Ninja Gaiden fans might not recognize Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z as a game from the series at first look. Instead of a dark, futuristic take on ninja combat it's bright and colorful, the House of the Dead Overkill of the series, a game that's completely over the top and full of bloody combat. What's more- it has zombies. Lots and lots of zombies.
You're following a new protagonist this time, too. The lead character, Yaiba Kamikaze, actually ran into the franchise's usual hero Ryu Hayabusa and decided to challenge him. He doesn't end up doing too well in the battle, as Ryu chops off his arm and cuts out his eye, leaving Yaiba for dead. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Yaiba is saved by a mysterious organiaation that restores his body with mechanical parts, making him more powerful just in time for a zombie outbreak. He finds out that Ryu is looking for the source of the infection so Yaiba decides to work with them to both stop the zombies and get his revenge.
The game seems to have that great sword-based combat you love about Ninja Gaiden, the kind of responsive gameplay that encourages comboing moves between enemies, but here you're slicing through zombie after zombie. Expect the screen to literally fill with blood as you hack your way through all different types of undead with your new abilities, turning your cyber arm into a razor chainsaw, say, or ripping off an opponent's arms to use as zombie nunchucks.
Ninja Gaiden developer Team Ninja is working with Keiji Inafune on this production and his influence should be immediately obvious- he's the man behind Dead Rising and Onimusha, after all. (He also co-designed Mega Man!) You can find his crew talking about the many different types of zombies available in the game in the video below.
Yaiba Ninja Gaiden Z will launch for the PS3, Xbox 360 and on PC (via Steam) on March 21st, 2014.
