One of the best action games to come out recently
Ninja Gaiden 2 is one of the best action games I have ever played. The game plays like no other game and has a very simple but engaging story to boot with some great characters including some of the most evil people I've ever seen grace a video game. From the likes of Elizabet and the other fiends to Genshin (quite possibly the biggest bad ass in any video game) to the good guys of the game which include Ryu Hayabusa and Sonya the beautiful and buxom CIA agent who accompanies Ryu on his journey.
As a first time entree into the Ninja Gaiden series I was instantly blown away by the depth of combat and sheer brutality behind every single movement the protagonist of the game, Ryu Hayabusa, engages himself in. Everything about this game has a certain style of it, brutal yet somewhat tasteful despite the fact limbs and heads fly aplenty. Ninja Gaiden 2 has perhaps one of the best combat systems used in any game ever made and that's quite the bold statement. The combat system is easy to get used to, on acolyte one can get away with simply button mashing the strong attack on most of the early levels. Of course though you have to learn to master the combo attacks as well as timing and general strategies especially when it comes to boss battles. Ninja Gaiden does what many action games fails to do, it makes sure the player can't get away with mashing away at random buttons in hopes of beating a level. The tight control scheme allows players to feel in total control and this is the most satisfying thing about the game, it's the fact nothing is handed to you. You have to work towards everything and every single movement is controlled by you. If you fail it's because you didn't do well that round and you had room for improvement. The game never falls into the boundary of cheap regardless of what any reviewer will say. Chances are they just weren't good at the game. By no means am I a master ninja but there I'd like to think I am somewhat skilled at this game. Ninja Gaiden will do that to people, being able to beat such a tough game is enough to make anybody brimming with pride. Thanks to Ninja Gaiden's tight control scheme, and it's easy to pick up but hard to master gameplay Ninja Gaiden 2 has some of the best action gameplay to be experienced in any video game.
Itagaki didn't lie about this game being the world's best action game because as I explained it's gameplay is unrivaled. Sadly he somewhat lied when he talked about the graphics. Graphics are the major weak point of this game and really held it back from being a universally AAA game and in my books held it back from earning a 9.5. There are many inconsistencies in graphics. The early levels look mediocre, nothing special at all in these levels. The couple levels in the middle such as the jungle level look downright junky especially that infamous green tunnel. That looks terrible to be quite blunt. The later levels though blew me away and look truly beautiful. These levels were definitely more polished then the rest of the levels in the game and have beautiful lighting effects, coloring, and they just look fantastic and strike a sense of awe when you first see them. The character models all look fine to me nothing really ugly but nothing amazing. The physics that went into the female characters breasts never cease to amaze me, typical Itagaki ;). The best place where the graphics are put to use is the amazing action sequences which look amazing and never cease to amaze. Onlookers and players alike will be amazed by the acrobatics of Ryu and the gory outcomes of these battles. These are truly battles that are not to be missed.
The sound in the game is great if you know what to do. The music is excellent and sets an appropriate mood, there is the typical action game music. There is boss music, combat music, and atmosphere music. Nothing new is done but what is done is done extremely well and I quite enjoyed it. The dialogue to me sounded stupid in English so with some simple changes I changed the dialogue to Japanese with English subtitles. As with most things this made the game much more pleasant to the ears as this was the way the game was meant to be heard. I recommend you do this because it simply sounds better and the acting is a lot more believable.
Ninja Gaiden 2 is well worth the 59.99, despite it being a single player game there is a lot of replay value in the game as the difficulty levels present a new challenge and what feels like a new game every time. In a sense this game is kind of like the 'Guitar Hero' of action games where once you beat one difficulty level you have to do the next one. There is also a lot of fun to be had with the leader board in which you can compare your ninja skills with your friends. Ninja Gaiden 2 is a blast and a game not to be missed. It will challenge you and you will be amazed. If you are on the fence, just check out the demo. If you think you like action games you should slap yourself if you think to avoid this game.
