Ninja Gaiden II

By Itagaki's own admission, there's nothing more to be done with his famed third-person action series, so Ninja Gaiden II will be the last in the series. But is it a fitting end to what many consider to be one of the best action titles ever? Or does it show that the Xbox original was near-perfect (camera issues aside, but we'll come to that later) and there's nothing new to be done?

Ninja Gaiden is hailed as a purist's game that takes massive amounts of skill and patience to conquer. Its gorgeous visuals and blisteringly fast gameplay will attract any fan of video games into its world. But its extreme difficulty will quickly slam the door in the face of anyone who not willing to try really hard at upping their game.

For these reasons Ninja Gaiden is both loved and loathed in equal measure. Actually it's probably loathed a little bit more. Gaiden has never really sold on the same scale as some other action blockbusters, which is a shame. It is one of the best actions games I've ever had the pleasure to play.

Yes, I fall into the camp that loves relentless combat and bosses the size of small moons. And while the foundations of NGII's combat have been tweaked to allow gamers with less patience to participate, it's still bastard hard in parts. Well did you really think Itagaki would sell out and make a kids' kung fu game?

First to your Aid

A big complaint of the original was that health and save points were too few and far between. You'd have to plough through the most ridiculous of set-pieces before you could save or pick up more health or save. And if you died you'd have to go back and do it all again.

That formula's still in the sequel but head ninja, Ryu Hyabusa, now has the ability to heal himself of light wounds after each skirmish. Deeper wounds (the red bit on your health bar) can only be regenerated with a healing item or blue essence.

If this feature was included in NG: Black (Xbox) or Sigma (PS3) there would have been an outcry about dumbing the game down for a wider audience. It'd be like taking the swearing out of the Sopranos so kids could watch. But the game is still as frustratingly hard as ever and the enemy count has been doubled. Though oddly some of the later boss fights are a lot easier than some of the earlier ones. It's all a bit unbalanced in parts.

Save points are more abundant throughout the sequel and they'll fully heal you too, but only the first time you save, and only when you've cleared the area of any immediate threat. For those who got stuck on the horsemen in the Hyabusa Village of the original (the second level), there's hope you get a little further...

Gaiden II takes place after the Xbox game, and the only returning character is the crazy little man from the corner shop, Muramasa. Sorry folks, Rachel's got better things to do.

The story, however, still revolves around the on-going battle between the Fiends and the Dragons. Ryu must now stop the Archfiend from arising and reeking havoc across the world. If this 'Lord of all Fiends' wasn't enough to deal with, there's the Black Spider Ninja Clan that continually get in your way. Without giving away too much, the Spider and Hyabusa clans have history and even Ryu's old man features in a few cut scenes.

The game opens up on the rooftops of Tokyo's Sky City with CIA agent, Sonia, looking for Ryu. All we know about the blonde (who looks a lot like Rachel, only with Dante's haircut from Devil May Cry) is that she's investigating a top-secret Fiend case. Even though Rachel isn't in the sequel, fans of busty, S&M bondage-clad beauties won't be disappointed.

The race to stop the Archfiend takes Ryu through many environments, each as fantastical as the original. You'll be shredding bodies in cities such as Tokyo, New York and what looks like Russia one minute and then you'll be on the wings of giant aircraft (while flying, of course) before fronting some sort of mega-demon in a parallel dimension or going a Rambo in the South African jungle.

There are four greater Fiends to challenge before you get to the main event and the story has you following these nasties around the world in a totally linear fashion. Everything looks great in HD but there's not really any noticeable leap in visuals over what Sigma achieved on PS3. Part of the levels look a bit bland though. It seems that Team Ninja has spent most of its times on the blood and guts of the game.

nstead of including several testing missions in the game as an after thought like Black, you can choose to participate in 'Tests of Valor'. If you're holding the Rod of Trials (not a bloke from down the pub) you see glowing markers on the ground at various places. Jump into one of these, defeat anywhere up to 100 enemies, and you'll receive a special item (and an Achievement). The tests are usually near a save point so you can try them as many times as you want until you nail it.

Finish the fight

As previously detailed in our lengthy preview, it's not just the health system that's been tweaked to make things a little easier. Aside from the mental-to-watch Ultimate technique, there's a new finishing move called the Obliteration technique. Simply chop off an arm of leg, hit Y, and you're treated to an ultra-violent sequence that'll make mincemeat of your foe. This even works on the larger bosses too. Look out for when they fall to their knees with low health.

Obliterating allows you to systematically thin the battlefield. And if you know what you're actually doing with the weapons (learning a few combos will make life A LOT easier) you'll pick up the combat pretty easily. New weapons like the Falcon's Talons and the Eclipse Scythe are bloody deadly and the gore factor is truly impressive. Not bad considering the very first NG game on Xbox was censored in Europe. This is a game you won't want want to play after a big, meaty meal. And it'll make vegetarians and vegans sick to the stomach.

Legs, arms and heads are all fair game. Even the werewolfs will pick up their own body parts and chuck 'em at you. Nothing is sacred and the ground is often littered with bloody bits and pieces after a battle. It'll give your kids nightmares.

But all in Ninja Gaiden II suffers from the same frustrating difficult bottlenecks as the original. Just when you think you're becoming a ninja god the game will throw a few bosses at you (two at a time sometimes) that will take several attempts to beat and use all that day's patience.

Sometimes you'll despair and think you won't be able to get get any further. But you've got no option other then to keep hammering away and hope for the best. And if you're not packing enough health or the Talisman of Rebirth (which you have to equip now in order to continue once you've died) you may have to backtrack quite a bit. Use as many save slots as you can, just in case. That comes from experience.

Gameplay is plagued by the same rubbish camera of the other three games in the series. How many more attempts are needed before something is done about it? You'll often lose sight of Ryu and his opponents thanks to a camera that's incapable of focussing on its subject - especially indoors. For what's being billed as a true next-gen action game this is unacceptable. As is the occasional mid-combat loading. It's like having pause button pressed mid-fight and no one likes that.

The sequel packs the same punch as the original but it's just not different enough. We've all seen and done what NGII dishes up in the other three games of the series. There's no real evolution and after four versions of almost the same game, it's not hard to see why Itagaki has decided to hang up the nunchucks for good.

Source: C&V Games