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by Cav

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Ninja Gaiden II

News from Phil - June 27th @ 1:31am

Spiffy action games are the talk of the town. "Wow, the combat is so fluid and intense!" they say. Does Ninja Gaiden 2 fit this description? Sure, sure it does. But that's like saying a pie is good because the pastry is really flaky and delicious. It brings the quality down just a little bit when it turns out that pie is filled with dog shit.

Ninja Gaiden 2 is the latest from Team Ninja, a long-awaited action follow-up to the original Ninja Gaiden on Xbox (and a bunch of crappy old games). NG is famed for its action and badassery, which NG2 has in spades. Ryu Hayabusa is a buff hero with a face mask and cool samurai sword, and his day-to-day duty is stopping the forces of evil. Dare I elaborate?

The story of Ninja Gaiden 2 is possibly the worst I've yet encountered on the 360. Even if it's possible to follow, there's no reason anyone would ever want to. There's a bunch of crazy characters all running around doing demonic things and unleashing baddies, while the chapters simply jump Ryu to each new location, one after another. One minute he's fighting a lightning spirit atop the Statue of Liberty, and then we're treated to a cutscene in a random town where some giant bear/wolf man thing decides to start killing people. Huzzah, Ryu happens to be right there in the town at the right time for no reason, and the level begins. What?



Well, whatever level you happen to be in, there will be plenty of enemies to destroy. Ryu is basically equipped with a bunch of melee and projectile weapons, and has a limited array of special moves. Ninpo are simply giant explosions of wind, fire or some such thing, and the rest of the time you'll rely on old-fashioned hack n' slash gameplay to make your way through each chapter.

Typical scenario -- you'll be running along a pathway, when three ninjas jump out from the shadows. No problem -- they are only anonymous grunts, and pose no real threat. Of course, about 30 yards away, a pair of archers are firing flaming arrow at you. It's cool to add in some long-range fighting, but not with every single encounter. Basically, in every fight you'll be dispatching numerous enemies up close, but every so often take a hit from an archer or fire-breathing dragon. It's cheap, frustrating and an absolute bitch when combined with the single worst camera I've ever encountered in any game, ever.

The combat is easily the best feature of NG2, yet simultaneously the most disappointing. Almost every other action game out there has a decent camera, but it's apparently too much for Team Ninja to produce. It's almost game-breakingly bad. Corridors are plentiful and frustrating, and even basic group battles are a bitch to navigate as the camera fails to track the action with any intelligence at all. The right thumbstick is useless aside from looking up and down, so you'll be fighting with the camera more than the enemies. As mentioned before, enemies come hard and fast in every direction, and having projectiles shot at you from somewhere off-screen while you're simultaneously dealing with closer baddies sucks. A lot.



And the enemies? While the first chapter or so places you in cool traditional Japanese settings, within a few hours you'll be in New York City fighting gargoyles and giant imps, then in an ancient castle fighting man-beasts, dragons and giant skeletons. The design is all over the place, and you'll just be getting used to a new area before jetting off to another one for seemingly no reason.

While I was impressed with God of War, Devil May Cry 4 and even the original Ninja Gaiden, NG2 really does nothing above and beyond graphical expectations. Characters are shiny like mirrors, which is hardly realistic and often distracting. Smooth and silky isn't really the look they should be going for, especially when it's a life-or-death situation. Fair enough, the graphics aren't at all bad, but they are exactly as expected and the boring level design helps none too much.

The series is renowned for being groin-grabbingly difficult, and this latest game is no exception. The problem? It's too hard, and the camera is frequently the cause of your demise. Only after you get lucky and sneak in a few extra slashes or happen to dodge blindly at the right time will you emerge victorious from some of the harder situations. Bosses pelt you with non-stop unavoidable attacks, forcing you to keep using health boosts as you fight for a way to gain an advantage. Of course, making the combat easier and reducing the number of health packs would make it more balanced, but that would make too much sense. It's a little bit easier than the original Ninja Gaiden, but not by much. Prepare to die.



The best part of the game is the overall brutality. Limbs and heads fly off at every turn, and Ryu can go up close for some devastating charged attacks to rack up some mammoth hit combos with a bunch of different weapons. When the combat works, it works well. As a ninja, you are equipped with some wall-running moves, by these are strictly situational. You won't be going anywhere the game doesn't want you to, and invisible walls block off seemingly accessible paths constantly. Ryu can jump out of a plane and land on a rooftop with ease, yet can't get across a two-foot deep hole in the ground.

If you enjoyed the original Ninja Gaiden on Xbox to some degree, NG2 is too much of a disappointment to recommend. In fact, it's difficult to recommend this game to anyone at all. The battles are brutal and Ryu has some cool moves, but the camera renders at least half of the enjoyment obsolete. Yes, it can be fun, but the hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans will scoff at novice players' attempts to beat the game. Yeah, you're so cool because you're a good Ninja Gaiden player. In actual fact, it's cooler to enjoy better games, and Ninja Gaiden 2 is far from the best. Don't bother.