Mark of the Ninja

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1166 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 907 out of 1166
  2. Mixed: 156 out of 1166
  3. Negative: 103 out of 1166

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  1. ShutUpJustDie
    Nov 14, 2012
    4
    Mark of the Ninja is a good stealth game, with a great art style and a fresh take on the genre. But I still do not have any idea why people lavish the game with such high praise. While the game has an amazing art style, the game has flaws. The game-play is basically a stealth game in 2D. While I like the fact that you can hide bodies, set traps, upgrade your arsenal, and even terrorizeMark of the Ninja is a good stealth game, with a great art style and a fresh take on the genre. But I still do not have any idea why people lavish the game with such high praise. While the game has an amazing art style, the game has flaws. The game-play is basically a stealth game in 2D. While I like the fact that you can hide bodies, set traps, upgrade your arsenal, and even terrorize your enemies, the level design ranges from good to poor, usually on the bad end of the spectrum. The game constantly you through trial-and-error sections, with the end result of me learning nothing at all and feeling extremely frustrated. Also, the control can be a bit wonky, as sometimes, I'll end up grabbing a body when I meant to pick a lock. And the game loses its appeal once you go through 60% of the game, as you will be frustrated with the fact its basically the same thing over and over but with added traps that are extremely cheap. Also, when you complete the game, you will feel robbed of your efforts. When Mark Of The Ninja does things right, you really will feel like a ninja. However, the sections are few and far between. If you enjoyed Mark Of The Ninja, that's great, you made a good purchase. But for me, Mark Of The Ninja is a clear example of not living up to its potential.… Expand
  2. Sergei123
    Jan 7, 2013
    3
    As a stealth game, Mark of the Ninja excels. It eschews the typical snail's pace of most stealth games and lets you jump and grapple your way into position for quick and deadly stealth kills. There's still plenty of sneaking past guards and hiding behind pots, but there's also plenty of silent and deadly action. It does a great job of making you feel like a ninja.

    Unfortunately,    As a stealth game, Mark of the Ninja excels. It eschews the typical snail's pace of most stealth games and lets you jump and grapple your way into position for quick and deadly stealth kills. There's still plenty of sneaking past guards and hiding behind pots, but there's also plenty of silent and deadly action. It does a great job of making you feel like a ninja.

    Unfortunately, everything else about this game is awful. The controls are far too limited, with buttons serving far too many functions causing you to constantly do the wrong thing at a crucial moment. Puzzles are exercises in tedium, rather than creativity, as you painstakingly work your way through rooms performing tasks to complete a mechanism that you figured out within 15 seconds. Then if you mishandle the controls, you end up having to repeat the entire process. Killing guards is extremely repetitive, and for some reason forces you to perform a quick-time event (press a random button in a short time limit) to succeed. Every time. There's a variety of tools that you can use, but none of them adds much beyond a flamboyant way to achieve what you could do just as easily without the tools. The trap sections are horribly designed, and combined with the limited field of view in 2D, simply force you to use trial and error. Prepare to reload your game a lot as you work your way through trap levels, figuring out what will and won't kill you by getting killed by it (or not).

    By far the worst aspect of this game, however, is its checkpoint save system. After having to restart a mission four times, from scratch, due to being auto-saved in an impossible position, I eventually gave up on even finishing the game. You have no control over when the game saves, and once it does you're unable to revert to a previous save. In my case, I'd timed things perfectly to slip past one guard, kill another, and escape. Unfortunately halfway through doing this, I hit a checkpoint save. From that point on, every time I reloaded, both guards saw me and shot me to pieces before I could so much as jump to safety. The only solution? Play through the first 40 minutes of the level again. For the fifth time. No thanks.

