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Legend11 on 14 October 2007
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This game will be amazing, I didn't even know they had planned to have online matches in it.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/827/827134p1.html

Naruto: Rise of an Online Ninja
Full details on the Xbox Live tournament mode.
by Hilary Goldstein
October 12, 2007 - Online fighters are not new to the 360. That doesn't mean there isn't room to expand on the traditional formula. While gamers will find that standard 1v1 quick matches in Ubisoft's Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, it's the tournament mode that will have gamers coming back for more. Rise of a Ninja offers an open tournament in the Forest of Death Exam.

An open tournament means that instead of a bracketed competition that limits you to eight or sixteen players, the Forest of Death Exam is more freeform. Anyone can enter these ranked matches, so that you are never sitting around waiting for a tournament to begin. The Exam is always in session. And, assuming even a modest amount of gamers pick up Ubi's new fighter, there should always be someone to smack around.

When you first enter the Exam, you must prove yourself worthy to fight in the Tower of Death. You must win two consecutive matches in the Forest of Death before you can gain entrance to the tower. These fights take place against other users -- pretty much anyone and everyone who is online.

If you can win two matches in a row, you will enter the Tower of Death. To ascend up the Tower, you'll need to win a total of three more matches. Any loss will drop you out of the Tower, having failed the Exam. If you fail, you're going to have to start in the Forest of Death and prove yourself again. As you can tell, failure is not an option. Each level of the Tower you enter (one per match win) offers a short cut-scene and then another battle. You will only fight against an opponent in the same level of the Tower. So to climb up the tower, you will need to knock others off.

Once you make it to the top, your goal is to remain King of the Tower. That means you'll have to keep winning, taking on all comers. Again, you're only fighting those who are at the same level of the Tower as you, so you are fighting others who have passed the Exam. The longer you survive, the more points you rack up.

You earn points in battle, not just for defeating an opponent, but for performing moves. Land a jutsu, execute successful combos, and your point total grows. Climbing up each run of the Tower also gives bonuses:
  • Forest of Death - +10 pts
  • Tower Lvl 1 - +50
  • Tower Lvl 2 - +250
  • Tower Lvl 3 - +250
  • Tower Lvl 4 - +1000
Naruto's online leaderboards track the number of consecutive victories in the Tower as well as overall score. And, perhaps more importantly, there are fourteen Achievements connected to success in the Forest of Death Exam.
  • Genin - 15 Pts - Obtain the rank of Genin by earning 1250 pts in the Forest of Death Exam.
  • Chunin - 30 Pts - Obtain the rank of Chunin by earning 3750 pts in the Forest of Death Exam
  • Jounin - 40 Pts - Obtain the rank of Jounin by earning 7500 pts in the Forest of Death Exam
  • Naruto Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Naruto
  • Sasuke Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Sasuke
  • Sakura Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Sakura
  • Kakashi Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Kakashi
  • Kiba Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Kiba
  • Neji Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Neji
  • Zabuza Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Zabuza
  • Haku Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Haku
  • Orochimaru Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Orochimaru
  • Gaara Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Gaara
  • Secret Character Forest of Death Exam - 15 Pts - Complete the Forest of Death Exam as Secret Character

Online combat is silky smooth. Now, to be fair, we did play on a test server without thousands of people also playing in matches. But, fighting against testers in Montreal, we had no latency or lag issues, no slowdown. Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is a beautiful game, with colorful combat. It looks like the anime come to life. Actually, it looks better than the anime come to life. While we would have loved a spectator mode to round out the online portion, the Forest of Death Exam looks worthwhile.

 

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja ships exclusively for Xbox 360 on October 30.