15 Games With Addictive Combat

Ninja Gaiden

Remember the old days when Ninja Gaiden was synonymous with hardcore difficulty? With the new-age Ninja Gaiden, first released on Xbox in 2004, the Tomonobu Itagaki-led Team Ninja wanted to go even further. Combat was a third person hack and slash-a-thon that relied on quick movement and reactions, even though players couldn’t change attacks mid-move. The emphasis on constantly re-positioning, slicing through enemies with Flying Swallow and knowing the right weapon for the job made Ninja Gaiden difficult but immensely satisfying.