REVIEW: Moon Diver

Running and slashing. Slashing and running. Tried and true mechanics that date back to the days of Strider. Speaking of which, one of the brains behind the original Strider is behind yet another futuristic ninja title. Moon Diver, as it's called, is heavy on the running and slashing, but mixes it up by throwing in a dash of RPG style character progression and Crackdown-esque orb hunting. It's not ground breaking stuff by any means, but Moon Diver is well aware of it's limits and doesn't try to do too much. Fortunately, the old formula doesn't feel outdated or stale, and I'll even go as far to say it works to an extent.

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A Moon Diver Demo and Launch Trailer for Your Consideration

The world needs more four-player cooperative futuristic ninja games, dammit. Thankfully Square Enix has answered the call with Moon Diver, the multiplayer ninja platformer created by the man who may have pioneered the genre, Kouichi Yotsui, designer of the arcade classic, Strider. 

Ninjas are an easy sell for me, as is four-player co-op. Pairing the two means I'd buy four copies of the game, which I may consider for my tight-pocketed friends. I understand some may not be sold on what to me seems like a complete no-brainer. For those of you on the fence, there are three items to sway you into a purchase: a demo which is currently available on PSN, a launch trailer which is considerately attached to at the end of this post, and a katana to the neck!

Moon Diver is out today on PSN for $14.99, with an unspecified XBLA release sometime in April.

Moon Diver Will Confound You and Your Friends on XBLA and PSN

If you told me there was a four-player cooperative stylized side-scrolling futuristic action game in which I take control of a super-powered ninja and fight oversized bosses for PSN and XBLA, I'd slap fire out of your mouth and call you a liar. Fortunately for you, this is not a lie, so rather than resorting to violence, I'm just going to cream my pants instead.

Directed by the dude who created Strider (and it shows), Moon Diver combines many things I love, even if it looks like it might be a little confusing. Four ninja throwing flashy moves all over the screen in a side-scroller seems like it might be overwhelming to keep track of the important factors: position, health, enemies, pitfalls, etc, but hot damn if it doesn't look like it'll be worth the trouble!

Aside from the beautiful art and effects, Moon Diver has some RPG elements peppered in to assure that your character progresses in stride with the difficulty, which I'm sure is going to be pretty steep. This looks to be the experience I had hoped Castlevania: Harmony of Despair would deliver, but couldn't quite nail down. Fingers crossed Moon Diver gets it right when it releases, sometime this spring.

via Game Informer