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Ninja Gaiden 2

Written by DM on Tuesday, June 10 2008

This time around Ryu has a strong and weak attack at his disposal again, and you use them to perform combos, as you did in the last game. A great thing about the Gaiden game, and especially number two, is that any weapon you use, even a huge scythe, is lightning fast. There are no slow and powerful moves in Ryu’s arsenal, which is a good thing, mind you. Learning how to string weak and strong attacks together with the left and right sidestep is key to progressing in Ninja Gaiden 2. One you are able to jump, dodge, attack, and repeat at will, you will find that there are no enemies that cause you trouble. What makes this all the more fun is that the enemies are relentless to zombie levels – they will attack you again and again, even without a head! No limbs, no problem! You will have an easy time finishing them off when they have no brain attached, of course, but talk about persistence. The game’s goons should give you no trouble at all. At least until you get to the some of the bosses, that is.

Another new addition to the game is the y button finisher. Any enemy who is wounded can be finished in fantastic, gory, style with a tap of the Y button. When you start the game, I counted no less than three distinct “finisher” moves that Ryu was able to perform on wounded enemies. The first few times you see these moves I guarantee you will say “whoa.” They certainly add a coolness factor to the combat that many hack and slashers are missing. Granted, it gets old eventually, but you can even use the moves on some bosses, in fact you may have to use it to defeat some of them.

Like I said, the game comes with a new “acolyte” difficulty level, and a “warrior” difficulty level. The acolyte level is for players like me who want to enjoy the game’s story and scenery, but do not want to end up as bald as Homer Simpson by the time the game is done. Two more difficulty levels are unlockable by beating the game, but god knows why anyone would put themselves through a torture test like that. Even the acolyte level will pose a challenge to most gamers at some point or other. This is a game where you will have to invest time and effort learning the movies. You will use the continue function at least a few times, I guarantee it. A nice addition though is the new regenerating health system. Noe, when Ryu fights, his health bar is divided up into three parts when he gets hit. There is the blue part, followed by the black or blank part, then there is the red part of the bar. The red part of Ryu’s life is the part that does not come back after the fight, the black part is the part that regenerates after the enemies are all gone, and the blue part is Ryu’s remaining real life. It is a real help to beginners, but of course, the hardcore fans are up in arms yet again. Add this to the fact that most of the bosses have had the cheese sucked right out of them, which means no more AI cheating, and you get sadomasochistic Gaiden gamers who are all poo-pooing the easiest difficulty setting.

Now we come to what is ultimately the main drawback of Ninja Gaiden 2 – the camera. It seems that Team Ninja did not learn their lesson last time around, or at least learned it only in a half-assed way. They seem to value cinematic aesthetics for their camera angles, rather than actual, useful, playable camera angles. Even with the ability to move the camera freely with the right analog stick, and the ability to re-center it at any time, the game still hits points where you wonder how you are supposed to kill that enemy that you can hear, but not see. There is a first person viewing mode added, and it even comes with a zoom-in function, but that does you no good because you cannot attack or even move while using it. It is simply for viewing. Great, we already knew the fiend was there, now I have just confirmed the camera sucks – go Team Ninja! The camera will be one of your most elusive enemies during your fight to save the world from the CIA, I mean the Archfiend – no,no the Spider Clan. Whatever.

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