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Posted on: Jun 03, 2008
Ninja Gaiden II
WORDS BY: Ryan McCaffrey
Has it been four years already? It seems like only a yesterday or two ago that we consummated our love/ hate relationship with Ninja Gaiden, the greatest and most frustrating action game on the original Xbox. It’s been too long, but even though we’re on a new system in a new era, some things haven’t changed. Ninja Gaiden is still one of the greatest action-game series committed to DVD — and it’s still the most frustrating as well.
In a story that picks up immediately after the end of the first game, you’re once again cast as badass-by-trade Ryu Hayabusa and tasked with saving the world from evil as it tries to bubble up from the Underworld. Admittedly, some of Ninja Gaiden II’’s wow factor is diminished by the fact that this isn’t new anymore. We know what to expect this time, good and bad — including a camera that can be bothersome but is legitimately disruptive only on rare occasions (notably the round-arena boss battle at the end of chapter 9, shown to the left of the Verdict box).
But we’re also talking about the clean, if hardly face-melting, visuals. This sequel clearly uses a rezzed-up version of its parent’s last-gen engine, so a lot of the new-gen features we’ve come to expect — like pixel shaders and HDR lighting — are absent here. It still looks good, but it’s far from jaw-dropping.
Such is the trade-off made, it seems, for the usually smooth-as-silk framerate. Unfortunately, noticeable slowdown occurs in a few areas in the game, including one gauntlet-running sequence in chapter 10 that we’re amazed made it past the eye of Team Ninja head, Ninja Gaiden II designer, and noted perfectionist Tomonobu Itagaki.
The only other disappointment is an ambitious new feature that simply wasn’t implemented to its full potential: Ninja Cinema mode. Essentially, it’s Halo 3’s saved films — you can record your entire play-through and then go back and watch every second. But sadly, that’s all you can do. You can’t pause, fast-forward, detach the camera, or take screenshots as you could in Halo 3. Bungie set the bar high, and it would’ve been a treat to have those tools at our disposal here.
Sun, 10/18/2009 - 11:07
Posted by mitch619
that is not true. i am a first time player to the franchise a newbee to it and i passed path of the acolyte. it doesnt matter if your new to it as much as your effort you spend playing and getting to know the game. it was a great game. hard ass hell though. sigma 2 looks pretty good too. they always have badass bosses and characters.
Sat, 10/17/2009 - 21:52
Posted by wickland
Those are some huge crazy weapons there.
Sat, 03/07/2009 - 16:30
Posted by Dragon80
LOVE IT i became alomost passionate about the first trying to beat it faster each time i played the new look is great the lunar staff is the s@#t.
Sun, 12/21/2008 - 20:49
Posted by strattnuttz
I usually like bashing this Ryan guy, but I can't with this game, because when I was alway's getting stuck on this for the longest I bashed this game myself. However I would love to give this a 10, but I can't due to the mear fact that without a strategy guide, or knowing a Ninja Gaiden nerd, you wont really succeed in this. It's definently a game for a hard core gamer, I'm on level 13 of 14 now, and still get frustrated as heck. I know I'll probably be doing the ol controller toss on the last level, just knowing how hard it will be.
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 09:46
Posted by gurryd2nsd3
Well, i believe NG2 was one of the best games out there better then a 8.2 rating though.. I thought though personally the levliling of your weapons and spells and your item list were very welll put together. Like these comments above mine i have seen i agree the monsters and other things lol we h ad to fight was a little weird and i also thought some fighting situations were way to slow like the level where yuor going up those stairs and like 30-40 ninjas attack and its so slow u cant even really maneuver. But besides that it was one of the best and gory games out there to date.
