It seems Team Ninja has injected a pinch of remorse into upcoming slice n’ dice sequel Ninja Gaiden III, with players given the choice of sparing a begging bad guy’s life or slaughtering them on the spot.
That’s according to a report on Siliconera, who got their mitts on a build of the game in London this week. The scene in question depicts protagonist Ryu chopping up soldiers left, right and centre, before faltering just as he’s about to finish some poor sod off.
The game initiates a quick-time event just before the player lands a finishing move, with Ryu’s victim lowering his guard before scarpering into a corner and begging for his life.
At this point, gamers can opt to finish the soldier off, or spare him. It’s worth noting they won’t even fight back at this point, so you should feel double the guilt if you decide to introduce him to the business end of your blade.
One interesting development is that the game will also allow Ryu to transform into a Dragon, at which point he’ll mercilessly dispatch everyone in the immediate area and harvest their life as energy.
Ninja Gaiden III is due out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012.