Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna Drive

Namco Bandai is the most recent video game developer to attempt to make a decent Naruto game. Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna Drive is a combination action and fighting style game for the PSP. The game follows a story line much like some of the filler episodes from the series, but on a grander scale. The story is told from mission to mission with a little more of the mystery behind the Hidden Leaf kidnappings being revealed after each. Many of the characters from the show have roles in the game, and several are playable characters. Naruto uses the four person squad to battle his way through levels.

The game play is divided into two types of missions; one progressing the story and the other free missions that are very similar to the first. The story missions each have some minor minions to battle with a boss-type villain close to the end. The boss battles are a nice treat to start, but they get dull as you repeat them and fight similar bosses. The free missions have different objectives, but the enemies and bosses are all the same. Based on your score for the mission you’ll receive equipment to power up your team. You only get to choose the members of your four man team in the free missions, but the teams in story missions are usually well balanced between attacking, supporting, and healing characters. Like the common boss battles, the major boss battles are challenging and entertaining at first. They require strategy and good timing, and the satisfaction once you’ve conquered each is great. However, they too become repetitive and dull.

As far as the fighting goes, it’s a little bit lacking compared to any standard fighting genre game. There are a very limited amount of movements that you can make while in combat, and they quickly get repetitive. The attacks and items that you can use while in battle are chosen before you start each mission, but there are only a few to choose from for each character. You can only control one character, and the AI for the other three is not very bright. The real challenge to doing well on a mission seems to be keeping your allies alive.

The action style of game play involves the larger maps and customizable characters. Don’t be confused when I say larger maps. They’re only larger compared to typical fighting game arenas. The maps are small for a more common action game, usually only hosting a few enemies and obstacles. The characters can be customized using the equipment rewarded after missions. The scrolls can increase character stats, while new jutsus can provide a different method of attack in battle. The customization isn’t great, but it’s a nice feature to have in a fighting game. The camera angle is controllable making it easy to see what’s happening with your team. However, it can be a real pain trying to balance dodging attacks, saving teammates, making attacks, and having to keep adjusting the camera.

The storyline is told through video clips at the start of scenario missions. The story is a tale of mistaken identity leading to war, which is a little cliché. It can be a bit difficult to follow if you’ve never watched the series. The voice acting isn’t great. A lot of the characters sound alike, and they’re a far cry from the television series actors.

Overall, Kizuna Drive is an entertaining game, but it could have been better if the fighting aspects had been expanded on. You won’t see anything ground breaking in this game, and there’s no replay value since there isn’t any difficulty settings. The early missions do a good job of explaining how the game works, and loading screen tips fill in the rest. If you have a lot of free time on your hands or are a fan of the series, then give this game a shot.  Otherwise, keep looking.

Editor comment