Grave Gamer News & Views — spark unlimited

Keiji Pulled a Fast One: Yaiba is Actually a Ninja Gaiden Spin-Off

Besides a fantastically stylized teaser trailer that clocked in just under minute, there wasn’t much information to glean from Keiji Inafune’s announcement of Yaiba.  All we were privy to were the facts that Keiji’s new development house, Comcept, would be behind the reins and that the game would feature the awesomely cataclysmic combination of zombies, ninjas, robots, and buckets of blood.

Now, with a slightly longer trailer from the Tokyo Game Show under our belt, it’s been revealed the full title of this zombie slasher is actually Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, and that Team Ninja’s poster boy Ryu Hayabusa makes it into the game as our resurrected warrior’s nemesis – Ryu having murdered the crap out of you before you became the ultimate undead killer.  It’s unclear if Hayabusa will serve a playable role in the game, but to be absolutely fair, we’re still in the dark when it comes to most things Yaiba.

Helping Comcept with development duties, Spark Unlimited (Lost Planet 3) is joining forces with Inafune to deliver this sword frenzy into our hands while Team Ninja oversees production.  Stay tuned as more information drizzles our way.

In the meantime, check out this extended trailer for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z.

Lost Planet 3 (PC/PS3/360 - 2013)

No, I didn’t mean to put “Dead Space 3,” but comparing Spark Unlimited’s take on Capcom’s hit-and-miss Lost Planet series to EA’s survival horror franchise is closer to the mark than you might think.  While the third-person shooter elements remain largely intact, your encounters with the tundra planet’s hostile inhabitants, the Akrid, are much more intense – the fierce insectoids bearing down on you until your ammo is out and your supplies thinned.  You could hop into a towering mech and try to even out the odds, but be prepared to face horrors even bigger than your tin can.  Remember, the world is against you and it’s not even your world. 

Admittedly, Spark has delivered us critical clunkers in the past, but Lost Planet 3’s stark change of tone could signal a similar metamorphosis for the relatively green developer.  While sci-fi survival horror is a great starting point for the title, the worst thing it could do is retread Dead Space beat for beat.  It’s a wire act, sure, but if Spark can really harness E.D.N. III as a menacing yet organic part of the game’s onslaught, Lost Planet 3 could really set its self apart (which it’ll need to if the rumors of a Dead Space sequel set on a frozen planet blossom into truth).