titles and I hope MotN acts as inspiration for many more to come.

Hanging guards from lamp posts never gets old

The game's biggest strength is the fact that it's only a 2D game, which adds an extra layer of fluidity. A 3D stealth game wouldn't allow you to be as nimble as you are in Mark of the Ninja, and therefore it wouldn't allow you to feel like a true ninja. The game's 2D world allows you to scale walls, navigate ceilings, and dart in and out of vents at such a thrilling pace that creates a great feeling of gratification when you successfully clear a room of enemies in such an elegant manner. Personally I get extremely OCD when it comes to remaining undetected in stealth games, to the point where I'll spend the best part of an hour restarting a single room until I get it right. So when a game's wonderful level design allows me to remain undetected for an entire mission it feels really satisfying to have such mastery over the mechanics, and not feel the all too common frustrations I usually feel with most stealth games.

That isn't to say that Mark of the Ninja is easy, not by a long shot. The game is in fact pretty punishing, and enemies will one-shot you as soon as they spot you. On the note of difficulty, once the game has been completed on normal mode you unlock new game+, where all your upgrades carry over to a new game. New game+ is somewhat more 'hardcore' than normal mode and certainly provides a greater challenge. With the most obvious changes being more alert AI and the inability to actually see behind your character.

Spike traps make a great sound when they impale guards

The gameplay is infinitely fun and you're consistently given more tools to play around with, which combine together to give a nice variety of ways to play. You have an array of distraction tools, which range from smoke bombs to distraction flares. Then there's a category for offensive items, which include spike traps and plagues of flesh-eating insects. To go with all these different items, you can also unlock a wide variety of different skins that will give you varying trade-offs to mix up your gameplay (examples of these are speeding up the process of a stealth kill, but you're only able to carry two attack items and no distraction items, without the ability to restock mid-level).

The game rewards you in numerous ways, mainly through the game's scoring system, which rewards both complete stealth and killing everything that moves. The scoring system grants you points for pretty much everything you do, with more points granted for doing it with a light dose of elegance. These points round up into an overall score for each level, for which there are tiered score objectives. Whilst the first two of these you will likely get regardless, the third high score requires a bit more patience. On top of these three score objectives, each level contains three hidden haiku poems to find, one of these in every level requires you to complete a small puzzle segment. These puzzles are actually both challenging and fun, without feeling completely out of place. 

There are a nice variety of skills and items to unlock

Finally, each mission includes three mission-specific challenges that hinge heavily on the game's stealth mechanics, some of which can actually be quite complex. It's a great way to show you some of the game's various killing techniques that you otherwise wouldn't find. My personal favourite: performing a stealth kill whilst hanging from a lamp post and hanging them from the light to then terrorize the poor guard who sees it into shooting another guard... Pretty twisted stuff. Everytime you complete any of these challenges or find any of the hidden poems, you gain 'honor' which can be used to upgrade your abilities and items, giving you a real sense of reward for completing optional content.

I have very few issues with this great title, that being the writing and the Farsight ability. Just like the writing in Shank 2, Mark of the Ninja's writing can seem a little too serious for the game's art style, which can mess with the game's tone at times. Secondly, the Farsight ability grants you a thermal-like look through walls and doors that highlights enemies, breakable objects, and collectible items. Personally, I didn't use the ability much as I felt that it ruined the first-hand discovery element I enjoyed so much, but when I did use it I felt like it interrupted the game's pacing significantly, as it has you stand still whilst using it.

The game's sound design makes slicing up unsuspecting guards and dumping their decimated remains into the nearest dumpster even more satisfying than it already was. Whether you're running across a metal floor or grappling between vents the game sounds great.  Much of the game's audio is accompanied with visual prompts that illustrate how much noise you make when you're running or when a flock of birds flies away. The controls feel tight, and add to the fluidity of the gameplay. The games visuals, sounds, and gameplay all compliment each other in a way that creates a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable experience for only $15. This incredible game is well worth your time if you're looking for a solid stealth experience.

Strengths:

       -Extremely satisfying stealth gameplay, executed brilliantly in 2D
       -Unique hand drawn art style 

       -Good controls add to the fluidity of gameplay

       -Wide range of items, abilities, and skins offer a variety of ways to play

       -Well-implemented scoring system

       -Gameplay feels fluid, dynamic, and makes you feel like a bonafide badass

Weaknesses:

       -Farsight ability interrupts the flow of the game