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!
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All comments (116)
Commented on 2008-05-26 22:55:21
Commented on 2008-05-26 22:56:41 In reply to LEBATO
Commented on 2008-05-26 23:15:16Damn I need a better processor
Commented on 2008-05-26 23:26:33 In reply to BlimBlimAlso, 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.
Commented on 2008-05-26 23:34:39I wonder if we'll be getting the demo this month as we were told we would.
Commented on 2008-05-26 23:36:46
Commented on 2008-05-26 23:42:40 In reply to RonsauceI 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.
Commented on 2008-05-26 23:55:09 In reply to LEBATO
Commented on 2008-05-26 23:55:19
Commented on 2008-05-27 00:06:17 In reply to Ronsauce
Commented on 2008-05-27 00:14:35
Commented on 2008-05-27 00:46:13 In reply to BlimBlimhttp://images.gamersyde.com/misc/ng2attract.jpg
Commented on 2008-05-27 00:57:32
Commented on 2008-05-27 01:15:20 In reply to vspectra06
Commented on 2008-05-27 01:49:36 In reply to KORNdog
Commented on 2008-05-27 02:25:56 In reply to broman
Commented on 2008-05-27 02:38:43
Commented on 2008-05-27 02:41:07
Commented on 2008-05-27 02:58:38
Commented on 2008-05-27 03:00:52
Commented on 2008-05-27 03:40:26 In reply to Baleur
Commented on 2008-05-27 04:25:47 In reply to wuffyxCant 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.
Commented on 2008-05-27 04:31:40That 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.
Commented on 2008-05-27 04:53:15 In reply to NeoNemesisThings 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.
Commented on 2008-05-27 04:58:37 In reply to RonsauceThings 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...