Ryu Hayabusa wants to shed lots of blood in your living room.
Posted By: Jeremy Stearns Posted On: 04/11/08 (Viewed 1240 times)
Ninja Gaiden 2
Published By: Microsoft Developed By: Team Ninja Release Date: 06/01/08 Genre: Action/Fighter Players: ESRB Rating: RP - Rating Pending more product info »
As we continue to push forward into the 2008 year, developers continue to generate titles that everyone wants. The Xbox 360’s library continues to grow every year and this year won’t be any different. The famous Team Ninja crew has created a series that continues to push consoles to their limits and we all know what they can do. This time around they introduce Ninja Gaiden II, an Xbox 360 exclusive.
The game’s storyline is set back in the younger years of Ryu Hayabusa, before the original NES and arcade adventures. Even though details of the story are scarce, fans of the series can rest assure that Team Ninja has developed an intriguing storyline to keep you well entertained.
There is one aspect of the series that has been around when the series first began. The difficulty of Ninja Gaiden has crowned it one of the hardest games to beat. Ninja Gaiden is so hard that Tecmo had to re-release another version for the original Xbox, Ninja Gaiden Black. This version toned down the difficulty for most to enjoy the gameplay, but veterans of the series will be happy to know that Ninja Gaiden II will still offer a challenge. Even though the controls have changed a little, veterans will still feel at home once they start the game.
Again, the controls are basically the same, meaning Ryu will still have his basic combat moves and special attacks allowing for various destructive combos. Ryu has the ability to jump, meaning he can still run along the walls or do wall-jumping maneuvers. Many gamers learnt that blocking was essential in Ninja Gaiden to survive, otherwise you would die instantly from enemy attacks. Ninja Gaiden II will allow you to block but when pressing a direction on the left stick won’t produce a roll anymore. Instead Ryu will perform a quick dash that serves the same purpose of a roll, to avoid enemy attacks.
A new feature that makes its debut in Ninja Gaiden II is the auto-heal system. Some hardcore gamers may be appalled at such a feature, thinking it was implemented to make the game easier. On the contrary, you only regenerate health every time you clear an area of enemies. Yet this system still doesn’t make the game easier since Ryu will still take damage and that damage will affect your health bar. Every time Ryu takes damage, portions of his health bar will become unrecoverable eventually leading you to use healing items or blue essence from enemies to stay alive.
Ninja Gaiden II offers up two selectable difficulty settings for players. The first difficulty, called Path of the Acolyte, is for newcomers of the series who have never played the previous games. This difficulty is highly recommended for newcomers since Ninja Gaiden is known for its difficulty. Another difficulty, known as Path of the Warrior, should be selected for hardcore or veterans of the series. Enemies in the game have also had a makeover, meaning they are more aggressive and cunning. If you are a hardcore gamer, then you know that it pays to be deadly, accurate and quick to survive against these enemies.
Since Ryu is a ninja, you can guarantee there will be a vast array of weapons at your disposal. As always Ryu will have the Dragon Sword as his starting weapon and as you progress through the game you will add to your collection. Weapons will still be upgradeable and will feature their own ultimate techniques. These techniques are initiated by holding down a sequence of buttons, like in previous games. Once the charge of the weapon meets a certain limit, releasing the buttons will begin the devastating attack. A feature that was introduced in Ninja Gaiden Sigma was the quick selection of healing items by using the D pad. This feature is included in Ninja Gaiden II but will allow you to select weapons faster, unlike previous games where you had to go to the pause menu to do so.
Another new feature added to the game is called Ninja Cinema. This allows you to record your awesome moves that you perform within the game and upload them to Xbox Live where thousands of other players can witness your expertise. With the power of the Xbox 360, the visuals are stunning and highly detailed. Environments look lush and the colors are vibrant as ever. It also allows more on-screen enemies that will test your skills at being the ultimate ninja. With a scheduled release date coming in the next couple of months, Ninja Gaiden II is not for the faint of heart.
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