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Building on the success of Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, this new action adventure takes the story to a deeper level within the Naruto Universe. Now a respected ninja, Naruto evolves into a mature and strong hero. However, with his new status comes responsibility, and Naruto will soon find himself surrounded by conflict. Forced to relive bitter memories, Naruto’s best friend Sasuke strikes out on a self-destructive quest for power. Now with the help of his friends, Naruto must confront Sasuke and save him before it’s too late. Team up with multiple characters, explore open 3D environments and challenge some of the fiercest enemies from the Naruto Universe.

Genre: Action Adventure

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Online Play: 2 Versus

Local Play: 2 Versus

November 18, 2008 –
Long one of Japan’s most popular manga and anime, Naruto has taken over America in the past few years. There are millions of Naruto fans worldwide. And for a while, all of them suffered through a series of weak videogame offerings. That began to change last year with the release of Ubisoft’s Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, the first Naruto game to properly blend adventure and fighting elements. A year later and Ubisoft Montreal is back at it with a story mode twice as long and far more interesting than the first.

Friendship and teamwork are the central themes of Broken Bond. The story, which covers episodes 81-135 of the anime, follows Naruto’s rise and his best friend Sasuke’s disillusionment. Jealous of Naruto’s new powers, Sasuke eventually abandons his friends to follow a darker path. This leads to a brilliant final arc to the story mode that, in a world of increasingly disappointing endings, fully delivers.

The Japanese voice actors have been included and this is the way to go as the American actors come off a little goofy at times. The entire story of Broken Bond is told through cut-scenes (some interactive) using the in-game engine. Rise of a Ninja made the mistake of inserting standard definition footage from the anime into the mix. It’s good to see Ubi Montreal learned from its mistake. As the story this time around is stronger, it helps to have one consistent visual look.

If you don’t know who Naruto or Sasuke are, you will have trouble following the events of Broken Bond. There is no recap and no written logs offering backstory to help newcomers. If you have never watched Naruto or never played Rise of a Ninja, you may have trouble following the storyline. That is perhaps Broken Bond’s biggest gaffe. Why not add some extra written content or dialogue that can be accessed if players need a refresher? The Broken Bond could be a way to recruit new Naruto fans. Instead, it alienates those who haven’t followed the series.

Listen to the Japanese voice talent.The story mode in Rise of a Ninja was short and a little disconnected at times. Those issues have been resolved in Broken Bond. It will take at least 10 hours to complete the story mode — and that’s if you ignore the numerous minigames, races, and collection challenges. The story itself has a far better flow, though the endless fetch quest missions are a bit too much. What’s interesting is that there are a few seemingly unimportant quests that actually set up or explain some later actions. It’s these missions that were missing from Rise of a Ninja and let some holes in the narrative.

It would have benefited Ubisoft to add some variety to these missions as almost every one turns into a fetch quest. While it’s great to have a longer game, there’s only so many times you can do the exact same thing in similar-looking areas before it starts feeling like a bit of a chore. It doesn’t help that the forests where the majority of missions take place are a challenge to navigate. The area map sometimes lacks walls or gates, meaning you will travel one way only to realize — after dodging a variety of traps — that you went in the wrong direction. Add to that a considerable amount of backtracking and some of the missions become frustrating. It’s too bad, because the core of Broken Bond is great. It’s the poor and often uninspired mission designs that hold Broken Bond back.

In Broken Bond, you not only take on the role of Naruto, but also a number of other characters. You’ll take control of Sasuke, Neji, Kiba and many more. The focus is still Naruto — don’t doubt that — but mixing in other perspectives allows Ubisoft to tell a more complete story. And it’s an inevitable result of the new team system.

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