Ninja Gaiden II

You knew it was coming, but you just didn’t know when. The announcement of Ninja Gaiden II by Team Ninja at this year’s Tokyo Game Show hit us in true ninja fashion — like a shuriken to the face. And after seeing the game live and running in person on the Xbox 360, we’ve decided to leave that shuriken in and taste the sweet, sweet blood running down our faces. Oh yeah…if you don’t like blood, stop reading right now.

Why? Because Ninja Gaiden II is bloody. Extremely. It’s all over the place: all over your weapons, all over the body parts you’ll leave laying in the gutter like drunks after Mardi Gras. Team Ninja has ratcheted up the violence and gore to make this not only the best Ninja Gaiden ever, but perhaps the best action game of all time. The team is aiming for nothing less. And if actually playing Ninja Gaiden II is as fun as it looks, then they just might succeed.

Super ninja Ryu Hayabusa returns and therefore deserves all the spectacular weapons and moves that a super ninja would enjoy in real life. This time, he’s got lots of new toys and tricks up his sleeves. For instance, we marveled at the big-ass reaver that puts Ninja Gaiden’s Dabilahro to shame. But he also has a cherry set of Wolverine-like talons that go on his hands and feet — for clawing up enemies at very close range — as well as the good old dual katanas. Besides that, Team Ninja is keeping mum on most of the juicy details because, well, that’s how Itagaki-san and company operate.

But we do know some things. Enemies, for instance, aren’t just automatons that know one attack; they’ll fight you in a much more clever manner thanks to much-improved A.I. programming. They also won’t give up as easily, as seen in recently de-limbed baddies crawling at you on their stumps. Dude, that’s definitely more than “just a flesh wound…”

We also know that Ninpo attacks are back and far more spectacular than before. You can now shoot fireballs at foes, send out enormous shockwaves, and much more. There’s even one great attack that sends hundreds of blades in the air at a slightly distanced group of evildoers, shredding them to bits and throwing their blood and body parts all willy-nilly in the air. Imagine a group of graduates at a commencement ceremony throwing their caps in the air all at once; now imagine their heads are still in them. So awesome.

Naturally, expect lots of new monsters and bosses, too. Our first look gave us a peek at some big gnarly green-blooded gargoyles stomping around and a huge humanoid spider that turned us into arachnophobes for life. We can only hope we get to split its head open at some point. Wait, what are we saying? Of course we will!

Even though it’s just been announced, Ninja Gaiden II has been in development for almost two years now, so the polish is already thick. Studio head Tomonobu Itagaki promises it to be all that was great about Ninja Gaiden, made bigger and better. We’ll be sharpening our swords in anticipation for its release next year.