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June 25, 2008
9:43 AM
Completed Ninja Gaiden 2
This is a mini-review for Ninja Gaiden 2, and a self-congratulatory post.... since I managed to beat the game last night. Hoo-ya!
Ninja Gaiden 2 is likely the last in the franchise, at least under Itagaki and the current Team Ninja. That's really too bad, because NG2 improves on the original, and near perfect, Ninja Gaiden Black in almost every way.
Never has combat felt so visceral and brutal. Every weapon has a massive roster of moves, three levels of upgrades, and spectacular finishing moves. I quickly found favourites and then put them aside as a new weapon opened up. Each has their place, and there's not a dud in the bunch.
Graphically it looks very good, though could have used some more detail in a few areas. Some reviews pointed out bland textures, and boring environments, but I only saw that in one small section. The rest of the game looked excellent, no matter what level I was on.
The save system, regenerating health bar, and the use of obliteration techniques make it a far fairer game and a lot better. Boss fights are generally great fun, but I found the second-last boss fight to be utterly cheap and really unfair. The rest didn't pose too much of a problem once you got the method figured out. Regular enemies change almost every level, so there's always a new foe to fight and new techniques to learn. You never get bored.
The camera only really posed a problem in a few specific instances when I was fighting in really narrow corridors or tunnels. For the rest, it could have seen some improvement, but it didn't cause any real problems for me.
I loved the game. Many times I was playing with a huge grin on my face, and I only felt like throwing my controller right near the end, in the last two levels... as it gets brutally hard with very few chances to save or restock your supplies.
I completed it in around 35 hours.... and am immediately going to play through a good chunk of it again. If you're looking for the best action game the 360 has to offer, this is it. Ninja Gaiden Black was my favourite XBox game of all time. Ninja Gaiden 2 may just be that for me on the 360 as well. Try the demo off of XBL if nothing else.
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