The long awaited sequel in the ‘Ninja Gaiden’ series has finally arrived. And it is action packed. Team Ninja does a great job of bring this title into ‘Next Gen’ with mind blowing landscapes and amazing graphics. So if you are ready for a mission with a lot of action packed combo moves, that will take you from Japan to New York City and beyond, then you have to pick up a copy of Ninja Gaiden 2.

Overall: 8.9

Presentation: 9

I based my purchase of this game off of my enjoyment of Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox. I did see a few commercials, but I had already made up my mind that I was going to get it as soon as I hear that it was coming out. So if you have liked the Ninja Gaiden series in the past, you will not be let down by Ninja Gaiden 2.

Graphics: 9.5

I do have to say that the pre-release footage of this game did not do it justice. A lot of comments were made that the graphics did not look any better than the original installment for the Xbox, based off of that footage. Well, now the game has been released, I can say that the graphics are breathtaking. There are many different environments that Ryu travels through on his quest, and all of them have very different textures. From a rainy night in New York City, a bright clear day on the waters of Canal City, to underground caverns there is an amazing world to discover.

Sound: 9

As expected, the in-game music is very cinematic, when enemies are attacking it increases in tempo and volume and it adds to the excitement level. With in-game Dolby Digital it is easy to tell from which direction enemies are running to attack you from. But so far nothing out of the ordinary.

Gameplay: 9

Overall, this is just a great challenging game that can be played for enjoyment. There are skulls and chests filled with useful items that are hidden throughout the levels that add to the action-packed combat. There are sometimes that the camera angles get a little tough to deal with, but once you get use to controlling the camera it’s not as bad. The game is rated ‘M’ for mature, and for good reason, there is lots of violence and blood as well as some scantily clad women throughout the game.

Replay Value: 8

For most people the replay value isn’t going to be there. There isn’t a multi-player option in this game, so for those who play through a campaign and then put the game aside, you might want to rent it. But it will take most people a while to complete. Some of us enjoy the challenge of taking on the various levels of difficulty, of which this game starts out with 2 levels and increases to 4 levels as the game is finished. There are several different achievements that will require playing through the game several times to get, such as beat the game only using the ‘insert weapon’. So have fun with those all of you ‘achievement whores’ (Scott ‘Teetocks’). I purchased the game because I wanted to be able to play and enjoy it at my own pace, not feel rushed because of a due date.

Tags: Reviews