The PC version employs a system where you can use both the ‘E’ key and right mouse to interact with an object, but if the mouse is over a different interactive object, the ‘E’ key will not respond, which can lead to screw-ups in sticky situations. Following on from this point, while MOTN supports keyboard and mouse, the precise movements you sometimes have to make are not well suited to ‘WASD’. As you might imagine, the difficult moments chewed up a lot more time than they should have.
There are sections where checkpoints are at the bookends of long puzzles that incorporate instant kill traps, some of which require near-perfect timing to overcome. Checkpoints are not suited to stealth games, which always have an element of trial and error.
The one that caused the most hair-pulling was the decision to use a checkpoint save system.
Unfortunately, there are a number of thing that add annoyances on top of the standard frustrations stealth games have. When it works, the acrobatics and intuitive stealth systems come together to let you weave through the levels with finesse. The game includes multiple routes to an objective, which often allows you to find a safer path around tricky areas, and the 2D format makes it easy to see how the branch relates to the level as a whole. You also are extremely agile and able to climb most walls, even sometimes upside down, opening up extra options for evading guards. The stealth is reminiscent of the sneaky action style of the Batman: Arkham games, with grappling to vantage points, climbing through floor vents and takedowns from behind being immediate comparisons. The gameplay takes a side-scrolling platformer format, and modifies it into a stealth game. As a result, what you see on-screen is both a beautiful artistic image, and a diegetic UI that facilitates the stealth. Footsteps, lines of sight, player visibility and more is indicated with clever on-screen cues. The game also uses its visuals to communicate vital information to the player. The gameplay continues the art style, and features smooth animations which give the impression that everything is choreographed, even though you are in control. The game is stylised as a cartoon, with the cutscenes looking as if they have been taken straight from a TV series. Ultimately, the story is just a vehicle for the art style and gameplay. The story also throws in some mild psychological elements, as the ‘mark’ the ninja has received causes delusions and eventually complete madness. In it you play as a nameless ninja, who takes revenge on the private military corporation that attacked his dojo. Mark Of The Ninja is a 2D stealth platformer game. Take stealth gameplay mechanics spanning from 1997 to 2012, mash them with a hammer until they lose a dimension and you get the game being reviewed today, Mark Of The Ninja.
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