Ninja Gaiden 4

Developer PlatinumGames, Team Ninja

Publisher Xbox Game Studios

Format PC, PS5 (tested), Xbox Series

Release Out now

One of the most notorious, and astonishing, sequences in Ninja Gaiden 2 takes place on a flight of wide stone steps. As you ascend, you’re accosted by a mob of enemy ninjas. Start to cut through the group and more appear, and more, and more, streaming down the stairs until the game engine wheezes and you’re caught in an incomprehensible melange of limbs – some still attached – and weapons. Not that you’ll keep count, but it feels like you’ve butchered about 100 by the time that the storm finally subsides. It leaves you breathless and agape, invigorated by the audacity of the sequence.

During the first stage of Ninja Gaiden 4, we’re already dealing with waves of up to 25 or so enemies in a single serving. PlatinumGames thinks nothing of dropping a dozen deadly assassins armed with swords, guns and rocket launchers in front of you while you’re still learning the ropes, then pausing for just a second and summoning a dozen more. With Team Ninja also stewarding the project, you quickly feel that you’re in good hands here, with a clear understanding that this series thrives on excess. Ninja Gaiden 4 revels in the transgression of refusing to stop where you’d normally expect, in the wondrous absurdity of overdoing things.