    The parts of this game that work, work fantastically. Unfortunately it needed a far better PC port, and less gimmicks (like QTEs and repetitive puzzles). Skip it unless you love being forced to replay the same content through no fault of your own.    … Expand
  3. Tashy497
    Jan 8, 2014
    4
    This game didn't speak to me. I love Shank, and the second was OK. Thought I'd give this a try.... think a Shank-ish looking game with stealth sounds amazing. The idea, preview movies, and reviews shouted a masterpiece... but it's mundane and boring stealth game. If the levels were designed in a way to really utilize the need for being stealthy, then perhaps it might work; but, the levelsThis game didn't speak to me. I love Shank, and the second was OK. Thought I'd give this a try.... think a Shank-ish looking game with stealth sounds amazing. The idea, preview movies, and reviews shouted a masterpiece... but it's mundane and boring stealth game. If the levels were designed in a way to really utilize the need for being stealthy, then perhaps it might work; but, the levels design lacked interested scenarios begging for stealthy tactics. The way the character felt when maneuvering didn't feel satisfying like Shank did. The bad guys were very easy to kill... out of boredom you might try to rush a kill to get some fun. The build-up of hiding and getting spotted is lacking (maybe because it's a 2D game).… Expand
  4. univega2003
    Mar 18, 2013
    2
    This game does deserve ANYWHERE NEAR the praise that critics and users give it!

    It is an uninspired platformer with nice art and mechanics, but I can have that experience with SNES games if I have a nostalgic itch to scratch. It brings nothing interesting to the table. You have a hook-shot that works, ninja stars that hit stuff, and a few ninja moves to kill and sneak. It is empty and    This game does deserve ANYWHERE NEAR the praise that critics and users give it!

    It is an uninspired platformer with nice art and mechanics, but I can have that experience with SNES games if I have a nostalgic itch to scratch. It brings nothing interesting to the table. You have a hook-shot that works, ninja stars that hit stuff, and a few ninja moves to kill and sneak. It is empty and vapid.

