Hardly graceful for a ninja of his calibre. Fleeing can also be problematic - when Crow runs, he's susceptible to inexplicably falling after running into objects. We'd often run at a wall and jump to try and hang on to a ledge, only to end up doing a wall run directly into some enemies. Running and jumping with Crow feels fairly loose - you never feel like you're in full control as the character often skids and turns quite poorly. Sadly, Crow controls pretty poorly for a ninja. Some are also more sensitive to sounds more than others, particularly the samurai guards players will encounter in the more difficult stages. Most won't notice you if you're not at the same eye level as them - making travelling by rooftops an absolute necessity. Thankfully, guards for the most part aren't that smart in Shinobido. Trust us, you do not want to get into this situation in Shinobido. White means they're unaware, purple means they're on the lookout, red means they've spotted Crow while Orange means they're in pursuit but have lost sight of the player. As opposed to the numbers-based awareness system guards in the Tenchu series have, Shinobido features a colour-coded system which tells you how aware guards are of your presence. In a mission, Crow sports all of the usual ninja tricks, including having the ability to grapple to roofs and other high places, run along walls and generally be sneaky and quiet. For example, you'll often come across the same village in assassination missions, while the same walled compound will pop up time and again for thievery quests. Annoyingly, some of the maps are repeated for the same type of missions. Missions fall under the broad objectives of assassination, total destruction (kill all enemies on the map), thievery (steal an object and escape), courier (deliver a document) or reconnaissance. While there are plenty of missions of offer, there's actually little variety in the type of missions you'll be asked to do. Your actions have a direct impact on the greater power play happening in Utakata - the power of the three feudal lords will grow or wane depending on whose missions you choose to accept. Each of the three feudal lords will offer Crow missions to complete - choosing and successfully completing a lord's mission will raise Crow's level of respect in that lord's eyes, while diminishing it in the others. Crow's shack acts as a game hub of sorts, and is where players choose missions, buy equipment and train their skills.

The three-pronged story approach is one of Shinobido's highlights.

Shinobido way of the ninja rom