There Will Be Blood: Ninja Gaiden 2 Reviewed! (Page 2 of 3)

Cutting Crew

Though you start with just your dragon sword and ineffectual shurikens, you'll find a wide array of weaponry and a handful of Ninpo spells if you inspect chests and fallen would-be heroes. From a Falcon's Talons gloves-and-boots set that makes Wolverine look like a Care Bear, to the far-reaching devastation of a kusari-gama-it's basically a scythe attached to a long chain-you have a varied arsenal of weaponry at your disposal. You can also upgrade each weapon to unlock huge lists of combos and special attacks. The projectile weapons aren't as awesome: you have options like incendiary shurikens and an underwater spear gun but they're merely novelties, and prove useful only when you come across specific obstacles that have been designed to take advantage of these airborne weapons. Only the Fiend's Bane Bow comes in handy with any regularity, and then only because of foes who send bursts of unblockable rockets hurtling your way at a maddening rate.

This brings us to Ninja Gaiden II's biggest problem (the one aside from the fickle camera that is): its surprisingly uneven difficulty. Hardcore fanatics of the last game will undoubtedly relish the challenges to be found here, but they'll also lament just how inconsistent those challenges are. You'll gain back considerable health each time you clear a wave of baddies, but some nameless side boss could take considerable experimentation to beat, while a climactic confrontation with a major character ends in half a minute. Sometimes you'll face two bosses in a row without a break, or die at the very end of an exhausting skirmish because the damn thing exploded without warning. There's a fairly broad line between intensely challenging and pointlessly aggravating, but Ninja Gaiden II still dances across it too often, even at the easiest difficulty.

Silent But Deadly

You might feel a weighty sense of accomplishment for enduring these uneven trials, and you'll undoubtedly enjoy the rich combat system and gorgeous visuals along the way, but by the end you're more likely to breathe a sigh of relief and move on than venture back for an even less forgiving encore. Ninja Gaiden II is a slick and thrill packed action game but it's nowhere near the masterpiece that fans have been clamoring for. It's worth playing through and you'll have plenty of fun but finicky camera and uneven difficulty definitely cuts into the fun.

PROS: Incredibly fast and beautiful combat action; tons of weapons and combos; plenty of amazing cinematic moments.
CONS: Persistent death by bad camera angle; inconsistent difficulty will aggravate even the hardcore; token puzzle-solving punctuates utter linearity.

Comments [154]

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EKGPROD

They could have given this game a 1 and I woulda still bought it. Anyone who complains about the difficulty being too hard is a pussy and doesnt deserve to play it in the first place. We need games like this to remind us that we are all still hardcore gamers!

spunnups

agreed, this is a must buy in my book. But, A 3.75 from GP is way below what i expected though, and GP rates alot of games 4 and above. maybe it's not as good as we think. i'd hate to get hyped up just to be let down.

Train_of_Thought

i'm surprised they didn't say anything about the story (as others did). but it seems every review has "stated" about that bad camera angle

ROCKY102682

I'm still up in the air about this one, not sure if I want to pick it up today or not. Any thoughts?

partTimeNERD

lower score than expected from GP... still a must buy for me... The mindless carnage is fun

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