The first 10 minutes: Ninja Gaiden 2
2008-05-26 10:00:00 by BlimBlim
It's with great pleasure that I've received the review code of Ninja Gaiden 2 last Friday and that I've spent some quality time (but not enough) with the game this week-end. You'll find nothing less than 4 720p 60 fps videos of the first level of the game inside, and while waiting for them to download you'll even be able to read my impressions!
Ninja Gaiden 2 can only be described as a direct sequel of the first Ninja Gaiden, implying a lot of good things, but also a few bad ones.
Let's start with what's not so good, and the camera. As you may know the camera here is more or less the same as in Black. Meaning it's better than the one in the first Ninja Gaiden, but still can get in the way quite often. During close quarters fights like in the stairs of the second level, it was sometimes difficult to see anything of the action. The good old right trigger is still here, but I had hoped for more.
Another bad point, the game isn't perfectly smooth. Most of the time it runs at a perfect 60 fps and all is good, but during heavy action scenes I've seen some tearing and even some major slowdowns happens. It's rare thankfully, but still disappointing. Also disappointing, and we've become used to this coming from Team Ninja, the shadowing and lighting is still very basic and doesn't seem to be that much different from the Xbox games.
But still, the gameplay itself is as good if not even better than before. The new life bar system that will replenish itself (but not fully) when a fight ends both adds and remove tension from the game. On one side we don't have to worry as much as before about health bonus, but on the other each fight now becomes a bit more challenging than before, and death can occur very quickly!
Despite its flaws, I've enjoyed my time playing Ninja Gaiden 2 a lot, and I can't wait to get back home tonight for more!
The first 10 minutes: Part 1
The first 10 minutes: Part 2
The first 10 minutes: Part 3
The first 10 minutes: Part 4
Since 923 Days
2008-05-26 22:55:21
This game looks incrredible, the combos are just insane and link much better than they did in the first. The combat system is true perfection here on earth, I simply cannot wait!
Tyrannosaurus
Since 1921 Days
2008-05-26 22:56:41 In reply to LEBATO (2008-05-26 20:03:56)
---
BlimBlim, Tyran.
Since 367 Days
2008-05-26 23:15:16
I already tried VLC. I usualy use Media Player Classic, which works better than VLC in this case anyway. It looks great but as I mentioned the sound and images are asynchronous. Strangely Windows Media Player manages it to render the vid without problem. But with Windows Media Player there is less contrast and it seems to be brighter :-(
Damn I need a better processor :-/
IS WRONG
Since 1301 Days
2008-05-26 23:26:33 In reply to BlimBlim (2008-05-26 22:56:41)
Also, IGN says it can actually be a little easier than the first NG, and then some other sites whine about the difficulty, so it's hard to say.
And one last thing, like others have said, the REAL HD 60FPS videos are very appreciated. They look unbelievable.
---
Mods, stop changing my SIG! I'm going to end up banning you!
Since 1164 Days
2008-05-26 23:34:39
Man, I wish I could watch the videos. Neither my computer nor my roomate's can run them, even with VLC. And for whatever reason, our d/l speed for Part 1 was around 20-30kbps; it took almost 3 hours!
I wonder if we'll be getting the demo this month as we were told we would.
---
"If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate." - Zapp Brannigan
Since 681 Days
2008-05-26 23:36:46
Very nice! Keep up the good work. I can't wait for m copy of NG 2.
Since 190 Days
2008-05-26 23:42:40 In reply to Ronsauce (2008-05-26 23:34:39)
I wonder if we'll be getting the demo this month as we were told we would.
Also, here's a question to the player(s). Do all the bosses die so quickly? I don't remember attacks doing so much damage in any of the original's iterations.
Since 363 Days
2008-05-26 23:55:09 In reply to LEBATO (2008-05-26 23:26:33)
Since 1164 Days
2008-05-26 23:55:19
Yeah, we have two 360s, but we can't get videos to stream with the modem/router combo that we're using.
---
"If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate." - Zapp Brannigan
IS WRONG
Since 1301 Days
2008-05-27 00:06:17 In reply to Ronsauce (2008-05-26 23:55:19)
---
Mods, stop changing my SIG! I'm going to end up banning you!
