Gaming Generations :: Ninja Gaiden II

NickD · Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject:

Ninja Gaiden II

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios, Team Ninja , Tecmo
Official Website: www.xbox.com/en-US/games/splash/n/ninjagaiden2
Release Date: 6/3/2008
Genre: Fantasy Action Adventure
Number of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: Mature
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REVIEW

The sequel to Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox. This game is the latest in the Ninja Gaiden series and features Ryu Hayabusa back for more fights against Fiends with new weapons and abilities.

PLOT
The Archfiend is about to be resurrected. A woman named Sonia shows up to warn you before the plans can be completed because this event could end the world as we know it. To get there, you will have to do battle with 4 Greater Fiends who control Lightning, Storm (pretty much just wind), Fire, and Blood.

SETTING
The game takes place in Hayabusa Village, New York, Tokyo, Europe, South American Jungle, and the Underworld. The game is full of enemies who are more than ready to help Ryu end his mission.

GAMEPLAY
The controls aren't much different than in the first game. You have Ninpo, a wide assortment of melee weapons and a handful of projectile weapons. The familiar slash, dodge, block, techniques are definitely needed in this one. Unlike other games of this type, you NEED to block sometimes or you will be dead.

The Vigoorian Flail and Dragon Sword are back, but the rest of the melee weapons are new, although some of them feel familiar. The Windmill shuriken also makes a return.

The actual gameplay, the fighting, etc is great. The controls flow well and the game looks almost like a movie, which is probably why they included an "Old Film Filter" for after you beat the game that makes gameplay look grainy and turns everything black and white. Personally, I think it'd look cooler if the blood were still red, Sin City style, but hey, it still looks cool.

Ultimate techniques (UTs) still fun to perform and each weapon does it's very own thing. These are helpful to string long combos together.

A new mechanic to the game are the Obliteration Techniques. These aren't that impressive from any technical standpoint. Stand near near-dead enemy and hit Y and you'll finish them off in an awesomely brutal way.

This game almost forces you to switch weapons since some enemies are just easier with certain weapons. However, there are some achievements for beating the game while only performing kill shots with one weapon.

One problem I did have with the gameplay was the way the difficulty varies. The original game is brutal all the way through. Knowing this, I played through the first time on Way of the Acolyte, which is the easiest of the two beginning difficulties. I noticed that I didn't have any trouble with the main parts of the mission (i.e. killing hordes of nameless enemies) but once I got to some of the bosses the difficulty went through the roof.

Another problem I had with the end boss was similar, but I won't directly ruin that battle for you, if you want to know, send me a message.

The last gripe I have is the lack of platforming adventure in this game. Gamespot lists this game as Fantasy Action Adventure, but I honestly don't see any adventure to it. The first game had far more little things to look for and far more and better puzzles and platforming challenges. In this game you play a $@%! ninja, I just expected to see a lot more acrobatics. I really missed the Adventure that the original had.

GRAPHICS
The graphics are definitely amazing. The blood and dismemberment are performed very well from a visual standpoint. Everything in the game definitely looks next-gen and the game has some of the best graphics on the 360 right now.

However, there are a lot of area where there is just too much wide open space. Sure, this might be nice when you're fighting 10+ things at once, but that was half the fun/challenge to the first one: figuring out how to make the environment work to your advantage. They definitely could have pulled some of the backdrops in and removed some lame invisible walls.

There's nothing more annoying than jumping to a ledge where you don't see anything above you and even doing his fancy flip up just to watch yourself flip into an invisible wall and slide back down.

SOUND
The sound is excellent. Everything that you expect to make a sound does it. The music fits the areas and adds to the overall feel of the game.

SUMMARY
Despite the criticisms I have, this game is still fun to play. As far as I'm concerned, that's what it all really comes down to when buying and playing games. This game will challenge your skills even on the lowest settings, unless you mastered the first one each time a new version came out. It looks like Ninja Gaiden, the combat feels like Ninja Gaiden, and the story is somewhat cliche, but still very Ninja Gaiden.

This game, like the first one, is definitely not something I will ever sell. Sure, the score I give it may not reflect that, but even though I dislike the flaws, I love the rest of the game.

There is some definite replay value in this game and the level of challenge you receive makes a successful fight all the more worth it, especially when you barely skimmed by, which I did multiple times between bosses and Tests of Valor.

Overall Score: 9.0/10

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Pictures courtesy of GameSpot.com
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Nick
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Finished Reviews:
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (DS)
Ninja Gaiden II
Battlefield: Bad Company (360)
Gears of War
Too Human
Dead Space (360)
Legendary (360)
EndWar (360)
Fallout 3

Writer, Actor in Flingshot Productions