    Unless you are a die-hard stealth fan, you will be disappointed that you actually spent money on this. I spent $6, and I regret it immensely. Have never been so disappointed by a Metacritic score.    … Expand
  5. Minato
    Dec 20, 2012
    1
    A really bad game. The graphics don't even exist here. Everything is black; not even white!!
    Don't waste even one dollar to buy this game, you'll regret it the next second!!
    A 2D boring black game doesn't have place into my games collection!!
  6. Coeco
    Feb 28, 2013
    1
    An overall enjoyable title but it has far too many problems to be praised this much. To begin with, the game is plagued with the same issues that Hitman: Absolution had where it is essentially a stealthing-game for the impatient, the 2d limitations only proves to further hamster the potential this game could have had and while I can appreciate the stylish artstyle and cartoony cutscenesAn overall enjoyable title but it has far too many problems to be praised this much. To begin with, the game is plagued with the same issues that Hitman: Absolution had where it is essentially a stealthing-game for the impatient, the 2d limitations only proves to further hamster the potential this game could have had and while I can appreciate the stylish artstyle and cartoony cutscenes with a decent story just as much like the next guy, game-play wise it is an collection of frustrations. To truly assassinate an enemy, you need to be undetected closely behind them (which can be a long and bothersome process involving a lot of trial-and-error) and then click M1, followed by a certain swipe movement with your mouse which either very often gets miss-read by the game, screwing the kill up completely or you knock something over on your desk. Getting to the point of being behind the NPC's is also tedious as you need to find the intended scripts that the developers put in place and if you choose to skip all that (not possible at many occasions) and simply engage them with your fists, the enemies will spam "Combat-rolls" which essentially make them invulnerable (Kunais, your throwable items literally bounce off them) leaving single 1v1 fights a matter of "Waiting for the invulnerability to go away" while with enemy teammates turns to a "Pause the game every half second to spam stun projectiles or you'll die" competition. Yes, the feature of freezing time and instantly throwing projectiles at enemies to stun them is an honest game feature which should let the next fact come less of a surprise: You engage any enemies that have spotted you with your fists instead of using weapons. I am dead serious. To fully kill an enemy requires a mandatory melee-range grab when they are incapacitated (for a few seconds after you've punched them about 20 times in the face)to fully kill them which is just laughable. I also had several occasions where I would be almost done cutting a guy's throat and he'd suddenly still somehow put out an alarm, making every enemy on a 5 kilometer radius rush to my location. And even with all these "bullsh!t" moments, I found the game to be ridiculously easy due to the no-limit freeze-time function, allowing you to take your time at any moment and mark enemies to be instantly thrown with Kunais, infinitely stunning every single enemy you see. I cannot honestly see the logic behind actually implanting something like this. It does not benefit the combat in a positive way and it is just an eyesore of a function for the stealth as well since it removes any actual difficulty. But I guess these kinds of poorly-thought through design choices are mandatory and very obvious trait of being ported from the 360. To sum it all up, did I like Mark of the Ninja? No. Why? Because this can be played in a browser and stealth-games are not meant to be played through 2D. Oh and, all the retards spamming thumbs down on negative reviews in regards to this game should give you even more reason to stay away from this smelling turd of a game.… Expand
  7. Mutilated_Melon
    Jun 18, 2013
    4
    I found mark of the ninja to be a mediocre basic stealth game. It is the type of game that I play once, then forget about forever. There is nothing that stands out in this basic 2D stealth game. I find this game easy, but to play it correctly if would take forever with lots of waiting and planning. I find this extremely boring. But if you try to do face your enemies once in a while, youI found mark of the ninja to be a mediocre basic stealth game. It is the type of game that I play once, then forget about forever. There is nothing that stands out in this basic 2D stealth game. I find this game easy, but to play it correctly if would take forever with lots of waiting and planning. I find this extremely boring. But if you try to do face your enemies once in a while, you have to deal with the crap combat system. Fighting means jumping and then clicking a bunch on the enemy until he falls over. I don't see why there are such great reviews on this game. It's decent, but not memorable or amazing in any way… Expand
  8. Old_Skewl_Gamer
    Sep 18, 2013
    2
    Ridiculously over hyped. Once again, I got this in a Steam sale but I was hesitant to buy because I don't have a good game pad and prefer mouse/keyboard. I had a DEV tell me in the forums that this game is totally fine with mouse/keyboard; it's not. Controls are crap with mouse/keyboard. Good art style. I guess great if you're *really* in to stealth games it might be worth it but it'sRidiculously over hyped. Once again, I got this in a Steam sale but I was hesitant to buy because I don't have a good game pad and prefer mouse/keyboard. I had a DEV tell me in the forums that this game is totally fine with mouse/keyboard; it's not. Controls are crap with mouse/keyboard. Good art style. I guess great if you're *really* in to stealth games it might be worth it but it's just a forgettable sidescroller for me and not a particularly good one.… Expand
  9. McLeod
    Dec 30, 2013
    0
    Thank God I bought this during a Steam sale; I'm so mad at myself for wasting money on this game I want to punch myself in the balls. While this game is fantastic in concept (think about a 2D version of Metal Gear Solid), and the stealth aspect well-executed, the game is utterly ruined by its terrible combat controls.

    There are two main objectives in this game: sneaking and killing. In    Thank God I bought this during a Steam sale; I'm so mad at myself for wasting money on this game I want to punch myself in the balls. While this game is fantastic in concept (think about a 2D version of Metal Gear Solid), and the stealth aspect well-executed, the game is utterly ruined by its terrible combat controls.

    There are two main objectives in this game: sneaking and killing. In a game where half the point is to kill people, there is no point in having melee combat if it doesn't help achieve this goal. Worse still, you cannot switch between melee and weapons combat. Hell, when it gives you the option to kill, it makes you swipe your mouse in an arbitrary direction in order to maintain stealth while you do so. WHY? WHAT'S THE POINT? Why did not not occur to the devs that ninjas are able to kill with their bare hands?

