Business Research: Ninja Theory

Ninja Theory, Ltd. is an independent video game developer based in Cambridge, England. Originally founded as Just Add Monsters in March 2000, the company was purchased by former Argonaut Games CEO Jez San in November 2004.

Their first game was an X-box based title called Kung Fu Chaos in 2003, though they do not have a massive backlog of games they have created two amazing titles Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West under their own IP and most recently worked on their version of Devil May Cry. The also recently produced an IOS based title Fightback. Though I haven’t played it yet I would like to give a try.

The company focusses on combat based games that incorporate an element of adventure and narrative. The games are quite dated by today's next gen standards but if you take that Heavenly Sword was released in 2007 it still hold ups rather well, and if you look at similar game released at the same time its graphics were quite advanced.

What ultimately sold Heavenly Sword to me was the combat physics and the story plot. The took a combat game and made it thoroughly engaging and though eventually it became a little repetitive with combats scenarios but the boss battles at stages were really engaging, it offered some visually stunning environments and some really sweet character designs. I particularly liked the enemies and weapons and due to the setting in a sort of medieval/ fictitious but really draws you into the environment and game world.

I can see myself being able to model the assets, weapons, a siege weapons featured in this game, I loved the style and yet they had credibility about them. They use a variety settings and certain characters have distinct weaponry and I love the way the boss fights incorporate boss specific weapons and settings.

Though I don’t feel as confident as a character modeller, I loved the armour and variety of costumes during this game and feel that with more practice within Z-brush I can produce characters of this quality.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was the second game released by the company and you can see the improvement in graphics from Heavenly Sword, Enslaved was released 3 years later and even in that short time you can see the improvements.

  The game has a very engaging story plot and a fantastic set of characters that develop throughout the game. The style of the game changes dramatically from that of heavenly sword it’s more of an action/ adventure game than a combat driven plot.

 The setting in more futuristic fantasy based and there a lot of mechanical elements throughout the game. I loved the enemies and the vivid landscape and the once again the combat physic were quite the improvement from the previous title.

I loved the environments they looked sort of abandoned and quite industrial, to fit the post-apocalyptic theme. There are elements of the game where you’re able to vertically ascend maps and you get to see a lot of the existing environment. Though it’s not quite the Assassin’s Creed quality its own little feature that works well. I really loved the Mech enemies and as I stated the character are really well developed and progress throughout the game.

Though I haven’t played Ninja Theory’s version of Devil may Cry I can expect only the best. They have an amazing combat system and produce rather engaging fight sequences and incorporating this into the DMC series can only work well.

Though the company are not as large as other AAAcompanies, they have a solid work ethic and have some fantastic games under their belt. They are an English based company and I would to be able to work for them. They keep their website updated regularly and do offer internship quite regularly. If and artist position comes up I will jump at the chance.