Review: Ninja Gaiden II

In 1989 one of the most beloved titles of the 8-bit era of gaming, Ninja Gaiden, saw a release onto store shelves and quickly became a part of gaming history.  Renowned for its difficulty as well as its sheer fun factor the game garnered two sequels before suddenly disappearing into the mists of history seemingly never to reappear again.  All hope was not lost however as in 2002 Tecmo announced that the series would be making a return under the guidance of in house developer Team Ninja and headed up by Tomonobu Itagaki, creator of the Dead or Alive series known of his “bad boy” behavior and work ethic.  Re-imagined within the universe of DOA, the 2004 release of Ninja Gaiden saw rave reviews, though not without seeing complaints on some components, and quickly became a key title in the Xbox lineup as it was Tecmo’s answer to Capcom’s Devil May Cry series.

Ninja Gaiden 2, hot off the presses and an Xbox 360 exclusive, is in stores now and has a lot to live up to.  But can it make up for the flaws that its predecessor had?

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Vengence: Best Served Cold

Tecmo’s creation in 1989 wowed gamers with some of the first cutscenes ever to appear in a console game with a storyline that was, while simplistic, still fun.  2004’s Ninja Gaiden story was filled with plot twists and mysterious figures galore, though the end result wasn’t as promising as it could have been.  It seems that Ninja Gaiden 2 stakes its name and tagline on being a quest for revenge though it’s quite clear that Tecmo has dropped the ball in this regard.  The story, occurring an undisclosed amount of time after Murai’s betrayal and the destruction of the Vigoor Empire, once again follows Ryu Hayabusa, one of the last descendants of the Hyabusa Dragon Ninja Clan and protector of the Dragon Sword.  After having encountered and rescued a scantily clad CIA agent named Sonia from his arch nemesis the Black Spider Clan, Ryu goes off on a world-spanning pursuit of Genshin, leader of said clan, and Elizibet, queen of the Greater Fiends, who have wounded Ryu’s father Joe and stolen the Demon Statue, an ancient relic whose power ensures the eternal slumber of the Arch Fiend.

Sounds like the basis for a good story, right?  Sadly this is not the case.  In all the globe-trotting its clear that Tecmo forgot what they were advertising and decided to minimize the story into a ridiculously basic and ludicrous one even by Tecmo’s standards.  The only interesting part of the plot curtails not to the events occurring in the game but rather the various memos and diaries you can find on the corpses of other fallen ninja.  The wannabe love plot between Sonia and impotent Ryu is shallow and unfulfilling while his quest for revenge simply becomes a slaughterfest of boss after boss without any feeling of justice served for Joe.  Ninja Gaiden 2 definitely won’t be winning any awards for its storyline, but then again, you’re not here for that, are you?

Sliced, Diced, or Made Whole?

What makes the Ninja Gaiden series so great are its tight controls and wicked gameplay that goes along well with its unyielding difficulty level.  However, while this new now-gen title has quite a bit of promise with an expansion of the previous game in 2005 with the subtitle Black and a refinement of the same game in 2007 subtitled Sigma it’s clear that the opportunity to fix many of the issues was, for the most part, passed by.  Just like its predecessor, Ninja Gaiden 2 once again suffers from a maddening camera system that can lead to near controller-throwing frustration at times especially since every single enemy is designed specifically to kill the player instead of being there to be hammered upon.  The game is also very unfriendly to newcomers to both Ninja Gaiden and fast-paced actions games alike as its difficulty makes even the most experienced players have to experience a game over screen time and time again.

Several changes and additions make up for this a little but doesn’t overall make the experience any more inviting than the first game.  The refinement of the health system from being static to being regenerative once all the enemies in the area have been dispatched is very welcoming.  Seemingly hearing the heart-retching cries of its fans Team Ninja has increased the number of save points within each stage and has spaced them out appropriately this time around, meaning you won’t have to go far before you find one right after a boss battle.  Save points also fully heal this time around which is a godsend.  The new weapons, bringing the total to nine in all, are a mixed bag of both well thought out and poor planned ideas.  The scythe is without doubt the most powerful weapon of the game and the talons are absurdly fun to use weapons like the kusari-gama and the twin swords are disappointingly weak even when maxed out.

One of the best refinements however doesn’t truly affect the gameplay but instead eases the burden upon the player.  I’m speaking of the menu system which this time around has been streamlined and is much faster and easier to work with than ever before.  Taking exclusive control of the Xbox 360’s directional pad, players can on-the-fly equip any weapon or use almost any item in their arsenal.  While character refining items like the Jewel of Demon Souls have to be accessed within the game’s pause menu, the d-pad select option is a great way to pause and assess the situation before jumping right back into the heat of battle.

