Estimated total reading time: ~2'

Title: Mark of the Ninja
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release date: 2012-10-16
Regular price: 14,99 €
Bundled:      ☑Yes ☐No
Achievements: ☑Yes ☐No
Cards:        ☑Yes ☐No

Well, since the April theme brought me a nice list of games to play (and someone actually spent time filling it), what’s better than playing a totally different game, started in 2013 and kept on hold since then? =P

In my defence, I can tell that this is a stupendous game!
Don’t know why I had interrupted my playtrough.. if I were to choose a reason, I’d say I had got stuck somewhere..

Freedom!

Tired of games that basically tell you how to do everything? Well, this is not the case!
This game gives you the power to choose your own way: different gears, weapons, routes.. want to kill? DO IT!
oh, don’t want? then don’t :)

I won’t descend much into details as I played most of it years ago and I may end up writing incorrect stuff but trust me when I say you have to play this!
Level design may be one of the best out there, you can (almost) always choose the way that best fits your approach (killer, stealth..) to reach the goal; for example, you have to infiltrate in a building and you could enter from the front door (usually guarded) or you may wander a bit and perhaps discover a way to enter from underground or one from the roof/walls.
If you decide to kill enemies, you can take advantage of the surrounding, you can use your gear to distract/attract guards or you can “simple” sneak close to them and take their lives.
If you don’t want to get discovered, you may also want to hide those body before some other guard finds ‘em. Or you could go “full-theatrical” and do stuff like hanging bodies to scare other guards, leading them to panic and, hopefully, death. (Obviously I couldn’t notice any resemblance the first time ‘cause I hadn’t played yet but this second time I played, I’ve noticed that this part is similar to what you can do in Batman: Arkham Asylum/City)

Whatever the style you may choose, remember that it will be hard to confront enemies directly, as they have guns and can activate alarms (which lead to reinforcements).
The shadows favors you, why deny their help? =P
Or, as they say in another franchise: «May the Shadow hide you». Solution: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Graphics can look a bit “cartoon-ish” but, despite this, everything is very well made! :)

..and if you think AI isn’t too smart don’t worry, once beaten you’ll unlock Hard mode ;)

What? you own this and haven’t played it yet? What are you waiting for? :O
There, you’ve got no other excuses now =P