Namco Bandai Preview

Written by on 09 Mar 2012

After the long journey from North Yorkshire, it was a relief to leave the tube station at Hammersmith; I consulted my map for the location of the tower in which Bandai Namco’s UK office resides, and after a dressing down at security I was directed towards the 10th floor.

The first thing that greeted me as I walked through the door, besides the lovely PR guru Hollie, is a pair of fighters throwing punches at each other. Luckily, they are two huge statues from Tekken, and they look really rather cool.The room into which I was then directed was filled with XBOX 360 consoles, each running a copy of the as yet unreleased Ridge Racer Unbounded. On a seperate desk sat a lone PS3 console showcasing Saint Seiya Sanctuary Battle. It was fairly clear which the big hitting title was out of these two.

The event was an informal preview of Namco Bandai's upcoming titles. We were allotted one hour with each title, enough to whet the appetite and provide a solid understanding of what to expect in the coming months.

Here's what was on offer:

Ridge Racer Unbounded 

Genre: Driving/Racing
Due: March 30th 

The latest incarnation of Ridge has opted for a more explosive, action-packed style than its previous iterations, and becomes far more accessible for the transition.

The game serves up an entertaining slice of race-action, and should by no means end up exclusively dominated by the hardcore racer types; it’s pure arcade fun which is the way I like my racers.

More Outrun than Gran Turismo, hopefully it will stand on its own feet and bring more than just another destructive driving game to the table.  It certainly grabbed me more than last years Split/Second Velocity and somehow reminded me of the fun I had with Burnout 3 back on the original Xbox.

Best Bit:
Explosions and slow motion. I’m just a sucker for an epic explosion, realism be damned! The gameplay also lends itself to those of us without the inclination to drive like it's a real car. Full throttle and a drift button means that anyone can pick this up and have a shot at winning.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations

Genre: Fighter
Due: March 30th

It should come as no surprise that it will be of great interest to Naruto fans, and of little consequence to those who dislike the series. So far as gameplay goes, it is by no means a hardcore fighter, but its system works well, the fights are paced decently and the graphics are... superb. 

The simple fighting system will probably be a great asset, as a complex technical fighter would turn off many of the people who would otherwise enjoy this. To be honest I was quite blown away by how nice this game looks, and I couldn’t help but feel jealousy towards Naruto fans as they are clearly getting a title which has seen very good production values and really knows the audience it is aiming for. Despite myself, I had fun with this one, so even if you are just a passing fan of Naruto, I think this one will have something for you.

Best Bit: Graphics. Naruto may cause conflict amongst fans and detractors, but no one could argue that this isn't the smoothest looking anime title on the market.