And you thought sticking your finger in a light socket hurt!

Ninja Gaiden III is slicing into Europe on March 2012 and new details are finally starting to sneak our way. This time up, Game Informer recently published an article that broke new details on the controversial Hero Mode in the game, a new approach for the series that's pushing to attract gamers who are more casual than the game's usual hardcore crowd.

In this drastic departure for the series, all blocking and evading will be performed automatically. We know that every Sigma fan's stomach just turned over, which is understandable as these two techniques are the basic elements of the game's fighting engine. Anyone who's rolled the end credits of these games knows what an elite club they're in just by taking a glimpse of the online leader boards, which are only unlocked upon completion. We can definitely understand anyone who might feel betrayed by this new mode, but Team Ninja is injecting a much deeper story into the game than we’ve seen before and they want everyone to be able to enjoy it evenly.

When Game Informer asked Team Ninja’s producer Yosuke Hayashi if it would be possible for gamers to die in Hero Mode, he replied:

As for whether players will ever see a ‘Game Over’ screen... we haven’t decided yet.

While Move support hasn’t yet been fully explained, it's possible that Move could be used as to tool to draw in these casual gamers, but we hope that the long-time hardcore fans of the series will get some use of the controller as well.

Think he's dead yet?

A few other details emerged about the game’s multiplayer mode(s) as well: co-op play based on sections of the single player campaign and online team battles are two of the modes that will be available in the game. The team battle modes are especially appealing as they'll feature a levelling system where you’ll start out as a weak ninja wannabe and work your way up into the ranks of a Master Ninja. Of course, it wouldn’t be right if it didn’t come loaded with ways to customise your ninja and unlock weapons along the way. Anything else has yet to be seen about these exciting online modes, but we’ll bring you any new details as they slice our way.

What’s your take on the new push to the casual crowd in this long running hardcore series? Are you ready to start slicing your way up the ranks in the new online multiplayer mode? Let us know your thoughts one these new entries to the series in the comments section below.

[source gameinformer.com]