Xboxist

All Shinobi Assemble For The Ninja Gaiden 2 Review

Do you think your Ninpo can handle a demonic wave of fiends, Ninja Spiders, Werewolves and other monstrosities intent on sending you to oblivion? Ninja Please! Ninja Gaiden II has finally arrived on the Xbox 360 and this is the shinobi report on Ryu Hayabusa. So, dust off the old scrolls and enjoy!

Here is a short re-cap of the story for those who have not played the original Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox. The story is centered on the Hayabusa clan, who are still living the old ways and guarding a sacred possession that was used against an ancient evil. Ryu Hayabusa has taken up the legendary dragon sword which he must now use to battle evil and save the world....once again. The new warlord of the story is Genshin leader of the Spider Ninja clan and of course you will meet him early on in the adventure. Oh yes, I know what you are thinking and yes it is equally difficult as the first boss in the first game. Don't worry, when the battle is almost over, Daddy comes and rescues his little ninja boy. However, with the new evil surfaced and his family practically wiped out, Ryu now finds himself on another epic quest.

Now that the back story is taken care of, let us begin with the controls. The fun part is learning the system in order to become the perfect ninja, however it is equally annoying to learn how to be the perfect ninja if you don't have perfect timing in your movements. You will basically have to combine buttons together to perform the most potent attacks in the game. If you were to combine jump A with hard slash Y with the direction of the enemy; you would perform a decapitation move which could end the battle rather quickly. The Y and B button will activate your ninpo when you have the option to do so, however I would suggest using it wisely. The inventory can be easily access this time around by using the D-pad to pick your herbs, primary weapons, projectile weapons and ninpo element scrolls. When you do access this option the game will pause automatically to give you time to think about your next move before a bad situation gets worse. Also you have to remember the way of the ninja is "The environment is your friend," so utilize the walls and other surfaces to fight against your opponents.

Since this is a next gen console game, players expect superior graphics. I am glad to report that the graphics are off the freaking meter in terms of scale and detail. The visuals alone make you want to cry in joy that you can see the the action take place perfectly when being attacked or cutting the limbs from your opponents. The little things that impressed were the fact that Ryu cleans the blood of his victims off his blades once the fighting is finished. If he doesn't, the blood will stay on your weapon until you jump into water or unsheathe it again.

Another addition that players will enjoy is what I call the bread crumb method. This means that when you kill certain opponents, their body parts or blood splatter will stay in the area after you have long left it. In previous games, I always wondered whether some super janitor was responsible for cleaning up areas once I had demolished them. In some places, especially with the werewolves, I wish someone would clean it up because the enemy will often use the extra body parts laying around as a weapon against you. Oh good a werewolf just threw a torso at me!

One thing I failed to mention about the combat: If you attack an opponent and cut off a limb they will still come after you. How suicidal is that for a ninja or fiend to still want you dead after getting an arm or leg cut off, hell if I got my arm cut off the last thing I would be thinking about would be going back for more. Honestly, I would go home and re-think a new career. Enemies will often try the suicidal gambit, so please for the love of all that is mighty finish the enemy off or you will get a nasty kamikaze surprise.

The weapons involved in this game all work differently which actually shows that designers spent a lot of time learning the different physics and difficulties of mastering each one. Your main weapon is the Dragon katana, the second weapon you will face is the lunar staff which first debuted in the first gaiden game for the xbox and then you have the Falcon Talons which are my favorite since it is more of a full body weapon. Gives you more of an In- your- face combat feel, then you have the eclipse Scythe, blade tonfas, twin katana's and Kusari-gama that is a length and close combat weapon with a sickle attached with a chain and heavy weight for maximum impact when tossed around. Your projectile weapons are the all loving but weak shurikens, those are unlimited, your bow and arrows which can be purchased, and then the grenade shurikens which are very effective but are expensive. All of your primary weapons are upgradeable, but the cost are different depending on which level of difficulty you choose from.

Can you say ninja magic? I knew you could and use it wisely. All right now we talked about the regular weapons and here we talk about the magical elements of the ninpo scrolls. You will get the Art of Phoenix Flames and Piercing wind, both elemental scrolls can big upgraded for maximum damage and also he can pick multiple enemies to inflict damage upon.

The online leader board feature is an excellent touch to the game as well and since if you rank though can record your sessions in the game other players can see how well you did and possibly pick up some tips on how to properly succeed through the challenges. You can view your own recordings to study on your weaknesses and strengths through out your game. So don't be shy if you rank up you can post your video and be proud.

Seriously I care not if team ninja comes after me for talking about the bad elements of the game. (Looks around real quick.) All right the only real problem with Gaiden 2 is the camera and that should have been fixed a long ago. Thankfully I have video proof to back this up so bare with me here and watch the video. As you can see in one of my battles a wall got in the way and when the camera finally was fixed I surprisingly won and the only thing left was bodies. Hold on for a second thought I saw something....Yea so that is the only thing that made me angry.

Time to wrap this review up with the ninpo scroll of speed. So you have difficult enemies with all kinds of different attacks and ninpo magic to use against Ryu, Big boobed comrade named Sonia, different locations with great visuals so you can be a tourist while killing enemies, different hidden abilities and items to unlock, replay value that will keep challenging you and other players via xbox live and of course many weapons that will aid you in your cause for justice. The opposite of all that ninja goodness is the bad camera angles that will cause you to get killed by enemies that came out of nowhere but hey it is a ninja game after all. All and all you still have a great game that will keep you interested until the credits roll. All right the verdicts are in and I give Ninja Gaiden II 4 shurikens out of 5. As all ways gamers keep gaming and "stay frosty"!