Overall though the additions and changes, while beneficial, are simply not enough to justify Itagaki-san’s claims of Ninja Gaiden 2 being an evolutionary step over the first game.

You Didn’t Really Need that Arm, Did You?

The gameplay in Ninja Gaiden is a very memorable experience for everyone who plays it as, while very similar in concept, feel worlds apart from games like Devil May Cry and God of War.  Focusing almost entirely on melee combat save for a few unique instances, Ninja Gaiden 2 continues on from its predecessor with lightning fast combat with unrelenting enemies outnumbering you at times more than a dozen to one.  The most exciting addition, and one that changes up the combat significantly, is the ability to dismember your enemies.  When this occurs the enemy will continue to attack but won’t be near a threat as the other intact ones on screen.  Some will even attempt to take you out kamikaze style should you do so.  Dismembering an enemy allows you to initiate what is called an obliteration technique, a God of War-like sequence in which Ryu kills the enemy in various gruesome ways that are dependent on both what weapon you are using and what enemy is the target.  The end result is a spectacular gorefest that never gets old and even counts toward gamerscore points.

Ninja Gaiden 2 still has some issues though.  The difficulty curve, while more friendly to players on the lower settings, can be obscenely annoying at times for even veterans.  Several poor game design choices have been implemented specifically to several select boss fights designed to hamper a players progress.  The most prominent example is the battle against the giant volcanic armadillo (you read that right) who, when you defeat him, explodes and instantly kills the player unless they are using a ninpo spell at the exact time of the explosion.  It is not uncommon for levels to have 2 or even 3 boss battles apiece as well as large brawls after several of them as well.  One particularly frustrating event occurs directly after a tough fight toward the end of the game as after having defeated a boss a path is opened to you to advance only to be blocked by a field of mines that are near invisible onscreen which ultimately leads you to your death and having to redo the previous boss battle again.  Shame Itagaki, shame.

The Writing’s on the Wall; and the Rest of Him

While Ninja Gaiden lets you trod through a fictional empire within the DOA universe the second game in this series takes you far beyond the borders of the Far East.  While initially taking place in Tokyo (what ninja game doesn’t?) and in the remains of the Hayabusa Village, Ryu’s quest takes him around the world, from the rain slick streets of New York, to the beautiful canals of Venice.  Players even get to visit Moscow and the jungles of South America, but despite visiting all these locales you won’t find yourself really impressed with anything you come across save for a few heavily-forested areas later in the game.  The game, while built on a very strong engine back in 2004, is beginning to show its age and is not as impressive as it used to be.  Many of the textures, while updated for the native resolution of 720p, are not as up-to-snuff as they should be for a now-gen title.  All the cinemas are in-engine though which is a nice touch.

There are still some issues that abound in the production department that far outweigh a few unsightly graphical issues though.  While there can be a significant reduction in the framerate should more than a dozen characters be on screen the most demeaning thing a player will have to experience is the unacceptable number of bugs present in the game.  Put quite simply, the game has more twitches and glitches than any game I have seen on the Xbox 360.  It’s not uncommon to find yourself falling outside the geometry to your death or even being able to circumvent entire sections of a level thanks to a design flaw.  The AI in the game, while otherwise very smart, can get stuck in performance loops that result in nothing more than it twitching in the corner and thus being an easy kill.  The game could absolutely benefit from several more months of polish and refinement.

The only part of Ninja Gaiden 2 that you cannot find fault with is the audio work put into it.  The sound effects are evenly distributed and many things are easily identifiable from sound alone.  The music is a very motivating blend of slow drum arrangements to fast-paced orchestral scores that very appropriately arranged according to the situation at hand.  While it’s not something that’s going to end up on your playlist for your mp3 player it is undeniably perfect for use with custom soundtracks.

Cutting Through the Crap

Ninja Gaiden 2, while filled with bugs and balance issues, is probably the most entertaining frustration-fest available to date for the Xbox 360.  While it is still a singleplayer series and has absolutely no multiplayer functionality save for the ability to share and compare leaderboard scores the game definitely has some life in it beyond a playthrough for masochists and achievement whores alike.  This game is perfect for players wanting to player something different from Devil May Cry or for those looking for something to play during the summer gaming lull that occurs from June to the end of August.  Just don’t expect this one to stay on your shelf for very long though.