Ninety-Nine Nights

Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Q Entertainment / Phantagram
Genre: Action
Release: August 15, 2006
Platform: Xbox 360

Reviewer: Eric

Hack n Slash games are a dime a dozen. Every system has a ton of these and why is that? This is a game where all you do is constantly tap one or two buttons for hours. Why do these games sell so much? It is simple, they are damn fun and anybody can play them. You don't have to be a pro at playing games, these are simple and fun. Ninety-Nine Nights is fun, but there are a few things that I am not too crazy about.

When I first saw this game I was blown away, the graphics were amazing and all the characters on screen looked great. Everyone had amazing detail, you could tell they put in a lot of time into this Hack n Slash game. Even though I like these two things about the game there is the music. I am not too crazy about the music in this game, it is boring and repeats at times. Would it have killed them to make some of the tracks a little longer? Didn't looping in video games, music wise, die in the 16-bit era? Guess not since Ninety-Nine Nights fails at this. One little boo boo so far and trust me I got a few more up my sleeves.

At first this game seems easy, hit your two buttons and destroy every thing in site. WRONG! You get graded at the end of each level, something done in a lot of Hack n Slash games now, but if you want achievement points you better be ready to spend a few hours on this game.

Speaking of achievement points this one can either be easy or difficult, it all depends if you are lucky or not. You need to get all S rankings in each of the stages, for all the characters, even the hidden one. This is possible, but after more than a dozen times my brother and I could not get an S ranking in one level. My brother was able to beat the hardest mission in the game, some hidden level with your main character, but getting an S ranking on the second level with the dude with the spear, impossible. I haven't even seen anybody on Xbox Live with all the points in this game so at least we don't suck too much. Though if you want a few hundred achievement points that are simple to earn then play this game. You can easily earn half of the point in an hour or two, just make sure you don't keep attacking with the same button, spice things up, you are playing a Hack n Slash game.

One thing I did enjoy a lot was the ability to earn levels. You can't get them to level 99 like in most RPG games, but this is mainly a Hack n Slash game here, it just happens to have some RPG elements in it. Other RPG elements this game offers is the ability to equip weapons and accessories. Most of the stages offer hidden treasure chests that contain either weapons of accessories so it is in your best interest to play through the stages two or three times. You can usually spot where the chests might be, this game doesn't offer free roaming maps.

The story in this game is average. You get to play both sides in Ninety-Nine Nights, some of the seven characters are good and bad. It is neat seeing how the other side is in certain battles, but when all your characters share one of the stages it is a little depressing. I don't make video games, but would it have killed them to make more stages? All the characters share one stage, like I said, but there are other stages that some of the characters share too. I didn't mind this after I went through three of the characters, but after that I was starting to get bored.

Final Verdict
Ninety-Nine Nights did break new grounds with certain things, but it does share a lot of the same things that are in every other Hack n Slash game. If you want a good Hack n Slash game then I do recommended Ninety-Nine Nights. I enjoyed this game for a good bit and on some rare occasions I do put it on, mainly to see if I can finally beat that one stage to each my two final achievement points. With other Hack n Slash games coming out monthly you many be able to get this one for a good price, just make sure you don't pay over fifty for it, you may be disappointed.

Rating
5 out of 10

Ninety-Nine Nights Trailer