If there’s one thing eternally busy developer CyberConnect2 knows how to do, it’s pack their Naruto games so full of content that trying to pin the tail on how many hours it takes to complete is a futile proposition. Despite that timer showing how long you’ve been at it for the last few weeks or whatever, you really don’t want to know how many hours you’re sinking into a game with a ton of playable characters and customization options unless you’re going for some sort of bragging rights someone can easily match by firing up the same game and letting it sit on a status screen while they do the Rip Van Winkle for a month or so.

For those of you who’ve blown through, are still playing, or missed out on and plan to purchase Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, you may want to hold onto something or just have a seat. Namco Bandai and CC2 are about to drop an even better game on your heads in the form of Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst, set for a PS3 and Xbox 360 release on October 22 and followed later by a PC release through Steam. Full Burst packs in the original game with reworked cinemas, all the DLC content and some all-new and insanely tough challenges that will test the best players with some truly brutal battles. A build of the new game was up and running at Namco Bandai’s press event a few weeks back and just listening to the staggering number of changes was exhausting yet showed that CC2 really loves its fans and wants them to have the best game possible…

The game’s animated cut scenes have been tweaked and improved to look even better and/or more like the anime, all 38 DLC outfits are yours from the outset, you get the evil Kabuto Yakushi as a new playable character, and even an art book packed with the retail version. The console version of the game will even be sold in two forms: one, a standalone full retail release and the other, a less expensive DLC upgrade for those who bought the original game and don’t want to shell out for the same content twice. I’m gathering the PC version will be the same as the retail release (mine the physical art book, of course), but I don’t think the Steam game will support mods at all (unless someone figures out how to poke around in CC2’s code and get them up and running).

As I tend to like playing games like this at home in private so I can yell at my TV and threaten it with a controller that I’ll never throw (hey, replacements are EXPENSIVE!) I didn’t even pick up the controller, as the only mode being shown was a rather ridiculous and lengthy new boss battle that’s made to challenge the best players (and an unlucky friend if you happen to have two controllers handy). Even with two powerful characters having at the creep, between his transformations and lighting fast moves, it was no contest. Granted, he’s beatable if you practice a lot and learn how to whittle his health down considerably… but then he goes and changes into a MUCH tougher opponent with FIVE life bars to take out. Even the poor Namco Bandai rep was getting creamed and stopped after about six or seven attempts.

As i was leaving the event, I noticed a fellow editor-type trying his “luck” at the battle, and as I watched him go down in flames twice (the first time within seconds, the next in about two minutes or so), I chuckled and left knowing I wasn’t “that guy” in public again – as noted, I prefer to suffer at home with a game that hard. Yeah, I’ll be the one sitting at home pulling out what few hairs I have remaining from my head and screaming like a lunatic until that fast-moving crazy justu-zapping bum is dead and I never have to see him again. And so will you, Ill wager. Considering how long it took to finish the last game, Full Burst’s new content (which includes a series of Ninja-level challenges) should keep fans busy for who knows how long. I certainly won’t be counting the hours at all – just marking time by how many controllers I go through before it’s all over. October’s not so far away, you know…