We're going to have to start this review with a bit of a disclaimer, much like we did with our recent review of One Piece Pirate Warriors 2 - we know nothing about Naruto. Nor, in fact, does anyone working at Everybody Plays, which made placing this one for review a bit tricky. Still, as a colourful beat-'em-up based on the anime of the same name, it certainly looked an interesting enough game - how hard could it be to get in to? The answer? Incredibly.
Indeed, the boffins at Bletchley Park in WW2 likely had an easier time cracking the Enigma Code than a novice has of picking up Naruto, with no prior knowledge of the series, and actually understanding what's going on. And in a game where you'll spend more of your time watching the plot heavy cutscenes than mashing buttons during the battles, that can be kind of a problem.
As the hours went by, and the admittedly fancy cutscenes played on, we were still no closer to figuring out the plot. There's something involving several Hokages, who are important people of some sort; a village called the Leaf; a magical power called Jutsu and Ninjutsu that requires Chakra to use, and a Nine Tails that looks nothing like a Pokemon. At least, we don't remember the one we caught being the size of a small town. To get over quite how impenetrable this is, here's a sentence from early on in the game: "But it sounds like Sasuke... joined up with the Akatsuki and did some damage to a Hidden Cloud Ninja." We didn't have a clue what that meant, but it sounded pretty serious - and apparently it was, as your mentor, Kakashi, explains "If he's crossed a Hidden Cloud Ninja, the Raikage won't let it slide." You shot who with the what now?
Luckily, the battles are a lot simpler.
Now, we're used to games like this taking a while to get in to, but the more you keep playing, the more you find yourself waiting for that moment of clarity that never comes. Some sort of a primer - a beginner's guide to Naruto, some introduction for those who're interested in the game, but haven't seen the TV show would have gone a heck of a long way - as would holding off on the characters. Suffering slightly from Lord of the Rings syndrome, in that it introduces so many characters so quickly, you end up being completely confused about who's who, you'll find your head spinning, and it doesn't really stop. Squeezing in every character from the series is fine for fans, but it makes things overwhelming for novices. It probably doesn't help that, while the majority of the voice acting is fine, Naruto himself has the single most annoying voice in the history of games, and you'll be hard pressed to last three sentences without wanting to mute the TV or forcibly remove your own ears. Whichever is quicker.
To add to the confusion, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst is actually a kind of "deluxe" edition of the previously released Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. Releasing some six months after the previous game, Full Burst packs in a challenge mode with over 100 missions, which are essentially 1-on-1 matches with special conditions, all the DLC costumes for the previous game, including swimwear, and an all new chapter/boss fight for you to play through at the slightly more wallet friendly RRP of £30. Along with some redone cutscenes (yet seemingly with nothing done to ease new players in), this is essentially a complete package, designed to tide fans over until the release of the upcoming Naruto Revolution.
And while the story may be nigh on impenetrable, it's still essentially only a way for you to get from one battle to the next - after all, you can always skip over the cutscenes if you're not that interested, and the game's battles are where the real gameplay lies. After a lot of talking, you'll be plunged into a number of one on one beat 'em up battles, to take part in a fight that's about as over the top as you might imagine from an anime about Ninjas. Apart from throwing stars, most of your attacks are handled by mashing the circle button, and the more hits you land, the more spectacular the move you'll pull off, whether it's creating a carbon copy of yourself, or attacking with lightning bolts.
Boom!
In fact, you can win most fights by simply hammering circle, with the occasional tap of the left trigger letting you dodge out the way of attacks. As soon as your enemy starts putting a beat down on you, all you have to do is push the left trigger to scoot in behind them, giving you an opening to attack - although you can only use this a handful of times per battle. If you feel like mixing things up a bit, you can press triangle to load up some Chakra, and then mash one of the face buttons, which will let you pull off some fancier moves, but as seems to be a frustrating theme for the game, none of this is actually explained.
In fact, the very first thing the game does is drop you into a boss fight with nothing in the way of explanation about which button does what, so you're left to get slaughtered as you try to figure it out for yourself. Luckily, it's not all that complex to start mounting an offence - while other beat 'em ups have you memorising large combos, in Naruto most actions are handled using the circle button - but it'd still be nice if it actually told you what you were supposed to be doing, especially when it comes to pulling off some of the more complex moves. With some of the Chakra attacks requiring some pretty good timing, it'd be incredibly helpful to be able to actually practice this in a tutorial before being thrown to the wolves in a boss fight.
From there on in, it's so far, so OK, as battles are entertaining, yet have a nasty tendency to become frustratingly hard, especially during boss fights that like resorting to cheap tactics. It doesn't help that your health doesn't come back between battles, so you'll find yourself going from fight to fight with a perpetually decreasing amount of health left. You can set a potion to one of the directions on the d-pad, but that means you'll only be able to use a maximum of four potions per battle (and only two to begin with, when you only have access to a few slots), making some already challenging fights that much harder, especially as you don't always get chance to visit a shop in between.
Luckily, there is more to Naruto than just fighting. Some sections take a more free roaming approach, and see you exploring a village, cave, or other such area, chatting to villagers, talking to shopkeepers, hunting down collectables, and completing sub quests, almost like a role playing game. A nice change of pace from the battles, these help flesh out the story and characters in a slower, easier to follow way, that lets you take things at your own pace, but they aren't enough to lift the game on their own.
Other sections simply switch up the battling format a bit, changing the action from one on one to a you vs many Dynasty Warriors style brawl, only against a handful of foes, rather than the hundreds (or thousands) Dynasty Warriors offers. We're undecided whether this is a good thing or not, as while we appreciate the change of pace, it does become a lot harder to keep track of who you're attacking when you're surrounded by a group, and the enemies have a nasty tendency to swarm you, meaning more often than not, it'll be you getting the pounding.
While fans of the series (both the show and game) will undoubtedly appreciate the "complete" collection if they haven't bought Ninja Storm 3 already, Full Burst is sadly a game that makes it as hard as possible for a novice to get into. And it's a real shame, as a lot of work's obviously gone into the game - graphically, it's stunning, with colourful cel shading that makes the game match the real thing, and some genuinely spectacular cutscenes - it'd just be nice if we had a clue what was going on. And therein lies the problem. Unless you want to sell games to an ever decreasing pool of people, you can't assume that every player will have a) played the earlier games, and b) be a huge fan of the show. Some sort of concession, even an optional one, has to be made to help new players find their footing. With something like that in place, Naruto would be a lot more fun than it is.
Format Reviewed: Playstation 3
