Mark of the Ninja Notes.

[MaskedMakrel]

Mark of the Ninja:Overall, I found the gameplay and story to be excellent. I liked the cartoon-style graphics. I also appreciated the humor that was sometimes thrown into the game. I put in about 40 hours of playing the PC version on steam. I unlocked all the achievements focusing my time primarily on New Game Plus rather than the easier setting. Achievements in Game: If they are viewable from my main menu, I have not been able to see them. I can see them when I log out to my Steam Account. (Somewhat ironic that my achievements and game play in a stealth title are under surveillance). I have mixed feelings about the achievements. On a certain level, I feel that the achievements pad the game a bit, by encouraging players to replay after they have achieved True Ninja status. I think I would prefer more actual content. It would have been nice to maybe have another set of missions involving the female lead.Controls: The use of console controls does not always translate well to the PC. Some people have noted that opening a door/grabbing a body can get confusing. Personally, I found pickpocketing the keys to be an extremely dubious activity and had to remap my controls during those activities to successfully pickpocket. (This might not have been an issue if buttons 3, 4, or 5, on my Microsoft Sidewinder Mouse were recognized). Other times, one falls victim to the auto-actions. I sometimes get stuck in loops where it will not let me choose another platform to jump to. Bugs: Not many so far. I once hung on air in a level near a wall. Sometimes the “X” for a location item does not appear on the map. The game locked up on exit once. Nothing game breaking at least.Exploits: There is the possibility of a minor in game exploit where players can constantly resupply equipment at the flag stations. Given the geographically restricted nature of those stations, it isn't a huge issue, but I feel that the costuming/resupplies could have been separated more to reduce the possibility. Difficulty: Even on the hard setting the game was fairly easy to complete. The puzzles are mostly just throwing switches in the correct order. Notwithstanding achievement farming, it's a fairly short game to complete. Community Tools: I feel the ability to create and share levels/content would certainly have increased the longevity and replayability of the game. Forums/Game/Site: I'm not sure why any of this content is age restricted. The steam game trailer has an age requirement. There are no similar restrictions on the TF2 material on Steam, for example.Overall, this was really great work and a fun game to play.

Edited December 29, 2012 by MaskedMakrel