[11/10/2009] Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

[Devia Eleven]

 

Publisher: Tecmo

Developer: Team Ninja

Rating: M

System: Sony PlayStation 3

Players: 1-2 (Online)

Release Date: September 29, 2009

 

After the release of Ninja Gaiden Black, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Team Ninja once again decides to create yet another expansion pack of a game, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. It's been released exclusively for the PS3, just like Ninja Gaiden Sigma was, for whatever reason. The same story applies here, about how the Archfiends were sealed away by the Dragons, and now that the Archfiends are after an ancient statue, the Dragon Ninja returns to bestow violence amongst them, nothing too complex. It's a seemingly refined iteration of the original. With the absence of Tomonobu Itagaki, Yosuke Hayashi produced and changed small things in the original as a sign of betrayal. The use of the SIXAXIS controller, is to wiggle the women's over sized breasts from side to side, or any which way.

 

 

The story has changed slightly, and three new characters have been included in the story mode, each with a sparse one time mission that only lasts for under 20 minutes. Ayane, is a character taken from the Dead or Alive, and is a Kunoichi, an affiliate of Ryu Hyabusa. Momiji is a female Hayabusa clan member taken from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, originally on the Nintendo DS. Lastly, Rachel, a returning character from the previous installment, a Demon Hunter who is also affiliated with Ryu Hayabusa. The players can be fought with, but their role in the story remains a mystery, even after reading the instruction booklet, or watching the cutscenes, no clear explanation warrants the meaning of the three character's presence, but they do change the pace of the game. Each character has their ups and downs ultimately, for example, one having a heavy weapon but being too slow, or one being very fast but weak, Ryu seems to balance out the two, but experiencing other fighting styles within the Ninja Gaiden universe can be interesting at first participation.

 

 

Many things in Ninja Gaiden 2 have been altered for better or for worse. New bosses have been added the majority of them provide hardly any distinction, and do not hold up the usual ferocity of the original bosses. Bosses have been replaced with easy ones, vice versa. For a person who's already completed Ninja Gaiden 2, the new bosses and enemies, should be discovered for nostalgic purposes or for a hunger for something different. A few areas are also skipped, etcetera, no major changes in this case, the alterations will only seem major to a person who's beaten Ninja Gaiden 2 more than once. This game in particular adds two new modes, Chapter Challenge, and Team Mission Mode. Chapter Challenge allows a player to replay an individual chapter, on any difficulty they choose, to set record, and Team Mission Mode provides a new Co-op capability that allows two players online to play along side each other within a plethora of different objectives.

 

 

There are so many different missions under one difficulty setting, all four characters can be chosen from, as well as the weapon desired, Ninpo desired, and costume desired. In the mode itself, if one player dies, the other player can revive the knockouted player infinite amount of times until their health gives in. If a player is unconscious for too long, or is hit while on the ground, he or she will die permanently and the mission will be failed. Local two player being exempt from the game is a disappointment. Other than the two modes mentioned there isn't much to do, unless the new difficultly settings provide further amusement. The game's overall difficultly has been toned down by around 20%, meaning that the game is on a lower level of arduousness, or "Master Ninja". For any person who's aware, Ninja Gaiden's difficulty has never been a push over, and in this game not much has changed. Any difficultly level over Warrior, can easily frustrate a player, or any mission beyond the difficultly of Warrior can do the same. The level of gore has been toned down slightly, which seems pointless because the rating is still mature.

 

 

No longer will limbs been seen scattered across the ground, the enemy's limbs shatter into purple soul mist, and evaporates. The question is why the game couldn't have just been a patch or DLC, or if it was just an attempt to get Ninja Gaiden on the PS3 once again. The combat requires precision and patience. You no longer are required to pay to upgrade weapons, it's free, but one weapon can be upgraded one shop at a time to provide balance, and certain weapons can't be leveled past a certain level until you accel further throughout the game. The combat in Ninja Gaiden still hasn't gotten old, but what has gotten old are the remakes of the games, I would go in depth about the combat itself but there's not much to say since it's exactly the same, matching Ninja Gaiden 2 in every way. The graphics look no better, or worse, no matter what major gaming site says, there's hardly any difference, not that it even mattered from the start. There has been little nick knacks tacked on to Ninja Gaiden 2 to make Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.

 

It's the equivalent to giving a beautiful women makeup that wouldn't either hurt or enhance her appearance or make her look better. Unless a Ninja Gaiden 3 is released soon, there's no real reason to purchase such a game, you'll be better off renting. Not much replayability is present, once all of the missions are completed, then what, the same applies to the main storyline, once all of the difficulty settings have been proceeded, nothing lies except the pressing of the power button on the PlayStation 3 game system. Ninja Gaiden 2 itself is a good game, but the Sigma version, with a price tag of a full game while only adding in a morsel of difference is a bit absurd. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 itself isn't horrendous, but it's only asinine that more wasn't added if the game was being sold at full price.

 

Verdict: 7.5