Since 1164 Days
2008-05-27 00:14:35
I have neither :( lol...weak, I know
---
"If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate." - Zapp Brannigan
Since 1885 Days
2008-05-27 00:46:13 In reply to BlimBlim (2008-05-26 22:15:53)
http://images.gamersyde.com/misc/ng2attract.jpg
Since 583 Days
2008-05-27 00:57:32
the lack of decent lighting kills the games visuals for me, becasue otherwise, even though the textures arnt amazing, the game is very smooth with clean lines and a fast framerate. from the reviews tho it seems that the sequel isnt going to convert anyone to its fanbase. but as a fan service type game. its great. sadly i fall into the former. didnt like it before and it seems the sequel isnt going to change my mind about the series since its essentially more of the same. great if you love the series, not so great if you didnt.
Since 1089 Days
2008-05-27 01:15:20 In reply to vspectra06 (2008-05-27 00:46:13)
Since 1537 Days
2008-05-27 01:49:36 In reply to KORNdog (2008-05-27 00:57:32)
Since 581 Days
2008-05-27 02:25:56 In reply to broman (2008-05-26 23:42:40)
Since 1157 Days
2008-05-27 02:38:43
I'm getting the game. Since when did reviews stop me for getting a game that I know I will like.
Since 190 Days
2008-05-27 02:41:07
theres plenty of great NG2 reviews out now. People just like to ignore them and focus on the lowest score. Its the way fanboys work.
Since 1164 Days
2008-05-27 02:58:38
Nothing negative mentioned has really been a concern for me at all rendering the negative reviews pretty moot.
---
"If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate." - Zapp Brannigan
Since 748 Days
2008-05-27 03:00:52
How the F can you guys say it looks like an xbox or ps2 game? It looks friggin amazing..
Since 1164 Days
2008-05-27 03:40:26 In reply to Baleur (2008-05-27 03:00:52)
---
"If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate." - Zapp Brannigan
Since 891 Days
2008-05-27 04:25:47 In reply to wuffyx (2008-05-27 02:38:43)
Cant wait to play it.... Thx A LOT for the gameplay videos. Looks awesome :D
As for the graphics, they don't quite have the lighting I would have liked, but it's far from horrible looking and it looks to be a nice improvement over DOA4. Environments, at least imo, look better than in Sigma.
---
Wii60!
"We've said that Gears of War was graphically the best game have ever been made, well it looks like Pong compared to Crysis and some of the DX10 titles."
-Gary Whitta (Venting on the NG podcast after Coming back from the Games for Windows)
Since 891 Days
2008-05-27 04:31:40
http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=878
That being said, this is unquestionably a Ninja Gaiden for the rest of us. Thanks to a relaxed health regeneration system, I happily defeated most of the game's levels and bosses--on the easiest mode of four, mind you--without even coming close to a frustrated toss of my controller. Occasionally I'd get stuck on a boss for a few minutes, sometimes to the point of rampant ninja cursing, but I was rarely red-faced to the point quitting...
And I still don't care. You can criticize the best action movies for their bad camera work and tepid storylines, but those elements ultimately take little away from the experience. The same is true with Ninja Gaiden II. In the end, the pure fun of the carnage far outweighs any fleeting camera issues, level design shortcomings, or boss frustrations.
http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=581267&...
I'm surprised other sites posted their reviews already, more so by the ones that even pointed out the load time and framerate issues after we were specifically told about this and that it was something that's supposedly isolated to the review builds only, and NOT the final code.
---
Wii60!
"We've said that Gears of War was graphically the best game have ever been made, well it looks like Pong compared to Crysis and some of the DX10 titles."
-Gary Whitta (Venting on the NG podcast after Coming back from the Games for Windows)
Since 1164 Days
2008-05-27 04:53:15 In reply to NeoNemesis (2008-05-27 04:25:47)
Things like the camera being iffy, the story being weak, and the difficulty being too hard(gamesradar should have put it on pussy mode if they found it too difficult) are the things that I honestly don't see being a problem for me at all.
---
"If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate." - Zapp Brannigan
Since 891 Days
2008-05-27 04:58:37 In reply to Ronsauce (2008-05-27 04:53:15)
Things like the camera being iffy, the story being weak, and the difficulty being too hard(gamesradar should have put it on pussy mode if they found it too difficult) are the things that I honestly don't see being a problem for me at all.
Oh another review:
Gamedaily- 9.0
http://www.gamedaily.com/games/ninja-gaiden-ii/xbo...
---
Wii60!
"We've said that Gears of War was graphically the best game have ever been made, well it looks like Pong compared to Crysis and some of the DX10 titles."
-Gary Whitta (Venting on the NG podcast after Coming back from the Games for Windows)