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Naruto: The Broken Bond

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Naruto: The Broken Bond
North American box art
Developer(s)Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Designer(s)Daniel Bisson
Composer(s)Inon Zur
EngineJade
Platform(s)Xbox 360
Release
  • NA:November 18, 2008
  • AU:November 20, 2008
  • EU:November 21, 2008
Genre(s)Fighting,action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player,multiplayer

Naruto: The Broken Bondis anaction adventure gamedeveloped byUbisoft Montrealand published byUbisoftfor theXbox 360.It was released worldwide in November 2008. It is a sequel to the 2007 gameNaruto: Rise of a Ninjaand is the second and finalNarutogame to be published by Ubisoft before their rights to the IP expired.

The Broken Bondpicks up whereNaruto: Rise of a Ninjaleft off, taking place between episodes 81-135 of the anime. It contains the Search for Tsunade and the Sasuke Retrieval story arcs as well as some flashbacks of the previous game. There are 30 playable characters, a new tag-team system and original voice acting and music from the originalNarutoanime.

Development

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The game was first revealed at the E3 2008 Convention, although work on it had started before the release of thefirst game.According to team member Masao Kobayashi, the developers wanted to bring something new to the franchise while still keeping the same feel of the anime that the first game had. The art direction of thesequelwas definitely one of the biggest factors taken into consideration for the development of this new game.[1]

The environments were a big part of the first game, and one of the things they wanted to make sure was that the environments inThe Broken Bondwould support the exploration factor by being very “rich and dense”.[1]The lighting of the game was improved to complement the dynamic story, adding a new casting system and allowing the creation of maps with a more watercolor feel. Unlike the previous game, where the cutscenes were pre-rendered scenes from the anime,The Broken Bondnow has 3D cinematics. There are also a lot more NPCs. Within the adventure mode, there are now over 70 unique character models.[1]

The developers forThe Broken Bondhave also decided to keep the multiplayer system likeRise of a Ninjabut have improved upon it in several ways. The online format has been overhauled with a new ranking system, and the fighting system has been greatly tweaked. Also, there are now 30 characters to choose from, 28 different characters, one DLC character, and four bonus variations. The bonus variations were Taijutsu JumpsuitNaruto Uzumaki,Anbu Itachi, Level 2 Curse MarkSasuke Uchiha,and One-Tailed Naruto; the DLC character was Chūnin Exams Sasuke.

This was the lastNarutogame to be developed by Ubisoft before Namco Bandai decided to make theUltimate Ninja Stormfor multiplatform consoles instead of being a PlayStation 3 exclusive, starting withNaruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2.

Reception

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The game received "favorable" reviews, more so than its predecessor, according to video gamereview aggregatorMetacritic.[2]

Naruto: The Broken Bondwas nominated for Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show at 2008Spike Video Game Awards,but lost toLego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.During the12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards,theAcademy of Interactive Arts & SciencesnominatedNaruto: The Broken Bondfor "Adventure Game of the Year"and"Outstanding Achievement in Adapted Story".[13]

References

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  1. ^abc"Naruto: The Broken Bond Xbox 360 Behind the Scenes - The Art Direction".IGN.October 15, 2008.Archivedfrom the original on April 25, 2015.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  2. ^ab"Naruto: The Broken Bond for Xbox 360 Reviews".Metacritic.Archivedfrom the original on May 3, 2015.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  3. ^Hayward, Andrew (December 9, 2008)."Naruto: The Broken Bond Review".1UP.Archived fromthe originalon January 24, 2016.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  4. ^Reeves, Ben (January 2009)."Naruto The Broken Bond: A Refreshing Take On an Overexposed Anime".Game Informer.No. 189. Archived fromthe originalon October 10, 2009.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  5. ^Morse, Blake (January 27, 2009)."Naruto: The Broken Bond Review".Game Revolution.Archivedfrom the original on September 6, 2015.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  6. ^Petit, Carolyn (November 26, 2008)."Naruto: The Broken Bond Review".GameSpot.Archivedfrom the original on January 24, 2016.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  7. ^"Naruto: The Broken Bond Review".GameTrailers.January 9, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon January 16, 2009.RetrievedDecember 30,2015.
  8. ^Sandoval, Angelina (December 3, 2008)."Naruto: The Broken Bond - 360 - Review".GameZone.Archivedfrom the original on December 7, 2008.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  9. ^Goldstein, Hilary (November 18, 2008)."Naruto: The Broken Bond Review".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on October 6, 2015.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  10. ^"Naruto: The Broken Bond".Official Xbox Magazine.January 2009. p. 79.
  11. ^Jastrzab, Jeremy (January 11, 2009)."Naruto: The Broken Bond Review".PALGN.Archived fromthe originalon March 16, 2010.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  12. ^Darax (November 19, 2008)."Naruto: The Broken Bond Review (Xbox 360)".TeamXbox.Archived fromthe originalon November 13, 2013.RetrievedJuly 26,2015.
  13. ^"D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Naruto: The Broken Bond".interactive.org.Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.Retrieved15 November2023.

Further reading

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  • Haught, Jeb. "'Broken Bond' best 'Naruto' title to date"The Charleston Gazette;Charleston, W.V. 24 January 2009: C.2.
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