    I would have given this game a 1, but it's so bad I'm never playing it again, and I've only played it for thirty minutes.    … Expand
  10. jazzlikesinatra
    Jun 20, 2013
    0
    The rating for this game is way too high. This game is a typical uninspired platformer. It's a direct clone to Shank 1/2 with rudimentary metal gear solid mechanics. The art style is typical, cheap, and overused. I'm tired of flash games like this. If it wasn't for the 3.75$ I payed on steam I would of never payed full price 14.99$ for it. It's not worth the 15 dollar price tag. It's aThe rating for this game is way too high. This game is a typical uninspired platformer. It's a direct clone to Shank 1/2 with rudimentary metal gear solid mechanics. The art style is typical, cheap, and overused. I'm tired of flash games like this. If it wasn't for the 3.75$ I payed on steam I would of never payed full price 14.99$ for it. It's not worth the 15 dollar price tag. It's a waste of money.

    This game could be played on a browser. Bad indie company is bad.    … Expand
  11. suneater
    Feb 13, 2013
    3
    So you're a mythical-strength ninja; The plot is literally about you flipping out and killing things, and that's about it. Gameplay revolves around quickloading everytime you are spotted and mouse gestures for silent kills. Graphics are poorly upscaled, soundtrack is your stereotypical "oriental" themed "*gong* WOOOOOOOOOOOOO" stuff, and the sound effects are pulled from a stock library.So you're a mythical-strength ninja; The plot is literally about you flipping out and killing things, and that's about it. Gameplay revolves around quickloading everytime you are spotted and mouse gestures for silent kills. Graphics are poorly upscaled, soundtrack is your stereotypical "oriental" themed "*gong* WOOOOOOOOOOOOO" stuff, and the sound effects are pulled from a stock library. Many bugs ruin the experience ranging from small things like guards being blind to you standing right in front of them to gamebreaking bugs such as getting stuck on a wall or in a vent. An unlock system lets you kill from different angles and gives you some new tools but it doesn't really change the core gameplay of "kill silently and without being seen". I love slowly stalking through stealth games but this one is ruined by too many checkpoints, an overabundance of bugs, balancing issues (one outfit and one weapon are clearly the best at what they do), and everything else mentioned above. Running at around 10-12 hours, this is a flash game better left to XBLA.… Expand
  12. henkka123
    Jul 4, 2013
    4
    Game is trying to be clever and bring the real 'ninjastealth' feeling, but it unfortunately fails quite badly. Gameplay is just not interesting enough and gameplay mechanism is not good enough. Even after you get used to it, it doesn't offer you enough that you would enjoy the experience. Better use your time with something else.
  13. kagekirazuul
    Mar 1, 2014
    0
    This game is NOT a 2D Metal Gear Solid. MGS had a depth of story and style as well as tight controls and action that could be played as a NON-stealth game. This game does not have that. It forcefully holds gamers hands and makes them plod through set pieces without much thought for imagery or imagination. Multiple branching pathways or engrossing storyline will not be found here.
  14. Voyou
    May 15, 2021
    2
    Does not provide the entertaining ability to save progress during missions. Which means its entertainment value is a big fat ZERO.

Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PC Game of 2012
39
#39 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
36
#36 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    84
    A dreamy amalgamation of Shinoby, Deus Ex and Thief. It’s not only the best downloadable game of the year, but a welcome gift for fans of pure stealth gameplay. [November 2012]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 30, 2012
    80
    Splendid stealth platformer offers high levels of addictiveness. Surely aspiring to the title of "Independent title of the year". [Dec 2012]
  3. Absolute Games
    Nov 29, 2012
    88
    Corvo Attano and Agent 47 couldn't possibly have expected that a platformer from the creators of Shank would stab them in the backs and claim the title of this year's best stealth game.
    Read full review
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