In recent years i have grown a love for the 3rd person hack and slash action game (as you may well know already) As i was brought int the 3rd person action world with DMC 3 i was a bit sceptical as to why ninja gaiden 2 was going to hold. The 1st ninja gaiden game was good but was nothing compared to the dmc i still play and love.
When i first saw the graphic detail in the cut scenes of ninja gaiden i couldn’t help but smile. The art directors etc have done well. With the sky city Tokyo looking amazing from the start an all the locales within the game looking mostly very sharp (bar one which is just a big green tunnel which you could tell the designers were getting stuck for ideas around then) Ninja gaiden has made a great port to the next gen with great graphics which make you want to play to the next mission just to see what its like (The mission when it rains blood…..awesome) Speaking of which the sheer amount of gore in his game is nuts. With hack and slash games like DMC where the enemies get slashed up n just fizzle out. In NG2 the limbs go flying and yo can dismember enemies and they will still come back for more. I think this is a nice touch even though it is a bit Monty python (it’s a mere flesh wound…come here and ill bite your legs off) It is used well. If you lop a guys arm off, he will become a bit stronger, leave him for too long and he will kamikaze. But hit the Y button and you pull of an amazing finisher on him. Little bit like mortal combat fatality in that there is a lot of blood and very flashy.
Bloody as it is NG2 is a joy to look at
The game play has a nicer learning curve than it did in NG1. With a basic tutorial guiding you through the first level. At his point mashing the Y and X buttons will get rid of your opponents nicely. But as the game progresses tactics are key an you can’t just rely on simple button mashing to get you through which appals to me a lot. Meaning you can’t just blag your way through this game. OK eventually the enemies will feel incredibly cheap shooting at you from 6 miles away but your a ninja and dodging is one of the things ninjas are good at :p.
There is a brilliant amount of weapons you get as you progress. different weapons suit different people for me when i get the scythe (yes the one on the box art) there is noting more satisfying than going all guns blazing into a group of spider clan ninjas. The level up system for each weapon is great too. Meaning you get a lot of game play for your moneys worth! The attacking doesn’t stop at melee weapons, you also have nimpo (awesome ninja magic spells) and projectile weapons, which you also find as you progress through the story and can also level up as you go.
The story is your typical evil thing wants to take over the world so you must stop it by killing demons and it. But with a game with so much in depth game play (for a hack and slash) the story is not your main concern. I found when i was playing it i wasn’t bothered by the story really, it was the game play that had me hooked which is quite rare in this gaming age.
Boss fights are challenging which is what i like to see. Getting you frustrated enough to actually not put the controller down until you kill the bugger. There are some hidden skulls t find which will keep you exploring each vibrant level and there are also tests of valour. Meaning if you kill everything and survive we will give you a shiny gift, which is always nice. And there is a healthy amount of DLC out for it. But if you do get the costumes be warned. I have found myself not being able to play the game when i take my harddrive to a friends house and plug it in their 360. Because of the licencing on the 360 for the DLC it wont let you play the game at all which i find extremely annoying.
As hack and slash games go this ranks very highly. Good way to vent anger nice easy-ish learning curve (not like NG1 when you die in the tutorial :p) and a solid amount of game play. Also is pleasing to the eye. Just a real shame about he DLC rubbish
Score: 8 out of 10
