Wanted: Dead

 Distinguishing features: He's got cold and shifty eyes

I've not exactly embraced my hard action self much over the past year when it comes to gaming, rather I've just fallen so far down the RPG rabbit hole that I may never come out off. But then, I did get around to running through Jedi Fallen Academy (1.5 playthroughs ain't bad) so maybe I'm not a lost cause yet. I hope not, because with Elden Ring on the horizon and potentially Bloodborne PC right behind that, I'll need to relight my inner fire for tough-as-nails action titles that don't forgive or forget. And if we're talking about those sorts of games, and perhaps divorcing the Souls-like from the equation, then there's actually another title of game that strings the same notes. 'Wanted: Dead' is a brand new IP that hasn't quite done the rounds yet, but the legacy of the developers behind it comes from the Ninja Gaiden stock, so you can bet that frustration will be commodified handily.

Browse around the Internet long enough and the robotic peeping code designed to siphon your every personal detail right out of your head will eventually figure out what you're looking for before you even know it. Thus I don't take it as any great divine intervention that the other week Youtube threw a game at me that would be exactly my type despite the very real fact that I have never once played a Ninja Gaiden game and it had been years since I ever looked one up. And yet in a season full of game announcements and reveals, this was the one the fates sent my way. Call that creepy if you want, I'll just... well I agree, it is a little creepy. But some part of me has always been curious of how Ninja Gaiden earned it reputation, and whether I would find enjoyment out of it or find it to be wholly too focused on being tough over being fun. Where I more inclined I'd might try the games myself, but why bother when this new IP is on the way?

But for clarities sake, Ninja Gaiden is a very old and well respected video game series that dates all the way back to the Sega Game Gear. As with any game from around that time, it seems a little redundant to talk about how tough it was, as that was the general style of every single game back then, but even amongst it's peers Ninja Gaiden did indeed have something of a reputation. Who knew that playing as a Ninja side scrolling his way through the big city would prove such a perilous task? In later years and later consoles, that perception didn't fade as the industry softened it's edges, and so Ninja Gaiden became one of the most legendarily tough series'. They even did that thing games did for a while and created a super easy mode that the game gently mocked you for picking. (That was before games journalists started making it their personal mission to ensure no game is tougher then they're comfortable with because if they don't like it, no one else can.)

Of course, 'Team: Ninja' aren't just renowned for the Ninja Gaiden games, (although, judging from their name, that's a big part of their identity) they also made the Dead or Alive games, which wobbled between harmless fan service to softcore beach volleyball games as the series went on, and they even helmed those Nioh games. As someone currently trying to drag himself through the first Nioh, I can confirm that these guys did not leave their love for making challenging games behind when they dumped the Gaiden franchise. Nioh is a Souls-like, with everything that entails, which means these developers aren't above following the popular trend as long as it fits their brand, so what's coming next from their offices could be anyone's guess. Although we know the bare outlines, and of course that simple-yet-curious name: 'Wanted: Dead'.

Right now there isn't a deluge of infomation and footage to dive into and get all excited about, and that which does exist is currently pre-alpha and suitably rough around the presentation. But oh-my-goodness do Team Ninja still know how to put on a show even when we're working with unfinished textures, that team have action on the mind. What we have here is the unholy trinity, sci-fi katana combat, mixed with shades of gun-fu and a little bit of straight third person shooting. It would sound, and look like, a total mismatch of ideas and genres had it been handled by any other developer, but with these guys here I have the tendency to just nod my head and go 'yeah sure, go do it.' I mean just look at the kill animations they've cooked up already for this early game presentation- if the whole game is drummed up to match that quality, we might be in for something special!

Now to be clear, this isn't actually a Team Ninja game, but rather a project helmed by experienced ex-developers; but given what we've been shown right now and it's similarity to the Team Ninja we know, I think it's fair to call upon that studio for comparison. (And to give us some sort of baseline for what we're to expect) Whatsmore even with that separation this will be , as far as I can tell, this team's into a futuristic sci-fi setting, which can demand a lot of the creativity of a developer. I mean Ninja Gaiden got a little weird with it's later game's world building, but this sort of hyper-techie, gun-sword wielding, cyberpunky aesthetic pushes beyond any of that. And it will certainly put their world building skills to the test after the, suitable sparse, work on 'Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise'. (Although, to be fair, Team Ninja didn't even know they were making an FF game when they started that project. Can't mock the undeveloped world too much.) My excitement comes from the fact that developing and adapting the past or present can be somewhat limiting depending on what kind of creator you are, but the future demands something special and personal out of you. (I'd like to see what's special and personal about these guys' view of the techno future)

Team Ninja's pedigree marks something special in the way they've made the few games of theirs that I've played, which I don't see in other action oriented games, and I hope it's something this new team can get ahold of from their past work. Sure, there's not actually a lot of AAA action-focused games which don't have some sort of genre-quirk to them nowadays, because that's just the way the industry is trending, but Team Ninja seems to delineate themselves even further to something pure and uncomplicated within their genre lines. Their games still present that very simple and straight-forward gameplay premise where the player is given their tools, put in a mission and expected to just get things done. No faffing about, no mid-mission cutscenes (if they can help it), it's just the player and the mission emboldened by the strength of the gameplay mechanics. It takes real faith in one's development skill to prostrate yourself like that, and game's of that quality demonstrate the skill to warrant that faith.

I'm not going to sit here and say that 'Wanted: Dead' is the single most exciting game ever to pop up on my radar. It's not even in my top 5 most exciting things coming in the next year, but it does appear to be a little bit of a sleeper that not many people are talking about (At least not yet) and that gives me this little conspiratorial buzz to gravitate towards this game. Call it my own selfishness for not wanting to share something I'm interested in with others, but I just couldn't get the name of this game out of my head in the weeks since I first saw it and that's why, even after all this time, I just had to speak it's name on these pages. Immortalise it's place buzzing around my psyche so I can display, even if it's just to myself, the reason why a tiny Alpha showcase can be just as exciting as the big budget AAAA series revival teaser trailer. (Actually, maybe a bit more so. The Initiative does still seem like a joke to me right now.)