Sat, 06/14/2008 - 16:52
Posted by TheBlackFin
Pros:
Stunning Gameplay
Visually the best 360 game to date
The fluid combat sequences
Outstanding frame rates and animation sequences
The weapon assortment and ability to change in mid attack
Reaching a save point pushes you to the furthest of your abilities at times
Tailisman of Rebirth is literally a lifesaver
Option to manually save multiple save files
Obliteration and Ultimate Techniques
Regeneration of portion of health after battle
The Chiburi Move - Ryu shakes the blood off of his weapon after a battle
True Dragon sword/Genshin combo
Cons:
"Cheap" Boss Battles
Camera Issues at times
Rating:
This is one of the best games that I have played on the 360 to date. It is challenging, visually stunning and a lot of fun. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to take on a challenge of playing it on the higher difficulty setting. I give it a 9.0 out of 10 as it is that good.
--- http://theblackfin.com ---
Gamertag: TheBlackFin
Fri, 06/13/2008 - 20:13
Posted by agentrekon
8.5 is way to generous of a score for NG2! In my opinion some of the enemies in this game looked downright stupid and had no right to be in a ninja game (robots, werewolves, chpt 3 boss). Also it seemed as if TeamNinja wanted to make different locations for ryu to go to because unlike in NG1, where the locations remain consitent with each other. In NG2 the chapters take you to different locations like NewYork, Tokyo, Mt Fugi. This game also cheats a lot, by letting you get killed by enemies that you cant see because of the poor camera angels. This game in my opion should have gotto between a 5 nad a 7
Sun, 06/08/2008 - 08:22
Posted by wique
The review was dead on about the game the only thing i would add is that First timers will not beat this game even on the path of the alcolyte. Play the first game before you get into this one
Sat, 06/07/2008 - 13:14
Posted by Freekman2626
This review said it all. The new techinques aren't as much as a playoff of the first NG as other features, but I did get the same feel. I'm (somewhat) glad to know that others have experienced some slowdowns, but at least they aren't permanent. I do believe this game did deserve a 9/10, though; the technical issues weren't that bad. But hey, everything else was accurate.
Thu, 06/05/2008 - 11:01
Posted by Greater Joe
I gotta see what Famitsu gave it....
Thu, 06/05/2008 - 10:57
Posted by Greater Joe
I don't think so but part 1 will definitely get you prepared for this one.
Wed, 06/04/2008 - 21:25
Posted by CelticKillah04
game is incredible so far!!
got a question about this site though, i just joined and are there forums because i cant find any?
Wed, 06/04/2008 - 09:05
Posted by Axe Argonian
To be honest, the entire month of June is going to this game. Not to mention, I'll be going for the 1000 in this one! (I've got 1000's in 14 games - a number of them are hard/and or time consuming)
Tue, 06/03/2008 - 18:33
Posted by iThomas
I see that technical issues such as slowdown, etc. was mentioned in the review. I've been seeing reports saying that Ninja Gaiden II performs better (technically) in the retail copy as opposed to the reviewable debug builds (ex. TeamXbox review). So therefore, I'm not too worried about that. I just picked up my copy today from Gamestop. Afterwards, I went home and beat the last two chapters of Ninja Gaiden Black. 'Bout time for some NG2 action! Sounds like it'll be just as great judging from this review and the TeamXbox review.
Tue, 06/03/2008 - 17:35
Posted by Daze Of War
I'm with you Axe. I actually called a bunch of different store to see if anyone got it today cause I just can't wait to play it. I will definitely be putting in a lot of time on this game.
Tue, 06/03/2008 - 15:53
Posted by Axe Argonian
Hell yeah! I'm picking up this baby tomorrow. Still, I'm playing on Acolyte for the first time through.
Tue, 06/03/2008 - 15:53
Posted by Axe Argonian
Hell yeah! I'm picking up this baby tomorrow. Still, I'm playing on Acolyte for the first time through.
Tue, 06/03/2008 - 15:28
Posted by GODhimself37
Wow that sucks that they didn't fix the camera issue from the first one. I think i'll just rent.
Tue, 06/03/2008 - 14:42
Posted by hornerboy73
i still havent played the ninja gaiden for the original xbox is there any story points i need to know for this one?