Ryu Hayabusa is back in the sequel to one of the most coveted games on the original Xbox, welcome to Ninja Gaiden II. Gaiden in Japanese translates into “the continuing saga”. However Itagaki’s final child from Techmo is nowhere close to the true definition of a fresh sequel. It remains a continuing saga of vengeance hatred, retribution and punishment for a camera that spoils otherwise what could have been called a stellar Xbox 360 title.
Ninja Gaiden II starts off with Sonia, a CIA agent for the U.S government (who bears an eerie resemblance to Sigma’s female character) getting kidnapped by the evil Black Spider clan who are on their quest to unleash the much dreaded Archfiends who had once been vanquished by the Dragons.
The Hayabusa Clan, modern descendents of the Dragon lineage, have sworn to protect this legacy with their lives, as all predictable legends go, this Black Spider clan is on their quest to unleash the evil once again on the unsuspecting world and reign supreme. Ryu, who is the bravest soul in the Hayabusa village, must fight all odds to bring sanctity, peace, order, justice to his clan and the entire world before Genshin (leader of Black Spider clan) unleashes this ancient evil.
The story seems to have been penned down by a person of rare intelligence who was probably featured on Lifestyles of the Banal and Clichéd. While the game lacks intelligence it makes up in stupidity by providing a frustrating camera that has its head caught in a cookie jar thus refusing to enjoy any bit of the marvelous combat scheme that has been implemented.
The art of controlling Ryu needs to be understood carefully since the deep combat system requires utmost precision for it allows the player to perform some of the most gorgeous, violent and smooth moves any action packed game has seen till date. Rabid and tame fans of the action genre will instantly sink their hearts into the combat for it provides just the right mixture of arrogance and contempt to any other game in the vicinity.
The weapons of mass destruction that Ryu wields are deadly enough to make you gasp for air. The Dragon Sword, Lunar Staff, Falcon’s Talons, Tonfa, Dragon’s Claw and Tiger’s Fang allow you to literally spew gallons of blood that never leaves the blade or the screen. These WMDs can be upgraded at Muramasa’s Shop who stocks upon herbal remedies and ammunition as well. The original Ninja Gaiden’s star combo system returns in supporting the excellence exuberated in combat with the innumerable amount of enemies that appear onscreen.
A helpful chart in the game’s pause screen allows players to memorize their favorite moves and unleash the wrath of the aforementioned weapons above to satiate all sadistic and carnal pleasures that may be embedded with each weapon and this is distinct and unique from the previous one. No two moves are ever the same in Ninja Gaiden II.
The game also features a God of War quick time brutal kill feature by pressing Y on a weakened foe which allows players to shred their battered enemies into pieces. The moves thus performed are in such quick succession that the player’s brain will often process the information for it but his body will refuse to accept the information for it is busy breathing.
There are around 10-12 enemies onscreen in any given battle with a semi-solid framerate which dips a bit, when size of the foe increase or during Boss battles. These creatures/human beings can be chopped diced, grated into pieces and yet they shall come at you with everything including the toilet pot and kitchen sink.
Fallen foes with one arm but no legs will crawl onto you, enemies with one arm and one leg will cling onto you plunging their weapons into Ryu’s body, till the player is wise enough to dismember them till their body parts lie scattered in different directions. The bodies of the fallen foes also “never leave the screen” and they remain intact just the way you leave them after a gruesome orgy.
The Ultimate Technique and Ninpo also return to gives the game a truly devastating look, both require essence of the dead souls, which can be categorized into Blue (Health), Yellow (Currency), Red ( Ki gauge for Ninpo attacks). These techniques are generally used when the number of enemies is completely overwhelming (which is most of the times) and help in clearing out large sections of the screen.
The worrying part of the game comes in its visuals, gameplay and camera. Visuals so essential in this generation of console wars can convey feeling from mild disdain to outright mockery, Ninja Gaiden II falls somewhere in between these two extremities, the graphics are not a major overhaul from Sigma, the environments look drab, pale and empty with very minimal interactivity required.
Since the combat system is so deep, some one forgot to set a different tone on Ryu’s trip across the globe. The enemies on the other had are very well textured and some of the weather effects give the game a slick look, beyond that there is not much proof this is exactly a next generation game.
The camera is the biggest gripe of the game, which reminds me of Sleeping Beauty when she was an ugly insomniac, the person who worked on the camera has to be traded in for a rock, for it not only spoils all the visceral combat but also leaves the player frustrated nine out of ten times.
This horrible camera is so disgusting even the garbage guy won’t pick it up. Often in the frenzy of combat the camera corners you in an obscure manner where it is downright impossible to see the incoming horde of opponents, resulting in frequent deaths and as the level of the game’s difficulty increases significantly during the later stages this becomes a battle of survival with all exits blocked.
As a result of this ingenious camera system most of the combat takes place in a corner of the screen leaving the rest of the dead environment to partake in the comedy of nuisance and dissatisfaction that occurs. The gameplay has also been revamped a bit restricting the puzzles to a very basic nature providing no additional incentive apart from the combat.
One of the new features in the game is the Ninja Cinema which is basically the theater mode carried forward from Halo 3, here players can record their most humiliating defeats due to the incoherent camera and post them on Xbox Live or the internet and show Itagaki that his next gamewhere ever he goes needs a sound technical advisor.
A lot of reviews online seem to be complaining about the difficulty which is staggeringly hard on the easy mode, even as the locations to save have increased manifold than the original game, Ninja Gaiden II is strictly for the hardcore and fans of the series. Casual gamers are advised to avoid the game at all costs, they should give their hands on the latest Bourne installment that has been receiving rather positive reviews.
THE FINAL WORD
The original Ninja Gaiden was the undisputed leader in the pack of hack and slash at one point of time, but its sequel is plagued by serious camera offences that hamper the deep and extensive combat system and leave a mark of a follower instead, maybe a third iteration will fix these things up sans Itagaki who needs to make clear his camera angles in life.
Better than: Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Worse than: Devil May Cry 4
- By Neelesh Mukherjee