It’s been a tiring 24 hours, doing almost nothing but playing Ninja Gaiden 2. Actually the madness started last week, with a sort of refresher course in the series, playing Ninja Gaiden Black for a whole day without pause. Ninja Gaiden was an exquisite game, with some of the most satisfyingly gory visuals, and a combat system which would make you drool. It was also the most frustrating game to play and it took five attempts before I could even figure out how to deal with the first boss. And don’t even get me started on some of the action you had to deal with in that game. It was painful, but the beautiful thing about Ninja Gaiden was that there was no artificial difficulty induced - the game was just challenging you to up your level, to become a better player, to master the combos and master the game.
Ninja Gaiden 2 is a worthy sequel and while it definitely has some issues, and while it might not be for everyone, it’s still a great game, and one of the most enjoyable and violent, and blood-filled gaming experiences in recent times. Put simply - it’s a spectacle. It’s beautiful to look at (yes I know. It’s not the best looking game in existence. But you know what? It’s still bloody good looking so just shut up okay?) and when you’re in combat, which makes up nine tenths of the game, then you won’t see anything that looks or feels better.
The long lasting camera issues which plagued the original Ninja Gaiden have have made it to this sequel too, and you might feel sometimes that the designers chose to make the camera work in a way to make the game look better rather than play better, but really, that’s me finding faults because it’s my job to. For the most part, it’s a beautiful game which plays brilliantly, and the pure and visceral joy of the previous Ninja Gaiden which came through so beautifully in combat is there in this game as well, and is perhaps even better, and bloodier.
You won’t be able to play the game without reacting, visibly and vocally, to the action on screen. In the original, decapitation was a bonus which happened once in a while, if you executed the right moves. But with NG2 almost all the regular attacks have a chance to cause dismemberments, and there is so much blood and gore that you can be forgiven for thinking you’re watching a Tarantino movie.
Which incidentally, is what the game is most like, storywise. It’s got a nonsensical plot, and halfway decent voice acting. The story is the usual gibberish and has the CIA and the evil Black Spider Ninja Clan, we throw in the Dragon lineage and stir some Archfiends into the mix and pour some instant cliche powder on top and you’re done! But the lovely part is that you don’t care. It just looks so good and feels so good that you don’t even notice and are focussed and enjoying yourself every step of the way, as you are showered by blood and guts wherever you go.
One fo the most entertaining and goriest bits is when you’ve dismembered an opponent. Even after you chop off hands and legs, the enemies don’t quite give up you see, and the easiest way to get rid of them for good, with no chance of their ever coming back, is if you quickly tap the Y button when one of these enemies is downed near you. This launches into a quicktime event and if you do it right then you’re treated to one of the most enjoyable takedowns in videogames. Ever. In all history.
One change that has come to the game, which is very welcome, is an update to the different weapons. In Ninja Gaiden, most of the weapons were pretty balanced, though the animations looked different enough to not get boring. But this time around the weapons are all a lot faster than they were before, and all of them have different advantages and uses, and so while it’s quite likely that some of you will like to play through the entire game with nothing but their Dragon Sword, others might want to invest in all the different weapons and use them in different situations, though most, I suspect, like me, will find one particular weapon that they like and figure it out till they’re reasonably confident with it.
What this game has been famous for of course, over the years, is the gruelling difficulty and this time too, there’s no easy way out. A lot of concern was raised over the Easy difficulty level with the regenerating health, and it was seen as almost a betrayal, from the far more entertaining Ninja Dog setting… But at the end of the day, there’s still a steep learning curve to the game, and even when you play on Easy, you’re not going to have an easy time of it, at least at first. As time passes and you understand the controls better, it becomes easier, and almost poetic to watch, and while a button masher might just make it through to the end of the game, this game isn’t really one for casual players. Ninja Gaiden has always required an investment of time and effort and Ninja Gaiden 2 is no exception. It’s very frustrating, but if you make the effort, it’s one of the goriest, crunchiest and most fantastic action games in recent times.
Is it a huge step up from Ninja Gaiden? No. But is it a really good game which is fun to play and great to look at? Yes. Go get your action fix already, get a disc now, and start playing now.
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